FINAL – Kings 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT) – Kopitar, Byfield, Arvidsson, Hiller

The LA Kings concluded the regular season with a topsy-turvy, 5-4 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday evening at Crypto.com Arena. With the win, the Kings locked in the third seed in the Pacific Division, setting up a Round 1 matchup with the Edmonton Oilers.

Despite a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal for the Kings, it was Chicago that scored the lone goal from the opening 20 minutes of play. Forward Lucas Reichel did all the work himself as he chipped the puck ahead, split the Kings defensemen through the neutral zone and deked to the backhand on the breakaway for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead after one period in Los Angeles.

The Kings flipped the script in the second period, as they scored three goals to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. All three goals were assisted by forward Phillip Danault.

First Danault and forward Viktor Arvidsson combined on the game-tying goal early in the second period. Danault made a nifty move into the slot, where he curled up between the circles and fed Arvidsson for a one-timer in the left-hand circle, which the Swede ripped past Chicago netminder Arvid Soderblom for his fourth goal of the season, tying the game at one in the process.

Inside the final four minutes of the second period, the Kings took their first lead of the evening through forward Quinton Byfield, who buried his 20th goal of the season for a 2-1 lead. With the Kings skating on the power play, Byfield worked his way to the front of the net and re-directed a low feed from Danault inside the far post to put the hosts on top.

Less than two minutes later, Danault picked up his third assist of the period with the secondary helped on linemate Trevor Moore’s 31st goal of the season. After a Chicago player lost an edge behind the net, Danault stole the puck and fed Arvidsson in front of the net, where he made the extra pass to Moore at the back post for the one-timer goal. Moore’s 31st goal extended his team lead on the season, two clear of teammate Kevin Fiala.

Chicago stormed back, however, with three consecutive goals of their own in a span of just five minutes to take a 4-3 lead early in the third period.

Forward Tyler Johnson moved the Blackhawks to within one goal just shy of 90 seconds into the third period, with a power-play tally. Johnson moved into the right-hand circle and snapped his shot inside the far post, past Kings netminder Cam Talbot, for his 17th goal of the season. Just over two minutes later, forward Joey Anderson tied the game at three with a goal off the rush. Anderson took a threaded feed in the offensive zone and scored on the backhand, equalizing for the visitors. Less than three minutes after tying the game, Chicago surged ahead once again via forward Ryan Donato, who got a deflection goal from the low slot as the visitors took a 4-3 lead, preempting a Kings timeout.

As the clock ticked down in the third period, the Kings tied the game to force overtime and clinch the third seed in the Pacific Division, as Arvidsson capitalized again for his second goal and third point of the evening. On the power play, skating 6-on-4 with the goaltender pulled, the Kings used a tic-tac-toe passing play, with Byfield hitting Arvidsson for the quick shot and goal from the slot, forcing the game into overtime.

Just six seconds into the extra session, forward Adrian Kempe set a new franchise record with the overtime game-winning goal, the fastest in Kings history. Kempe took the puck right off the faceoff, moved down the right wing and fired home clean for his 28th goal of the season and a 5-4 victory.

Hear from forward Byfield, Arvidsson, forward Anze Kopitar and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s win.

Quinton Byfield
On what the team was playing for tonight, with the bigger picture looming
Yeah, I think we all had it in the back of our heads what could happen. This last game we’re trying to get ready for the playoffs, so every game matters. It’s the last one of the regular season and we wanted to win it and wherever we ended up, we ended up.

On getting his 20th goal of the season tonight
Yeah, it was good, I felt good again, which is really nice, but getting that goal is huge. They were looking for me all night, so credit to my teammates there, but getting that goal and that extra boost going into playoffs is going to be good for me.

On his process of getting to this point of being a 20-goal scorer
I think it’s big for me. I started off my first year and I had five goals. Last year, I had three, so it’s a big step up for me. It just shows that I can score at this level and hopefully the process keeps continuing, going the right way.

On the desire within the room to get past the Oilers in Round 1
Yeah, we definitely want to beat them now. I think we owe them, but they’re a really good team, they added a lot of really great pieces at the deadline. They’re going to be a tough out for sure, but they’re a team that we really want to beat.

Viktor Arvidsson
On the team’s readiness heading into the playoffs
I think we’re ready. We’ve been playing really good at home and winning games at home, I think that’s positive. Now it’s a big roadtrip, so we’ll be ready for it and ready to play Edmonton.

