LDN - Sports

Kings suffer blow to playoff prospects with SO loss

[March 15, 2017] LOS ANGELES -- On a night when the Los Angeles Kings needed a victory to keep pace in the Western Conference race, the undermanned Arizona Coyotes left Staples Center with an extra point that made the home team's path to the postseason more difficult.

Max Domi scored twice, including the tying goal with 45 seconds left, and Anthony DeAngelo added the deciding shootout tally in the 11th round as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Arizona (26-35-8) won its third straight game with Louis Domingue stopping 44 Los Angeles shots and 10 shootout attempts.

Los Angeles (33-29-7) lost its second straight game and trails St. Louis by four points for the second Western Conference wild card spot with the Blues holding a game in hand. Ben Bishop made 30 saves and lost his third straight game since joining the Kings.

With the Kings coming off a pivotal loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday, it was thought that the last-place Coyotes would offer little opposition but Louis Domingue had other ideas. In spelling starter Mike Smith, Dominigue fashioned his finest performance of the season.

"He did very well. In the game and the shootout," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "With that many shooters, his effort was real strong and overall a really good outing by him."

Domi praised his teammates for the support in winning a game against a desperate team.

"It's usually how this game works. That's what makes it so fun,'' Domi said. "Sometimes you get chances and they don't go in, and other times you get a couple chances and both of them go in. I'll take it, it was a huge win for us tonight. It was great to see Louis put that performance on in the shootout. It's a huge two points, and now we have to keep building."

As they have all season, the Kings dominated play with puck possession but could not convert chances with the game on the line. With Tyler Toffoli breaking an eight-game scoreless streak with his two-goal performance, it appeared the Kings would earn two points with a narrow victory.

Toffoli's second goal of the night, his 14th of the season, on the power play at 18:24 of the third period gave the Kings a 2-1 lead. Domi tied it 51 seconds later with Domingue pulled for an extra skater to send the game to overtime with his ninth goal of the season.

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Kings center Jeff Carter (77) shoots the puck past Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue (35) for a shootout goal at the Staples Center. The Coyotes defeated the Kings 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

"Every loss is tough," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "This one is tough for me."

With a schedule heavily laden with playoff qualifiers, the Kings' margin for error is razor thin. With teams such as the Blues and the Calgary Flames posting winning streaks down the stretch, the Kings face a must-win scenario almost every night.

"We need to win every game," Toffoli said. "We need to get rolling here and find a way to get two points in all these games coming up."

Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the second period. Jake Muzzin's shot from the point was saved by Domingue. The deep rebound in the slot set up Toffoli to deliver an uncontested slap shot from 17 feet for the goal.

Domi tied the game at 5:39 of the third period. After a neutral zone turnover by Los Angeles, Arizona penetrated the offensive zone where Christian Dvorak found Domi in the slot and he deked around Jarome Iginla for a wrist shot that beat Bishop cleanly.

NOTES: This was the fourth meeting. They face off again April 2 at Staples Center. ... Arizona scratched LW Teemu Pulkkinen, D Kevin Connauton and C Alexander Burmistrov. ... Los Angeles did not dress D Brayden McNabb, C Nick Shore and C Jordan Nolan. ... The Kings complete their seven-game homestand against Buffalo on Thursday. They start a stretch of five out of seven games on the road in Calgary on Sunday. ... Los Angeles D Drew Doughty (675 games played) passed Mike Murphy for ninth on the Kings all-time games played list.

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