SEATTLE (AP) — Samuel Helenius scored twice, David Rittich made 28 saves, and the Los Angeles Kings spoiled the Seattle Kraken’s home finale with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday night.
The Kings head into their regular-season finale locked into a first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. After the Kings blew a 2-0 first-period cushion, they responded with four unanswered goals over a five-plus minute stretch of game time between the second and third periods.
Warren Foegele gave the lead back to Los Angeles with 3:55 to play in the second and Alex Laferriere made it 4-2 just 72 seconds later. Adrian Kempe and Helenius added third-period goals to make it 6-2.
Seattle nearly came back in the third period with three straight goals from Jaden Schwartz, Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen, but the deficit was too much.
Seattle erased a two-goal deficit with a short-handed goal from Tye Kartye at 5:26 of the second period and a power-play tally by Brandon Montour at 13:24.
Seattle goalie Joey Daccord had 18 saves.
Kings: Five-on-five is where LA dominated on Tuesday and it didn’t need a lot of shots on goal to end up with its 17th road victory of the season. The Kings had 14 total shots on target in the first 40 minutes.
Kraken: For the second consecutive season, the Kraken finished with less than 20 home victories and a minus goal differential of at least 15. Seattle will finish as the fourth-worst team in the Western Conference.
An icing reset the puck in Seattle’s zone and LA took advantage with a faceoff win, one of 30 on the night, and Foegele’s goal.
Helenius came into Tuesday’s game with two goals. He equaled that total in 13:49 minutes of ice time against the Kraken.
The Kings close the regular season at home against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. The Kraken’s season is done.
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Los Angeles Kings center Samuel Helenius scores against Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord (35) and defenseman Ryker Evans, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Los Angeles Kings' Samuel Helenius (79) is checked by Edmonton Oilers' Cam Dineen (85) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Los Angeles Kings center Samuel Helenius, third from left, celebrates his goal with teammates Akil Thomas (26), Jacob Moverare and Trevor Lewis (61) as Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord, right, looks away during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Los Angeles Kings center Samuel Helenius (79) moves the puck against Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson, left, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems was executed Thursday evening in Florida for the 1998 shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her three young children.
Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was the fourth person executed this year in the state under death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a fifth execution set for May 15.
Hutchinson had no last statement but appeared to be mumbling to himself as the procedure started just before 8 p.m. His legs shook sporadically, and he seemed to have body spasms for several minutes and then was still. The process took a little more than 15 minutes.
The execution was carried out soon after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.
Hutchinson had long claimed that he was innocent and that two unknown assailants perpetrated the killings under a U.S. government conspiracy aimed at silencing his activism on claims including Gulf War illnesses involving veterans. Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, part of it as an elite Ranger.
Court records, however, showed that on the night of the killings in Crestview, Hutchinson argued with his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, then packed his clothes and guns into a truck. Hutchinson went to a bar and drank some beer, telling staff there that Flaherty was angry with him before leaving abruptly.
A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator, “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with the three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. All were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun that was found on a kitchen counter. Hutchinson was located by police in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.
Darran Johnson, the brother of Renee Flaherty, said after the execution that justice was done but the family’s pain will never end.
“Not a day goes by that we don’t think about the loved ones that were taken from us,” Johnson said.
At his 2001 trial, Hutchinson’s defense was based on his claim that two unknown men came to the house and killed Flaherty and the children after he struggled with them. A jury found him guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, and he received life in prison for Flaherty’s killing and three death sentences for the children.
Hutchinson filed numerous unsuccessful appeals, many focused on mental health problems linked to his Army service. In late April his lawyers sought to delay his execution by claiming he was insane and therefore could not be put to death.
Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw rejected that argument in an April 27 order.
“This Court finds that Mr. Hutchinson’s purported delusion is demonstrably false. Jeffrey Hutchinson does not lack the mental capacity to understand the reason for the pending execution,” the judge wrote.
In their court filings, Hutchinson’s lawyers said he suffered from Gulf War Illness — a series of health problems stemming from the 1990-1991 war in Iraq — as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia related to his claim that he was targeted by government surveillance.
Florida’s lethal injection protocol uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
So far this year, 15 people have been put to death in the U.S. including Hutchinson.
A fifth Florida execution is scheduled May 15 for Glen Rogers, who was convicted of killing a woman at a motel in 1997. Rogers also was convicted of another woman’s murder in California and is believed by investigators to have killed others around the country.
FILE - This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey Hutchinson. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP, File)
This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey Hutchinson. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)
