LOS ANGELES – It was a fidgety victory for the Kings Thursday as they oscillated between comfortable and uncomfortable, winning a game that they led 3-1 in the third period by a 4-3 margin over the Calgary Flames in overtime.
They’ve now won four straight games, equaling their longest surge of the season.
Forward Adrian Kempe buried the overtime winner. Winger Gabe Vilardi lit the lamp before centers Phillip Danault and Blake Lizotte broke a third-period tie with two goals in rapid succession. Danault and Lizotte added an assist apiece. Pheonix Copley continued rising with his sixth win in seven appearances since being recalled from the minors, making 27 saves.
Wingers Dillon Dube, Jonathan Huberdeau and Tyler Toffoli tallied for Calgary. Dan Vladar stopped 28 shots.
The Kings carried play in overtime and capped the game with a picturesque two-on-one rush. Kempe rushed up the left wing, faked a shot, dropped a pass to winger Viktor Arvidsson and then received the return pass to deposit the sudden-death game-winner.
Just after Copley made a lunging stop to deny a bid for an equalizer, the Flames went back to work and knotted the game when defenseman Noah Hanifin slid the puck across the goal crease to Dube, who deposited it just inside the post with 6:28 to play.
Calgary halved its deficit with some fierce forechecking and a shot that Kings fans remembered well. Three Flames pounced on Mikey Anderson behind the net, digging the puck out and sending it high to Rasmus Andersson. His point-to-point pass found Toffoli, a former King, who fired a laser from the top of the left circle past Copley with 13:14 remaining. The Kings nearly got the goal back with a penalty shot, but winger Kevin Fiala sent it wide of the net.
The Kings scored two goals 10 seconds apart, beginning 89 ticks into the closing stanza.
First, a stretch pass allowed winger Alex Iafallo to gain the offensive zone, where he had the puck knocked loose. He pursued it behind the net, won possession and hit Danault in front, where last year’s team MVP transitioned silkily from forehand to backhand for his 32nd goal of the calendar year and ninth of the season.
The Kings then won the faceoff at center ice and Vilardi skated all the way to the slot, where his shot generated a rebound that bounded skyward. Lizotte knocked it out of the air for his seventh goal of the campaign.
Both teams generated opportunities in the second period but timely defensive plays and a tough bounce for Fiala kept the frame scoreless.
The Kings were out-shooting Calgary 8-1 through nearly 18 minutes of action, thanks mainly to an extended power play that saw them hit the net five times, but Calgary’s only shot on target also represented the game’s only goal to that point.
That was until, with 2:19 to play in the first period, the Kings made two passes from low to high in the zone before Walker let fly with a shot that was deflected home by Vilardi. It was Vilardi’s third point in December and his first goal since a two-tally performance on Nov. 29. Even with a nearly month-long goal drought, Vilardi’s 14 markers lead the Kings.
Just 3:23 into the game, three sloppy exchanges between Sean Durzi and Anze Kopitar led to a turnover. The Kings were left out of position to defend a streaking Huberdeau, who finished his breakaway with a simple shot that he slipped along the ice and through the five hole of Copley.
NOTES
The Kings activated winger Brendan Lemieux (lower body) from injured reserve but he did not dress Thursday … Winger Arthur Kaliyev was scratched after being stung while blocking a shot against the Ducks Tuesday … Carl Grundstrom drew in for Kaliyev and, on defense, Sean Walker replaced Jordan Spence.
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