The LA Kings made it two for two on the current roadtrip as they fought out a 3-2 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday evening at American Airlines Center.
The Kings found themselves with 35 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time late in the third period and opened the scoring via forward Corey Perry. After a Kevin Fiala shot was blocked down in front, Perry pounced at the top of the crease and buried the rebound for his first goal as a member of the Kings organization. Perry’s goal marked three straight games with a power-play goal for the Kings.
Just shy of five minutes into the second period, Dallas answered with a power-play goal of its own to tie the game at one. Off a won faceoff in the offensive zone, Dallas kept the play alive as the puck came to forward Jason Robertson at the left point. Robertson, from the top of the left-hand circle, fired a wrist shot inside the far post and in for his third goal of the season and a 1-1 scoreline.
Los Angeles answered just under 90 seconds later as defenseman Cody Ceci scored his first goal as a King, in the building he played in last season. Forward Adrian Kempe recovered the puck in the offensive zone and as he rounded the net, he fed the puck to Ceci at the right point. Ceci’s slapshot deflected off a Dallas player and in, past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, for a 2-1 lead for the visitors.
Dallas scored its second power-play goal of the evening early in the third period to tie the game at two apiece. The Kings were unable to get a clear and with a tired group of penalty killers on the ice and despite a Grade-A save from Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, forward Wyatt Johnston found himself unmarked at the back post and he buried the Roope Hintz rebound for his fifth goal of the season.
After the game advanced into overtime, the fifth time in eight games the Kings have played longer than the regularly scheduled 60 minutes, Kempe once again played the role of hero. Skating in on a 2-on-1 rush, alongside forward Quinton Byfield, Kempe took the pass from Byfield through the slot and buried the one-timer for the goal, sealing two points in Texas for the first time since 2019.
Hear from Kempe, Ceci, Fiala and Head Coach Jim Hiller after tonight’s win on LAKingsInsider.com.
