FINAL – Kings 3, Stars 2 (OT) – Kempe, Ceci, Fiala, Hiller

The LA Kings made it two for two on the current roadtrip as they fought out a 3-2 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday evening at American Airlines Center.

The Kings found themselves with 35 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time late in the third period and opened the scoring via forward Corey Perry. After a Kevin Fiala shot was blocked down in front, Perry pounced at the top of the crease and buried the rebound for his first goal as a member of the Kings organization. Perry’s goal marked three straight games with a power-play goal for the Kings.

Just shy of five minutes into the second period, Dallas answered with a power-play goal of its own to tie the game at one. Off a won faceoff in the offensive zone, Dallas kept the play alive as the puck came to forward Jason Robertson at the left point. Robertson, from the top of the left-hand circle, fired a wrist shot inside the far post and in for his third goal of the season and a 1-1 scoreline.

Los Angeles answered just under 90 seconds later as defenseman Cody Ceci scored his first goal as a King, in the building he played in last season. Forward Adrian Kempe recovered the puck in the offensive zone and as he rounded the net, he fed the puck to Ceci at the right point. Ceci’s slapshot deflected off a Dallas player and in, past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, for a 2-1 lead for the visitors.

Dallas scored its second power-play goal of the evening early in the third period to tie the game at two apiece. The Kings were unable to get a clear and with a tired group of penalty killers on the ice and despite a Grade-A save from Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, forward Wyatt Johnston found himself unmarked at the back post and he buried the Roope Hintz rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

After the game advanced into overtime, the fifth time in eight games the Kings have played longer than the regularly scheduled 60 minutes, Kempe once again played the role of hero. Skating in on a 2-on-1 rush, alongside forward Quinton Byfield, Kempe took the pass from Byfield through the slot and buried the one-timer for the goal, sealing two points in Texas for the first time since 2019.

Hear from Kempe, Ceci, Fiala and Head Coach Jim Hiller after tonight’s win.

Adrian Kempe
On his overtime game-winning goal on the 2-on-1
I felt like the d-man was shifting over and the forward who was backchecking wasn’t really there, so I was expecting it, it was a great pass, not a great shot but it worked out, so I’m really happy with that.

On the Kings blocking shots and playing to their defensive identity
After every game we’re talking about it, in the meetings the next day, everybody’s coming in, we’re sore. It’s taken a lot of energy, but when you get the wins, it feels so much better. I think we’ve been grinding out pretty much every game all season, but that’s the way it’s going to be. I think the last 2-3 games here, we’ve been really showing up with a good identity and a grinding game. We’ve just got to keep that going I think.

On any updates on a new contract with the Kings
For me, the focus right now is just on the team and playing games. We’ve got so many games coming up, I haven’t really thought about that, I’m just focusing on playing. Like I’ve said before, I love all my teammates, everybody in LA, all the fans and everything. My intent is to stay and hopefully we can get it done.

Cody Ceci
On how he felt the Kings stepped up their game in the third period to get the win
I thought we just buckled down. We knew what was on the line, we knew it was going to be a close one tonight. It wasn’t necessarily a bunch of tic-tac-toe plays going on, we were kind of in each other’s face all night. We just kind of buckled down and got it to overtime, and then from there, let our skill guys take over.

On his goal and how he saw the play develop
Just a fortunate bounce for me. Bourquey was coming out to block it, it hit his stick, and kind of changed directions on Oetter. I’ve just been shooting a lot of pucks lately trying to get him to the net and sometimes they go in.

On Darcy Kuemper’s play tonight in helping to secure the two points
Yeah, he was huge tonight. He was huge on the kill, he was huge in the second period, making some big saves. Without him, I don’t think we got the two points tonight.

Kevin Fiala
On the team finding a way to get a win tonight
They came hard, again and we kind of tried everything to……we had a bad start, honestly. Got to be better next time, just play full 60 minutes. They outworked us and outcompeted us, in my opinion, in the start, and then I think we woke up a little bit there and Kuemps [played well]. Overall, we got the win. So, even days when we don’t feel it, we still can work hard and we did, in my opinion. It’s a good win.

On the importance of getting the power-play goal right before the intermission
For sure I thought that was huge. They really were on us, we didn’t have much in the start, so with the PP, it was a little bit of an icebreaker for us. Get that goal and have the lead and also a little bit more confidence and just playing with the lead is a little nicer.

On adding Corey Perry to the power play and his goal tonight
Great reaction by him. I shot it and it was like right in the net. He’s the best netfront guy in the league, forever, so happy to have him. He’s not scared of pucks. He stands in that front, makes plays, he’s done it all. So, very excited to have him here.

Jim Hiller

Notes –
– Winger Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) scored his second consecutive overtime winner tonight in Dallas after firing home the deciding tally in the fourth period on Tuesday in St. Louis. He is the first player in franchise history net the game-winner in overtime in consecutive games. Tonight’s marker is Kempe’s ninth career overtime goal to tie Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown for the second-most in franchise history behind Jeff Carter (11 OTG).
– With his multi-point performance tonight, Kempe notched his fourth goal and his seventh assist of the season and now has a goal and an assist in four consecutive road games, dating back to Oct. 11 against Winnipeg. He is the first player in Kings history to post at least a goal and an assist in four straight away games.
– The native of Kramfors, Sweden, is also the first Kings skater to record four consecutive multi-point road games since Wayne Gretzky (3-7=10 in 4 GP) and Luc Robitaille (4-6=10 in 5 GP) in the 1992-93 campaign.
– Forward Corey Perry (1-0=1) scored his first goal of the year, his first point in a Kings uniform, to open the scoring in his return to American Airlines Center. Per NHL PR, Perry (40 years, 160 days) became the second-oldest player to score a goal with the Kings, following Larry Robinson (40 years, 317 days on April 14, 1992).
– Perry now has 22 career goals against the Dallas Stars, tying teammate Anze Kopitar and Mark Scheifele for the second-most career goals against the Texas-based franchise among active skaters, trailing only Patrick Kane (32 G).
– Defenseman Cody Ceci (1-0=1) scored his first goal as a member of the LA Kings to retake the lead in the second period. With Ceci following Perry’s first as a King, tonight’s game marked the 37th time in franchise history multiple players recorded their first goal with the team in the same game, and the ninth time in the last 20 years.
– Forward Kevin Fiala (0-1=1) tallied his third assist of the season to extend his point streak to a fifth game (3-2=5), dating back to Oct. 13 in Minnesota. Fiala now has 23 points (11-12=23) against Dallas in 32 career matchups.
– Center Quinton Byfield (0-2=2) picked up his fifth and sixth assists of the season and now has six points (1-5=6) in his last five outings, dating back to Oct. 13 against Minnesota.
– Forward Alex Laferriere (0-1=1) registered his first assist of the season and now has points (1-1=2) in two straight games to begin the Kings’ five-game road trip. Laferriere won a career-best eight of nine (89%) of his faceoffs tonight.
– Goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 of 31 shots on goal to earn his second consecutive win, his 43rd regular season victory as a member of the Kings to pass Bob Janecyk for 11th most wins in franchise history.

The Kings have a full team off day tomorrow. The team will return to the ice for morning skate on Saturday, October 25 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.