Fiala, Kings recover for OT win, hand Senators 6th straight loss

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Fiala scored 2:00 into overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings recovered to hand the Ottawa Senators their sixth consecutive loss with a 4-3 victory at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

Fiala picked up a loose puck in the right circle, cut to the crease and scored with a backhand.

The goal came after Drake Batherson tied it 3-3 for Ottawa at 15:37 of the third period on a one-timer from the left circle.

“That’s a really hard goal to score,” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “He was at the end of the shift already. … I wouldn’t have liked to see that thing go the other way. I know we were tired. We were a little worried about that, but give Kevin credit.”

Jacob Moverare scored his first NHL goal, and Quinton Byfield and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Kings (32-19-11), who have earned a point in four straight games (3-0-1). Anze Kopitar and Matt Roy each had two assists, and Cam Talbot made 28 saves.

“I think the attitude has changed quite a bit in our room, and I think it shows,” Los Angeles forward Blake Lizotte said. “We needed two points tonight, and I think it showed with our effort.”

Brady Tkachuk and Dominik Kubalik scored, and Shane Pinto had two assists for the Senators (25-32-4), who were playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing 2-1 at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves after missing the past three games because of illness.

“I think we were just happy the way we played overall tonight,” Batherson said. “For us to come out on a back-to-back and put an effort like that and get a point, we’ll take it.”

Kubalik gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 7:33 of the first period on the power play, tipping Jake Sanderson’s shot from the blue line.

Byfield tied it 1-1 at 13:24 of the second period. He scored on a breakaway 11 seconds after Talbot made a diving glove save on Tim Stutzle’s shot into an open net.

“I think we needed ‘Talbs’ for the first 40 minutes,” Hiller said. “We didn’t play well. He kept us in it. Not just the obvious with that incredible save he made, but there was five or six before that. He gave us a chance to get our legs underneath us.”

Tkachuk scored 15 seconds later to put the Senators back ahead 2-1, beating Talbot five-hole while falling down in the low slot.

“You just want to bounce back quickly,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “You don’t control what the other team does. It was a great save, it was a great play. I thought we rebounded well after that.”

Dubois tied it 2-2 at 10:24 of the third period, skating to the crease to tap in Anze Kopitar’s centering pass during a delayed penalty.

Moverare gave Los Angeles a 3-2 lead at 11:46 when his shot redirected in off Stutzle’s stick. It was Moverare’s third point (one goal, two assists) in 32 career games.

“It’s going to be a cool memory to look back to one day,” Moverare said.

Moverare signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract ($775,000 average annual value) on Wednesday.

“He signs a contract, he scores a goal. That’s a pretty good day for somebody who’s really, really spent some time at his game in the minors, [didn't] give up, stayed with the organization,” Hiller said.

NOTES: Roy recorded his 100th NHL point on Dubois’ goal. He has 101 points (22 goals, 79 assists) in 349 career games. … Tkachuk scored his 152nd career goal, tying Radek Bonk for seventh in Senators history.