Toffoli scores early in OT as Kings edge Rangers


Reuters | Updated: 05-02-2019 08:30 IST | Created: 05-02-2019 08:30 IST
Toffoli scores early in OT as Kings edge Rangers

Tyler Toffoli scored 25 seconds into overtime Monday night to cap a frantic comeback by the Los Angeles Kings, who edged the host New York Rangers 4-3. The Kings, who never led in regulation, forced overtime when Adrian Kempe scored his second goal with 59.6 seconds left in the third period.

The Rangers nearly won on their first possession of overtime, when Mika Zibanejad's shot rang off the right post. Zibanejad actually raised his arms for a moment thinking the puck had gone in. Instead, the puck caromed close to center ice, where Toffoli picked it up and raced into the Rangers' zone.

Toffoli shuffled the puck for a few steps and deked New York defenseman Brady Skjei into thinking he was going to pass across the crease. Instead, Toffoli fired a shot that sailed over the pads of Henrik Lundqvist. The Kings, who have the fewest points in the Western Conference, have alternated wins with losses in their last eight games. The Rangers have lost two straight and three of four. All three defeats have been by one goal.

Kempe, who hadn't scored since Dec. 11, recorded the second two-goal game of his career and his first since he collected a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 18, 2017. Anze Kopitar also scored for Los Angeles. Goalie Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.

Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Adam McQuaid scored for the Rangers. Zibanejad has recorded a point on each of New York's last 10 goals dating back to a power play goal against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 19. It is the longest such streak in team history. Lundqvist made 26 saves.

The teams traded goals throughout regulation. Kreider opened the scoring by taking a pass from Tony DeAngelo and beating Quick from point-blank range 8:32 into the first.

Kempe scored his first goal with 2:37 left, when Ilya Kovalchuk's pass left Lundqvist leaning to his left and allowed Kempe to dump the puck into the right corner of the net. Zibanejad put the Rangers ahead 32 seconds into the second, when he put back the rebound of Mats Zuccarello's shot.

The Kings tied the score 5:04 into the third period, when Kopitar beat Lundqvist with a backhand. McQuaid put the Rangers ahead again at the 9:15 mark, when he picked off a clearing pass and fired a shot from the blue line that sailed past a gaggle of players in front of Quick. --Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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