Kings blow lead in final minute, lose to Blues in OT
A sound, steady and structured, if not spectacular, effort went for naught as the Kings blew a lead in the final minute and fell to the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime at Staples Center on Friday.
It marked the third time this season that the Kings gave up a goal six-on-five — the other two were against Minnesota and San Jose — and all three late goals have culminated in overtime losses.
Jeff Carter and Dustin Brown lit the lamp for the Kings. Goalie Cal Petersen was flawless in regulation, save for the first shot and second-to-last shot he faced. He made 19 of 22 saves.
Forward David Perron scored twice for the Blues and winger Mike Hoffman netted the overtime winner. St. Louis gave Jordan Binnington a rare night off as
Finnish rookie Ville Husso got the nod in net, weathering 28 of 30 shots on net.
Young players like Kings center Gabe Vilardi and Blues wing Jordan Kyrou had their moments, but all four goal-scorers in regulation were veterans with a combined age of 135.
In the extra frame, the Blues were set up in a triangle formation, moving the puck from the left wing to the point and over to the right wing, where Hoffman hammered home a onetimer for the win.
St. Louis forced overtime by scoring with just 43.5 seconds left in regulation. The Kings hustled back to even up the rush, but Perron caught the defense backing up, allowing him to pick his corner and loft the puck high to the short side
For all the Kings’ unrewarded effort early in the game and late in their Wednesday loss to Arizona, they were rewarded with a break early in the third period. They began the period on the power play and after Anze Kopitar’s pass for Brown failed to connect but ended up going in off a skate as Brown spun to find the puck. It was Brown’s fifth goal in as many games against the Blues this season and sixth power-play goal overall in 2021.
Kopitar and Brown have now played the most regular-season games together of any two active players in the NHL with 1.067. Blackhawks
defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook had played 1,069 games together, but Seabrook retired Friday due to complications from three recent surgeries.
Five minutes into the final frame, Adrian Kempe had a breakaway but was denied by Husso.
In the second period, the Kings continued to control the flow of the game and limited St. Louis mostly to perimeter shots, many from their defensemen. But it took until nearly 17 minutes to finally get on the scoreboard. A counterattack with defenseman Tobias Bjornfot jumping into the play saw winger Andreas Athanasiou draw St. Louis’s transition defense into the center of the ice. He found Carter streaking ahead of the play, and Carter glided in on a goal with a toe-drag move that led to him beating Husso with a backhand shot.
St. Louis scored a powerplay on its first shot of the game. An untidy line change saddled the Kings with a penalty for too many men on the ice. Perron skated to the top of the zone to support the puck. He skated between the tops of the faceoff circles and flicked a wrist shot that appeared to be deflected slightly, fooling Petersen.