Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Drew Doughty's power-play blast at the 3:40 mark of overtime gave the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche in the opener of a home-and-home set.
Los Angeles had given up a goal with 6.6 seconds left to tie the game, but Ruslan Salei took a cross-checking penalty at the 3:21 mark in the extra frame and Doughty made him pay as his huge blast from the top of the right circle beat Craig Anderson cleanly for the win.
The win gives Los Angeles 89 points on the season and moves the team into the fifth spot in the Western Conference. The Kings are tied with the Predators, but have two games in hand. Colorado is at 87 points and sits in the seventh spot.
Ryan Smyth scored twice and Wayne Simmonds scored the other goal, while Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll each had two assists for the Kings, who have won their past two games. Jonathan Quick finished the game with 18 saves.
"This is a big two points," said Smyth. "They battled hard right until the end, and they capitalized with six seconds left. We capitalized on our power play, which was big tonight. It is gut-check time now, and it is important to fight through adversity."
Peter Mueller had a goal and an assist while Chris Stewart and T.J. Galiardi each had a goal for the Avalanche, who have dropped three straight. Craig Anderson stopped 19 shots in the loss.
"It's a playoff-type game," said Colorado head coach Joe Sacco. "It had playoff atmosphere written all over it. There was a lot of intensity in the game. I thought our guys responded with a good game defensively which is something we were looking for. Unfortunately we didn't come away with the extra point but we did get one. It's something for us to build on."
These two clubs will play in Colorado on Wednesday.
With the score tied in the third, the Kings took a 3-2 lead midway through the frame as Smyth got the puck behind the net and from the right side, used a wraparound to get the puck across the goal-line.
Colorado, though, got Anderson out of the net in the final minute and tied the game with 6.6 seconds to play. Paul Stastny skated into the LA end and made a move to get around the defender. His initial shot was stopped as he fell to the ice, but Galiardi was there to stuff home the rebound.
"We can not be letting those goals go in late in the game like that," said Doughty. "The last minute of every period is really important, especially the third period. Getting the win is huge, but it is pretty disappointing we gave them that point."
The Avalanche possessed the initial lead in the game when Stewart threw a shot on net from the left boards that hit off the stick of Fredrik Modin and snuck past Quick at the 7:14 mark of the first.
LA, though, got the goal back at the midway mark of the period on the power play. Brad Richardson sent a seam pass from the left point to the right circle where Kopitar fired it over to the left side of the net and Smyth redirected it in.
The Kings took a 2-1 lead with 4:19 left in the second when Simmonds got the puck behind the net, skated out to the right side and slipped a backhand between the pads of Anderson.
Colorado tied the game 4:54 into the third on a 2-on-1 break as Mueller skated down to the right circle and beat Quick with a wrister to the short side.
Game Notes
Los Angeles won the only other meeting, 3-0, on February 13. After Wednesday's contest these teams will meet one more time, April 11 in Colorado, the last game of the season for both teams...Colorado went 0-for-5 on the power play while the Kings were 2-for-3.
Source:scoreboards.canoe.ca/
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