Iafallo’s hat trick lifts Kings
He singlehandedly ends Kings’ five-game losing streak with a milestone game.
His first career three-goal game caps L.A.’s overtime victory in Arizona.
KINGS 3 ARIZONA 2 (OT)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Alex Iafallo scored 24 seconds into overtime for his first career hat trick to give the Kings a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night that ended their fivegame losing streak.
Iafallo tied the game with 2:54 left in regulation, then won it moments later on a give-and-go play with Anze Kopitar. Jack Campbell stopped 26 shots and Kopitar assisted on two goals for the Kings, who got their second win of the month.
Iafallo’s hat trick came in his 209th game. His 14 goals are one short of his career best from last season.
“It was cool to see him kind of put the boys on his back and get three big ones for us,” Campbell said of Iafallo in a television interview.
Christian Dvorak gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead with 56 seconds left in the second period, and Nick Schmaltz also scored for Arizona.
The Kings scored at 8:37 of the first period when the Coyotes couldn’t clear the puck out of their defensive zone. Ben Hutton backhanded a pass to an open Iafallo, whose shot evaded goalie Adin Hill on his stick side.
Both teams missed scoring chances. Arizona defenseman Oliver EkmanLarsson used his stick to impede the progress of Austin Wagner early in the second period, and Wagner was awarded a penalty shot. He missed it high and wide.
Ekman-Larsson headed to the dressing room with a lower-body injury late in the second after colliding with Dustin Brown, and didn’t return.
The Coyotes missed a chance to draw even when Campbell came out of the net to stop Taylor Hall’s wrister off a two-on-one at 6:06 of the second. Arizona finally tied it at 1-1 with Schmaltz’s wrist shot that got by Campbell .
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty missed his second straight game after his streak of 460 consecutive games played ended Wednesday.
The Coyotes played a pregame video tribute to the nine victims of Sunday’s helicopter crash that killed former Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.