The LA Kings improved to 2-0-1 on their current homestand, following a come-from-behind, 4-3 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
Ottawa scored the lone goal from the opening period to take a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission. Skating on the power play, off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, defenseman Jake Sanderson shot from the center point, towards the net, with forward Dominik Kubalik getting a deflection high in the slot for his tenth goal of the season.
Midway through the second period, the teams traded goals just 13 seconds apart, with the Senators leading 2-1 through 40 minutes.
First, Kings forward Quinton Byfield equalized the game with a superb individual effort. Forward Blake Lizotte fired a stretch pass from his own goal line, with Byfield deflecting the puck around an Ottawa defender, moving in alone on a breakaway and finishing with a bouncing puck for his 19th goal of the season. Lizotte and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov tallied the assists on the play, with the score tied at one.
Shortly after, however, Ottawa pulled back on top as forward Brady Tkachuk buried his team-leading 27th goal of the season. Tkachuk barreled his way around the net, worked his way into the slot and as he was being dragged to the ice, he shot back across his body, through the legs of Kings netminder Cam Talbot, for the 2-1 advantage, which the Senators took into the second intermission.
Just past the halfway mark of the third period, the Kings tied the game at two, while skating 6-on-5 on a delayed penalty. With the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, forward Anze Kopitar took the puck down low and ripped a pass through the crease to forward Pierre-Luc Dubois at the back post for the game-tying goal, Dubois’ 14th of the season. Defenseman Matt Roy tallied the secondary assist on the play, his 100th career NHL point.
Less than two minutes after Dubois equalized, defenseman Jacob Moverare scored his first career NHL goal to pull the Kings ahead for the first time in the game. Moverare took a feed across the blueline from defensive partner Drew Doughty and shot towards the net, with the puck deflecting off an Ottawa stick and past Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for the 3-2 advantage.
Inside four minutes to play in the third period, Ottawa tied the game to force overtime. After the Kings were unable to clear the puck out, the Senators turned it back the other way, with defenseman Artem Zub feeding forward Drake Batherson through the slot, with Batherson burying at the back post for the game-tying goal at 3-3.
In the extra session, forward Kevin Fiala put together an individual moment of magic to win the game 4-3. Fiala won a pair of puck battles, including one directly in front of the Ottawa net, before he swatted the puck into the back of the net on the backhand for his 20th goal of the season and a 4-3 victory.
Hear from Moverare, Lizotte and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s victory over the Senators.
Jacob Moverare
Jacob Moverare talks about his first NHL goal😁@LAKings I #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/838dIlL4XG
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) March 8, 2024
Blake Lizotte
On showing resilience in coming back to win tonight’s game
It shows perseverance. We don’t want to be in a hole like that, I think Talbs kept that game close for us, you owe him a lot for tonight. Yeah, probably the resilience of our group, guys stepping up, Mo scoring a big goal, getting his first in the NHL, was pretty cool. I think I may have said this to one of you guys a few days ago, but I feel like our group now versus maybe when we were on the bit of a slide there, when we get scored on it, it’s a hey, let’s get going, get right back in this thing, versus kind of a mope around. I think tonight was a perfect example of that.
On if he feels like maybe the Kings would have lost this game a month ago
Yeah, I think the attitude has changed quite a bit in our room and I think that shows. Tonight, it was evident that it’s in this room.
On Jim Hiller recognizing his legs early and playing him more minutes
Yeah, for sure. Right away, Jimmy has a feel of the game and felt I had jump, which I did, I felt good tonight and he kept putting me out there, so I love when that happens for myself, but more importantly guys who maybe aren’t getting the normal time they get are right there cheering you on. I think this group is special.
On playing in his 300th career NHL game
Growing up as a kid, I just wanted to play a game in the league, but looking back on 300 games, it’s pretty lucky to be where I’m at. I’ve worked very hard to be here, so I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve been able to reach that mark. But, you know, I’m looking for the Stanley Cup and not exactly how many games I’ll play in this league, but I’m here to win. So, that’s kind of number one on the mind and that’s kind of a secondary accomplishment, if you will.
Love this quote from Blake Lizotte about Jacob Moverare
"If you ask anyone in this room he's one of the best people in the @LAKings organization. He'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. I think everyone was almost more happy than he was to see him score that goal"
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 8, 2024
Jim Hiller
On his takeaways from tonight’s win
I think we needed Talbs for the first 40 minutes, that was really important. We didn’t play well. He kept us in it. Not just the obvious, with that incredible save made, there was five or six before that. He gave us a chance to get our legs underneath us or get refocused and I thought we played really well in the third. Of course, we liked the result.
On what he felt the team did differently in the third period to secure the win
The first two periods, we were playing slow. We were passing it D-to-D and they did a good job, they were above us. Third period, I think it was just a little bit simpler and it was always a balance between playing a really simple game and having enough skill to make plays when they’re available. We just went straight to work in third period. Pucks went in, we won puck battles, we saw some guys really control the puck under the goal line and scored a couple of goals.
