Byfield scores in OT, Kings recover to defeat Flyers

Quinton Byfield scored at 2:48 of overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings recovered for a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Byfield scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle for his 10th goal of the season.

“As soon as I got it, I knew it I was shooting,” Byfield said. “You know, I saw open ice in front of me, and I was just trying to see where (Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale) put his stick, and [I] just wanted to get it off quick there.”

Adrian Kempe scored twice and had an assist, and Corey Perry had two assists for the Kings (23-17-13), who are 3-1-0 on their five-game road trip that concludes at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves.

“The whole League is tight in the standings, and it’s whoever makes a run here, so if we can piece together a big road trip like this, it would be really special for us and get us in the right direction,” Byfield said.

Anze Kopitar returned after missing 11 games because of an upper-body injury the Los Angeles captain sustained in a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 5. He won 10 of 14 face-offs in 16:13 of ice time.

“He’s been out for a long time, so I thought he held up,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “I was worried about his conditioning -- not that he hadn’t been able to do the work, but it was a hard game, it was a physical game too. But he held in there for us, won some big face-offs down the stretch, and so it’s a really good start for him after being out for that long.”

Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist, and Trevor Zegras scored for the Flyers (24-20-10), who have lost four straight (0-3-1). Dan Vladar made 18 saves.

“It’s a long year,” Zegras said. “I thought we’ve played really well at times. We’ve played well at times and lost. I think there’s ups and downs in a season, and we’re a very confident group in each other. … Hopefully we can have a nice last two games and then get back after it after the break.”

Kempe scored twice in a span of 3:58 in the first period to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead, reaching the 20-goal mark for the fifth straight season. He made it 1-0 at 3:10 on a wrist shot from the slot, then extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:08 on a one-timer in the high slot set up by Perry.

Andrei Kuzmenko looked to have made it 3-0 at 7:50, but the goal was overturned after Philadelphia successfully challenged that Los Angeles forward Kevin Fiala entered the zone offside.

“If we could have got that one, or kept that one on the board, we would have been in good shape,” Hiller said. “You don’t do that, they get some momentum, and then we have to hang on.”

Zegras cut it to 2-1 just 39 seconds into the second period on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle off Bobby Brink’s cross-slot pass. It was his 20th goal of the season, his first with the Flyers.

“In between the first and second, we regrouped and played a strong second,” Philadelphia defenseman Nick Seeler said. “I thought we played strong as a five-man unit and started getting more pucks to the net. And, like I said, I thought our forecheck really kind of gave us a boost in the second.”

Konecny tied it up 2-2 just 25 seconds into the third period by redirecting Rasmus Ristolainen’s shot. He has goals in three straight games and has seven points (five goals, two assists) in that span.

“He’s trying to do the right things,“ Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “He’s getting open, he’s sprinting to [the right areas], he’s getting those goals. That’s what I’m trying to get these guys to understand, like, get to those areas quick; there might be some sticks or bodies in there, but you’ve got to get inside.”

Konecny hit the post on a breakaway at 1:30 of overtime.

“I’ve got to put it away there in overtime,” Konecny said. “I thought we were great tonight [in overtime]. They won the opening draw, they had possession all the way until I had that breakaway, and from what I remember, I don’t think we gave up anything too bad. … We’re not talking about it if I score that one.”

NOTES: Kempe has eight points (five goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. … Drew Doughty got his 700th career point (163 goals, 537 assists) in 1,252 NHL games with the secondary assist on Byfield’s goal. He is the first Kings defenseman and eighth player in franchise history with 700 points (Marcel Dionne, Kopitar, Luc Robitaille, Dave Taylor, Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls, Dustin Brown). … Aleksei Kolosov was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to back up Vladar after Samuel Ersson sustained a lower-body injury in a 6-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Thursday.