Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist as he returned to the lineup as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1 at Climate Pledge Arena.

Fiala, Los Angeles' leading  scorer with 73 points, was back on the ice after missing the club's last game against Edmonton with a lower-body injury.

"When he gets on the ice, he forgets about it", said linemate Alex Iafallo, who registered two assists. "It's good to see him grind through that. He had a huge game for us. It doesn't affect him, he's still making the plays and controlling the puck."

Phoenix Copley made 25 saves for the Kings (44-22-10), who stopped a two-game losing streak.

The win sees Los Angeles remain one point behind for second place in the Pacific Division and three points behind Vegas for first.

"Down the stretch, they're going to be tight games and they're going to be hard-fought battles", Copley said. "That's how we wanted to play defensively. We were shutting things down, keeping it to the outside, and that was really good to see."

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the Kraken's only goal and Martin Jones made 16 saves as Seattle (41-26-8), who have alternated wins and losses over their last eight games (4-3-1).

"Both teams checked really well", Jones said. "It's that time of year, teams are ramping up for the playoffs, and there's just not a lot of room out there. ...Neither team was really able to break free and make a lot of plays offensively."

Seattle is still in a playoff position, three points ahead of Winnipeg for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

"It's a real disappointing loss, but in saying that, this group knows what it takes", said head coach Dave Hakstol. "In the first two periods, we disn't win enough of those first pucks to give ourselves an offensive opportunity in the O-zone."

Story of the game

After a goalless first period, Sean Durzi put the Kings in front 11:45 into the second period as after knocking the puck around the boards, he fell down but he got up and tapped in Iafallo's shot from the slot that deflected off the stick of Jared McCann.

"That was a lucky bounce, but sometimes you need those", Iafallo said. "Sometimes they don't go your way, but you'll take the ones that do."

Copley kept Los Angeles in front early in the third, making five important saves over the first two minutes, getting a blocker on Eeli Tolvanen's breakaway attempt.

"That's what i'm there for", he said. "That's when I need to make those saves."

Carl Grundstrom doubled the lead after stealing the puck from Brandon Tanev by lifting his stick as he tried to skate out of his own zone, scoring glove-side with a wrist shot from the right circle.

"The bigger the stakes the more he rises to the top", said head coach Todd McClellan. "His physicality, his intensity and his shot are all real important attributes, and we saw all of those things."

Bjorkstrand made it a 2-1 game on a Seattle power play. After Daniel Sprong's one-timer hit the post, Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov cleared the puck straight to the Kraken right-winger, who shot into an open net.

Fiala ensured Los Angeles' victory by scoring into an empty net with 46 seconds remaining.

"It's that time of year and competitors and Kevin is a competitor", McClellan said. "He's fine. He'll give us some really good minutes. He's able to fight through it."