On his happiness in seeing Jacob Moverare score his first career NHL goal
We all were, he’s a really unique character. He’s got a he’s got a wonderful personality, the guys really take a liking to him and he’s not known to score goals. So, he signs a contract, he scores a goal, that’s a pretty good day for somebody who’s really, really spent some time at his game in the minors, not give up, stay with the organization. Everybody was probably as excited for that goal as any other goal we’ve scored this year.
On elevating Blake Lizotte into more minutes tonight
I thought he had really good legs early, that was something that I thought I noticed early, he was really going and we weren’t as a team going that well, so I thought I’d get him out there with Kopi and get him a little more ice time. He did a good job with that line and he just took it from there.
On shortening the bench in the third period to establish rhythm
I don’t think was a benching [for Arthur Kaliyev], I know he would have liked to play, it wasn’t anything that Arty was doing. We were having a hard time as a team just getting our legs under us and getting some rhythm, and Alex Turcotte didn’t play much in the third period either, I don’t know if he even got a shift to be honest with you. So, we got down to our nine guys and if you noticed, Ottawa tonight, they played their top two lines a lot, probably more than we’ve seen other teams do. So, we’ll try to mix and match a little bit and try to shut those lines down and it’s hard to do. So in the end, somebody’s a casualty there and it happened to be Arthur and Turc tonight.
On winning a game the Kings were “supposed to win”
It’s just another example in the league – and we see it every night – that the standings, there’s not a lot of difference in teams. They’re all really good teams. It’s hard to win. So, one of the worst things in the world just to say, or to think at least, “hey we’re up here, they’re down there, this might not be that hard. You’re going to lose. So, we tried to respect Ottawa, they’re a good team. You saw some of their top players passing the puck and shooting, I mean that’s elite level hockey. So, no matter your opponent, you have to be at your best in this league or you will lose.
Notes –
– Kevin Fiala (1-0=1) scored his 20th goal of the season, the overtime winner. His three overtime tallies are the most among Kings players since he joined the team last season.
– Quinton Byfield (1–0=1) scored his 19th goal of the season. He is now one goal away from tying Jake Neighbours (20) for second-most goals among players aged 21 years or younger. Byfield’s 19 goals also tie Adrian Kempe for third-most goals this season (19) among Kings skaters. With the goal, Byfield ties Vitali Yachmenev for the tenth-most goals scored by a Kings skater aged 21 years or younger in a single season (since 1983-1984 season).
– Jacob Moverare (1-0=1) scored his first career NHL goal tonight.
– Matt Roy (0-2=2) collected two assists for the 100th and 101st points (22-79=101) of his career, becoming just the eighth defenseman selected in the 2015 NHL Draft and the seventh active Michigan-born skater to reach at least 100 career points. Roy’s pair of assists marked his second multi-point effort of the campaign, tied for the second-most among Kings defensemen this season.
– Tonight, Blake Lizotte skated in his 300th career NHL game, becoming the 15th undrafted player to skate in at least 300 games with the Kings and the first since Steven Duchesne (442 GP). With his assist tonight, Lizotte becomes the 27th skater in franchise history to tally a helper in their 300th career game, and the first to do so since Trevor Moore (0-2=2, Jan. 9, 2024, at TBL). Lizotte joins Trevor Moore, Tom Preissing, Mike Donnelly, Marty McSorley, Bob Berry, and Mike Corrigan as the only undrafted skaters in franchise history to tally an assist in their 300th career game.
– Anže Kopitar (0-2=2) recorded his 34th and 35th assists of the season, breaking a tie with Adrian Kempe (19-32=51) for sole possession of the second-most points on the team this season with 53 (18-35=52). With the assist, Kopitar extends his point streak against the Senators to a third game (1-5=6), dating back to Dec. 6, 2022. With his pair of points, Kopitar recorded his 11th multi-point effort of the season for the 158th multi-point home game of his career, tying Dave Taylor for the third-most in franchise history.
– Vladislav Gavrikov (0-1=1) recorded his 13th assist of the season. He now sits one point shy of 100 (22-77=99) in his career.
– Drew Doughty (0-1=1) tallied his 25th assist of the season for his 13th career point against Ottawa (2-11=13), breaking a tie with Jeff Carter (5-7=12) for sole possession of the fourth-most points against the Senators in franchise history. With the helper, Doughty has reached the 25-assist plateau for the 13th time in his career, becoming the 19th defenseman in league history to record 25 assists in a season 13 or more times. Doughty’s 13 seasons with 25-or-more helpers also ties Dave Taylor for the second-most such seasons by any skater in franchise history, trailing only Anže Kopitar (18).
– The Kings extended their point streak against the Senators to eight games (6-0-2), their third-longest active run versus an opponent behind an 11-game stretch against the Coyotes (9-0-2) and a nine-game streak against the Ducks (8-0-1).
– Cam Talbot turned aside 28 of 31 shots in tonight’s victory–including a highlight-reel diving glove-save against Tim Stützle in the second period–to improve his record to 19-14-6.
The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.
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