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 What they got was center Anze Kopitar's best game of the season.
The Kings' captain completed his first hat trick in five years by
tying the game with 29.7 seconds remaining in regulation, then left
winger Tanner Pearson scored with 1:50 remaining in overtime to win
5-4 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night and snap the New York
Rangers' five-game winning streak.
Kopitar's first goal opened the scoring 33 seconds into the game,
then he scored late in the second and third periods to pull the
Kings into ties. It wasn't an individual performance -- his line
with left winger Milan Lucic (two assists) and right winger Dustin
Brown (one assist, five shots) dominated all night.
"That's Kopi in a nutshell," said Pearson, who was playing his first
game since Feb. 4 as he sat as a healthy scratch. "You look at his
second goal, Brown on the forecheck, he turns the puck over to Lucic
and he makes a nice pass. It's an all-around thing for that line
too."
Kings coach Darryl Sutter didn't spread the praise around as much,
saying, "It was Kopi's best game of the season, that's for sure. Not
because he scored three goals, but it was best game all around in
terms of using his whole package. He was a pretty dominant player."
Right winger Marian Gaborik gave the Kings a 2-0 lead at 11:26 of
the first period but left for good about five minutes later with a
lower-body injury. He needed help getting off the ice and could not
put any weight on his left leg following a knee-to-knee collision
with Rangers center Dominic Moore. The Kings had no update on his
status following the game.
The Rangers (31-18-6) responded with three consecutive goals across
the first two periods from left winger Viktor Stalberg, center Derek
Stepan and right winger Mats Zuccarello and appeared to be in
control as the minutes ticked away in the second period. But a
turnover by left winger J.T. Miller led to a tic-tac-toe goal from
Brown to Lucic to Kopitar that sent the game to the third period
tied at 3.
When left winger Kevin Hayes made it 4-3 by scoring the Rangers'
third power-play goal in 19 games with 4:46 remaining, it appeared
as though this would be their night. But with goaltender Peter Budaj
on the bench for an extra attacker in the final minute, Kopitar's
long shot bounced off the body of Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein and
past goaltender Antti Raanta to send the game to 3-on-3 sudden
death.
"We were down 2-0 and fought back, took the lead," Rangers coach
Alain Vigneault said. "They tied it up in the second period off a
turnover. We got the lead on a power play. They didn't get a lot of
looks, but they play a heavy, tight game. But I thought we battled
back -- we take a point and get ready for the next one."
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Budaj was making his first NHL appearance since May 2014, when he
relieved an injured Carey Price as a member of the Montreal
Canadiens during Game 1 the Eastern Conference Finals against the
Rangers. He wasn't sharp Friday but he was good enough, making 24
saves, including a breakaway stop on center Derick Brassard in
overtime.
"I should have played the puck," said Budaj, who sat back as
Brassard chased a puck the goaltender probably could have reached
first. "I was able to make the save. Guys battled for me and I'm
very thankful. It's a nice feeling to be back and get a 'W' for our
team."
Raanta, on the other side, was making just his second start in
nearly two months and wasn't at his best, either. He allowed five
goals on 34 shots but should see another start in the coming weeks.
"I don't know what's wrong right now but I feel like I'm there but
the reaction isn't," Raanta said. "It's hard to explain it. You just
try to make the save but when you just don't have the feeling in
your head and in your body, it's pretty hard."
The Kings (33-18-3) are now 8-0-1 in the second half of
back-to-backs this season.
"If you lose the first one," Sutter said, "you sure as (heck) better
be putting it all in to win the second one."
NOTES: Kings G Peter Budaj made the start as G Jonathan Quick missed
his second straight game after a collision in Boston on Tuesday. ...
Kings D Matt Greene (upper body) has not played since Oct. 13. ...
Rangers LW Rick Nash missed his ninth straight game with a bone
bruise in his leg. .... Rangers D Ryan McDonagh (concussion) missed
his third straight game. ... Rangers G Antti Raanta made his first
start since Jan. 17 and second start since leaving a game Dec. 17
with a concussion.
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