FINAL – Kings 4, Lightning 3 – Byfield, Anderson, Hiller

The LA Kings skated to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena, completing a 3-0-0 homestand on the week.

Just over seven minutes into the game, the Kings opened the scoring via their top line. After forcing a turnover deep in the offensive zone, all three members of the line touched the puck, with forward Anze Kopitar eventually hitting forward Adrian Kempe for the tap-in goal at the back post. Forward Quinton Byfield tallied the secondary assist on the play, Kempe’s 22nd goal of the season, with the hosts leading 1-0.

Less than ten seconds before the intermission, the Lightning equalized with a power-play goal, bringing the score to 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. Forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point worked the puck towards the net from just outside the crease, with the puck seemingly deflecting off a Kings’ stick and in for the game-tying goal.

Early in the second period, the Kings pulled back ahead through forward Trevor Moore, who buried his team-leading 26th goal of the season for a 2-1 lead. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois made a nice play, as he threw the puck back into a dangerous area in front, which found the skate of Moore. The California native collected and put it home for the goal, putting LA back on top.

Shortly after the third period got underway, the Kings doubled their advantage through defenseman Mikey Anderson, who scored his second goal of the season. In a rare position of a leading a 2-on-1 rush offensively, Anderson kept the puck himself and fired a shot past Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy from the left-hand circle, putting the Kings up 3-1 in the process.

In the latter stages of the third period, the visitors got two goals from forward Steven Stamkos, as the Lightning surged back to force the game into overtime. First, with just one second left on a power play, Stamkos wired a one-timer from the center point, through traffic and past Kings netminder Cam Talbot, to pull within 3-2. Inside the final minute of regulation, Stamkos buried his second of the game, again via the one-timer, this time from the left-hand circle, to knot the score at three and extend the game beyond 60 minutes.

Just 25 seconds into overtime, the Kings picked up the extra point for a perfect 3-0-0 homestand. Forward Adrian Kempe passed into space, with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov skaing onto the puck for a breakaway. The blueliner buried in alone for the game-winning goal and the extra point.

Hear from Byfield, Anderson and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Quinton Byfield

Mikey Anderson
On the defensemen contributing with two big goals tonight
We don’t get those very much as d-men, so it’s obviously a different situation than we’re in usually, but it’s fun. It’s something you want to try and help out and you’re happy that me and Gavy could both score tonight to help out.

On the intensity in tonight’s game
Yeah, obviously these are big points for us, for them too, and both teams have won some games coming in. We knew it was going to be a fight, it was physical, both teams defended pretty good. Yeah, I thought it was overall a really good hockey game and we were happy to get the extra point today.

On a strong night from the Kings, when they play their game
I think in the room, we know what we have and how good we can be if we do it the right way consistently and together. We’ve beaten some good teams this year and we’ve lost some games we thought we should have won, but obviously if we have things going the right way, we like our chances against anyone. Obviously they’ve had a lot of success the last couple of years so they’re a good team to test yourself against, they know how to win, so being able to come out and play that well against them lets the team know that we’re moving the right way.

On turning things around at home with a 9-2-1 record since the All-Star break
I think just trying to continually do what we need to do. I think maybe on the road, we played a little more simple, smarter, I don’t want to say play the percentages, but made plays when they’re there, played a harder, heavier game when we needed to. I think now, we’ve done that a little bit more consistently at home.

On the mentality boost of beating a hot team like Tampa Bay
I think it’s good for the group. We’ve had a couple of different games recently where we’ve been able to score a lot and haven’t given up many, so being in a tighter game, which is the way games are going to go down the stretch here, I think it’s good to be a part of it, to feel it and find a way to come out on top.

Jim Hiller
On the win over Tampa Bay, coming out ahead in overtime
Better ending [than the game in Tampa Bay], that’s the big part. I thought we, at 5-on-5, played a really strong game. I thought it was a good hockey game, I think everybody might agree, a good hockey game, fast paced, lots of skill on both sides. It didn’t feel very good when they tied it, that’s for sure, but what a great way to end it with the two defenseman scoring big goals for us.

On penalties tonight and the PK vs. PP battle
One of those things that we probably stressed too much, because we knew that was going to be a key part of the game and then we ended up taking three I think and they get two. Last one came in the last second, as we stepped out of the box. I thought we did a pretty good job on it until the end and all they need is basically one second, a seam, a one-timer, we’ve seen that goal over and over again by those players. We did a good job on the PK, that wasn’t really the issue, they just they executed when they had a chance and they buried.

