Kings recover in OT, edge Blues to move into 2nd wild card in West

LOS ANGELES -- Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings recovered for a 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

“It’s fun playing these games,” Moore said. “It’s fun having them be important every single night, so we just got to keep our foot on the gas.”

Moore took the puck from his own zone and skated down the right side before getting behind Jonatan Berggren for a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle.

“I mean, everybody knows how fast he is, that he can beat guys wide like that,” Kings goalie Anton Forsberg said. “It was really cool and good goal, really nice goal, so I’m glad for him.”

Robert Thomas tied it 1-1 with 3:53 remaining in the third period for St. Louis when Philip Broberg’s long shot took multiple deflections before going in off Thomas’ skate.

Adrian Kempe scored a power-play goal, and Forsberg made 23 saves for the Kings (30-26-18), who had lost six of their previous eight (2-3-3).

Los Angeles moved into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, who the Kings will host on Thursday.

“We don’t have much time, so we’re moving on,” Forsberg said. “It’s a good, good feeling for the group, obviously, to get the win tonight, and hopefully we can build on it and bring it in tomorrow with some more energy and take another two points.

“It’s so tight right now, so at the end of the day, we got to focus on winning games, no matter what the standings are.”

Jordan Binnington made 24 saves for the Blues (31-31-12), who had points in four of their previous five (4-1-1), but have lost two straight.

“Yeah, we’re disappointed,” Thomas said. “These last two games, we felt like we really needed to get some wins and haven’t been able to do it, so obviously disappointing.”

St. Louis is four points behind the Kings for the second wild card.

Kempe’s power-play goal put Los Angeles ahead 1-0 at 16:59 of the second period. He took Alex Laferriere’s backhand pass through the slot and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle for his 28th goal of the season.

In addition to going 1-for-3 on the power play, the Kings held the Blues scoreless in three penalty-kill situations.

“Tonight, they probably win us the game,” Los Angeles interim coach D.J. Smith said. “It’s something we haven’t won a ton of is special teams. … I feel confident right now that the guys are doing the job.”

Jared Wright appeared to score for the Kings 8:28 into the second, but his goal was immediately waved off for goaltender interference by Joel Armia.

“It felt like a playoff game,” Thomas said. “There wasn’t much room out there. Both teams were playing hard. … Really close game.”

The Blues had 23 shots on goal through regulation despite creating plenty of chances, with Logan Mailloux in the second and Broberg in the third getting in on net for dangerous looks before each put his shot wide.

“We missed the net too often on a lot of our opportunities,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s something that has been a little problematic. We try to be too perfect, and it’s costing us some goals. I think we need to release pucks quicker and just hit the net.”

NOTES: Kings forward Artemi Panarin had an assist for his 19th point (seven goals, 12 assists) in 18 games since being acquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4. It was also Panarin’s 50th assist of the season to reach the mark for the fifth straight campaign and eighth time in 11 NHL seasons. He became the fourth undrafted player since 1963-64 to record eight or more seasons with 50 assists. The others are Wayne Gretzky (18), Adam Oates (12) and Peter Stastny (nine). … Kings captain Anze Kopitar had the primary assist on Moore’s goal for his 12th point (six goals, six assists) in the past 15 games. … Thomas has four points (one goal, three assists) during a three-game streak.