Kings win in overtime after Wild tie game late

LOS ANGELES -- Tanner Pearson scored with 1:28 left in overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Staples Center on Saturday.
Pearson tipped in Martinez's feed from the side boards for his 11th goal. The Kings are 8-1 in overtime this season.
"He's been putting the puck in the net for us, and these days we need that," Los Angeles forward Jeff Carter said. "He's a really good skater and he can kind of get a jump on guys and find that open ice. Usually when he gets the chance he can put them in."

WATCH: All Kings vs. Wild highlights
Minnesota tied it 3-3 with 43 seconds left in the third period on a power-play goal by Zach Parise. Mikael Granlund drew a tripping penalty on Drew Doughty with 1:17 left, and goalie Darcy Kuemper was pulled to give the Wild a two-man advantage. Mikko Koivu fed Parise from down low and he scored on his rebound.
Koivu and Charlie Coyle scored for Minnesota (24-9-5), which lost for the second time in 15 games. Kuemper made 32 saves.
"When they got the lead in the last five or six minutes, when it was a desperate time, we went after them again," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's not consistent and that's what we have to do."

Carter had a goal and two assists, and Jake Muzzin and Marian Gaborik scored for Los Angeles (20-16-4). Peter Budaj made 21 saves.
Koivu made it 1-0 at 3:12 of the first period when he picked up an errant pass in the neutral zone, came down to the top of the left circle and shot through Budaj's legs. Coyle made it 2-0 at 7:27 when he caught a rebound and went five-hole on Budaj.
"We're a good team when we play the right way, and when we don't, we're not that good," Muzzin said. "We got our act together in between periods and we came out with the right attitude in the second, and it showed."
Carter scored his Kings-leading 22nd goal at 7:39 of the second period to make it 2-1. Gaborik was credited with a goal that banked in off the face of Wild defenseman Ryan Suter to tie at 2-2 at 11:13. It was Gaborik's second goal in 18 games this season.
Muzzin scored on the power play 54 seconds into the third to give the Kings a 3-2 lead.

Goal of the game

Martinez took a cross-ice feed from Kopitar and found Pearson waiting in front of the crease for the overtime winner.

Save of the game

With an extra attacker and trailing 3-2 with 1:19 left in the third period, Wild forward Nino Niederreiter shot from the high slot. Despite heavy traffic in front, Budaj managed to save it.

Unsung performance of the game

Pearson screened Kuemper, taking his eyes away from the developing play that Muzzin finished for a tiebreaking goal.

Highlight of the game

Koivu made it look easy when he skated untouched to the circle, and his snap shot went quickly through Budaj's legs.

They said it

"We came out flat. Turnover, first goal. Face off, turnover, second goal. Both of those goals are on us. We knew we didn't play the way we were supposed to in the first, and I give our guys credit. We came and regrouped and played a really solid [last 45 minutes]." -- Kings forward Jeff Carter
"The puck was bouncing on the wall a lot, and that's where they are probably one of the better teams around the League is on the wall. If you are not getting those pucks against these guys, it makes for a long night. After they got that first one, it felt like we had a lot of trouble getting anything clean or forechecking hard. We couldn't get much going." -- Wild forward Zach Parise

Need to know

The Wild clinched the best winning percentage in the Central Division through Jan. 10, which makes Boudreau a coach in the NHL All-Star Game. … Minnesota plays the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, Boudreau's first game against his former team. … Doughty got his 251st NHL assist, surpassing Mark Hardy for second among Kings defensemen (Rob Blake has 333). … Dustin Brown played in his 922nd NHL game (all with Los Angeles), surpassing Marcel Dionne for third on the Kings list (Dave Taylor, 1,111; Luc Robitaille, 1,077).

What's next

Wild: At the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Dallas Stars on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)