On the intensity in tonight’s game and playoff-style hockey
Yeah, I just think the style of game, if I think back, maybe I’m wrong, maybe it was the Vancouver game here at home that we ended up losing in overtime, was probably similar to tonight’s game. Those two games, I guess probably because the closeness of the score, felt more like playoff-type games. I thought it was physical tonight. I don’t know if it looked like that from your perspective, but down on the ice, it was fast, it was physical, a little nasty at times it all the elements of a playoff game and we’re sure glad we came out on top.

On the Kings continuing to find their stride down the stretch
We’re playing some pretty good hockey, so I would think it’s good. We went through that stretch where we had the injuries and slowly but surely you start to get guys back in the lineup. The guys did a great job dealing with the injuries and now, you get Arvy back in and it just feels like with each addition of those injuries, we just kind of got a little bigger, a little stronger, a little faster. I’d say right now, we probably felt as good as we’ve felt in a long, long time.

On if he feels the team is finding its game and form on home ice as of late
100 percent, it really is. It took us going on the road maybe to get our game back together and we’ve brought it home. I think you start putting enough in a row, you got a hiccup here and there, but then you start to feel like yourselves again and I think we’re back in that groove.

On getting that level of skill goals from two of the team’s defensemen
Those players do so much of the dirty work, we call it heavy lifting, blocking shots, staying back and defending, cross checking and doing all that kind of stuff. I think when the players, when the team, sees one of those guys, and tonight, both of them score, you get extra excited for those guys because you know that’s not necessarily the job. They don’t get a lot of opportunities, so when they score, it’s a really exciting moment for everybody, because everybody appreciates the work they do, the dirty work.

Notes –
– Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) recorded his 22nd goal and 40th assist of the season tonight, extending his point streak to three consecutive games. The opening tally also marked Kempe’s second goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in his last four games played against the franchise. Kempe has now collected 19 points in his last 17 games played since the All-Star break.
– Trevor Moore (1-0=1) notched his team-leading 26th goal of the season. In doing so, Moore achieved a career-high in points (26-23=49) while scoring his first goal against the Lightning in eight contests against the club. Moore is currently riding a three-game point streak and is the sixth Kings player to reach the 20-point mark in home games played this season.
– Mikey Anderson (1-0=1) registered his second goal and 17th point of the season, putting the blueliner three points shy (2-15=17) of tying his career-best (5-15=20) set in the 2022-23 season. Anderson (1-1=2) joins a small list of Minnesota-born Kings players to record a goal against the Lightning, including Blake Lizotte (2-0=2), Johnny Brodzinski (2-0=2), and Corey Millen (1-0=1).
– Vladislav Gavrikov (1-0=1) scored the overtime winner for his fifth goal and 20th point of the season (5-15=20), marking the second time in his career he has hit the 20-point mark. Gavrikov joins teammates Drew Doughty, Matt Roy and Jordan Spence as the fourth Kings defenseman to hit the 20-point mark this season, trailing only Carolina (5) for the most defensemen on a team with at least 20 points. Gavrikov’s goal (0:25) matched the fifth-fastest overtime goal in Kings history. The only other players to score one in 25 seconds or less are Aaron Miller (0:14 on Dec. 16, 2001), Alex Iafallo (0:23 on Nov. 14, 2019 & 0:24 on Jan. 30, 2020), Dustin Brown (0:23 on April 5, 2018) and Tyler Toffoli (0:25 on Feb. 4, 2019).
– Anže Kopitar (0-2=2) picked up his 38th and 39th assists of the season, marking his sixth and seven points in his last three games (3-4=7). Kopitar’s first helper of the night was the 786th of his career, breaking a tie with Mats Sundin (785) for the 38th-most assists in league history.
– Kopitar has now posted multiple points in his past three outings to record his 12th different three-plus game stretch with multiple points. The only players in Kings history with as many are Marcel Dionne (48), Wayne Gretzky (38), Luc Robitaille (28), Bernie Nicholls (19), Dave Taylor (18) and Charlie Simmer (13).
– Quinton Byfield (0-1=1) picked up his 32nd assist of the season in his second-straight game with an assist (0-2=2). It is Byfield’s seventh streak with assists in two or more consecutive games this season; only Anže Kopitar (8x) has more such streaks amongst Kings skaters this season.
– Pierre-Luc Dubois (0-1=1) tallied his 19th assist of the season with his fifth helper (0-5=5) over his last five games played, dating back to March 15, 2024.
– Cam Talbot stopped 21-of-24 shots in the victory, improving his record to 22-16-6 on the campaign.

The Kings will travel Vancouver tomorrow, in advance of Monday’s game versus the Canucks. The Kings will return to the ice on Monday evening at 6 PM at Rogers Arena.

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