On his line combining on a nice goal and his thoughts on where they’re at, heading into playoffs
Yeah, obviously I’ve been gone for most of the year and we haven’t been playing with each other consistently. When Phil came back there, I think it’s been really good, we’ve been finding our game back, trying to generate plays off the forecheck, being in the [offensive zone]. It’s been good.

On the team’s effort to come away with a win in the third period and overtime
I just wanted to win the game. We got a little sloppy there for a few minutes, but we found our way back. It’s a good effort, good character to just settle down and get back to it.

On his freshness level, considering the time he’s missed this season
Yeah, for sure. I’ve been working all year to get to this point. I feel ready, I’m confident in my game and my body. It’s going to be good.

Anze Kopitar
On if a first-round matchup against Edmonton felt “inevitable”
Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you don’t think about it too much during the year but once it comes down to crunch time, the way that the picture has kind of shaken out, it looked like it was Edmonton.

On the thought process on the bench, with the larger picture versus tonight’s result
It’s hard not to think about the whole picture. I guess we knew what the score was [in Vegas] going out for the third period and all that stuff. We didn’t plan on going down by one goal, but I guess we got the job done in the end and we’re going back to Edmonton.

On a dicey third period but ultimately finding a way to get the victory
Yeah, like I said, it’s the ups and downs. Some lapses within the game, really, so it’s nice for us to comeback and just kind of go and grind away get the late one and then obviously score a quick one in OT.

On Quinton Byfield getting his 20th of the season and his play tonight
If he plays like he did tonight, he’s going to have a say in the series, for sure. He’s been good all season. Yes, he’s had some downtime the last few games, but he knows that and he knows what it takes. He’s been in a hard series last year, played a lot of minutes, seeing the top matchups, so he knows. I think this was a good indicator for him to see how he needs to play.

Jim Hiller

Notes –
– Viktor Arvidsson (2-1=3) scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season and tallied an assist in tonight’s contest, his 13th, 14th, and 15th points (6-9=15) in 18 games played this season. Arvidsson has now tallied six points over his last four games (4-2=6). This marks Arvidsson’s fourth multi-point game this season, making him the tenth LA Kings player to accomplish this feat in the 2023-24 campaign.
– Quinton Byfield (1-1=2) scored his 20th goal of the season and tallied his 35th assist, becoming the first Kings skater aged 21 years of age or younger to score 20 goals in a season since Anže Kopitar (27G) in 2008-09.
With his second period goal, Quinton Byfield is the third Kings player in the last 20 years to record 20 goals in a season at age 21 or younger, following Anze Kopitar (32 in 2007-08, 27 in 2008-09 & 20 in 2006-07) and Alex Frolov (24 in 2003-04), per NHL PR.
– Trevor Moore (1-1=2) scored his 31st goal and recorded his 26th assist of the season, registering his 14th multi-point game of the year. With the helper, Moore now sits just one assist shy of reaching the 100-assist mark in his career.
– Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) scored his 28th goal of the season and recorded his 47th assist to hit the 75-point plateau for the first time in his career. Kempe’s goal served as the overtime game-winner and makes him the fifth Kings skater this season to record a game-winning goal in the extra frame. Kempe’s 21 multi-point games this campaign and 75 total points led all Kings skaters in both categories.
– Per NHL PR, Kempe scored 0:06 seconds into the overtime period to tie the NHL record for the fastest goal from the start of an overtime period.
– Phillip Danault (0-3=3) picked up his 28th, 29th and 30th assists of the season, extending his home point streak against Chicago to a sixth game (6-3=9), dating back to Jan. 15, 2020, with Montreal. With the assists, Danault has reached the 30-assist plateau for the second-straight year, becoming the fifth Quebec-born skater in franchise history to record multiple 30-assist seasons. Danault’s three assists marked his fourth three-point game on the campaign, the most among Kings skaters.
– Jordan Spence (0-1=1) tallied his 22nd assist of the season for his third point in as many career games against the Blackhawks (1-2=3). Among all active defensemen selected in the fourth round of the NHL Draft, Spence is now tied with Seattle’s Will Borgen (22A) for sixth-most assists this season.
– Drew Doughty skated in his 82nd game of the season tonight, the seventh time in his career he has skated in all 82 games in a campaign. Doughty’s seven cumulative seasons with 82 games played are tied with teammate Anže Kopitar for the most such seasons in franchise history.
– With tonight’s victory, Cam Talbot finished the season with a record of 27-20-6, finishing with the fourth-most wins and games played in a season in his career.

The Kings are not scheduled to practice tomorrow. A full practice schedule for Round 1 will be announced tomorrow.

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