Kings rally for OT win against Golden Knights

LOS ANGELES -- Dustin Brown scored a power-play goal with 1:46 left in overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center on Monday in the first game of a home-and-home.
Anze Kopitar tied the game 2-2 with 10.8 seconds remaining in the third period.

"Just can't quit on a game, right? I think we've been pretty good at that all year, is sticking around games and finding ways to get goals late, keep us alive, and tonight we found a way to get the next one," said Brown, who scored for the second straight game.
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Kings highlights]
Jeff Carter scored his first goal of the season, and Jonathan Quick made 37 saves for the Kings, who defeated the Golden Knights for the first time (1-1-1).
Los Angeles (34-24-5, 73 points), which won for the first time in three games, is tied with the Calgary Flames for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Kings and Flames trail the Anaheim Ducks by one point for third in the Pacific Division.
Erik Haula and Reilly Smith scored for the Golden Knights, who lost for the first time in three games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 41 saves.
Vegas (41-16-5, 87 points) leads the Nashville Predators by two points for first in the Western Conference.
The Kings rallied late by getting to the net. Brown was standing in the crease and was struck in his leg by Tyler Toffoli's long shot. He gathered the puck and reached around a sprawling Fleury for his second overtime goal this season.

"They kept on creating chances," said Smith, who put the Golden Knights up 2-0 47 seconds into the third period with his fourth goal in five games. "They created a lot of scrums in front of the net. The third period, they put a lot of pucks to the net and they created some opportunities. That was a tough way to finish that one."
Carter made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:28 of the third period. Fleury stopped his sharp-angled shot, but the rebound went in off Vegas forward Cody Eakin's visor.
"Eakin, I think he was sliding backdoor to cover me maybe and it hits him," Brown said. "Those are the type of goals that go in this time of year."
Haula gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead 4:37 into the game. Beating the Kings in transition with a clean breakout from their own zone, Haula kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with David Perron and scored over Quick's glove.
The Golden Knights were down to 10 forwards for nearly half the game. Center Oscar Lindberg did not return after a hit by Kyle Clifford at 6:16 of the first period. Clifford was called for interference. Vegas forward James Neal left the game at 9:47 of the second after a hit by Jake Muzzin.
Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant played three lines, rotating forwards Ryan Carpenter, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves to account for not having a fourth line. Reaves had four hits in 7:02 in his Vegas debut after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a three-team trade involving the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 23.
Gallant said he did not know if Lindberg or Neal would be available to play against the Kings in the final game of the season series at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Goal of the game

Brown's goal at 3:14 of overtime.

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Save of the game

Quick stopping Alex Tuch at 18:22 of the third period.

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Highlight of the game

Carter's goal at 12:28 of the third period.

They said it

"He's getting to his spots where he's getting opportunities, and he's going to get sharper as we move along here. I think it's only a matter of time before he starts to convert." -- Kings coach John Stevens on Jeff Carter, who scored in his second game since returning from ankle surgery
"The only thing that's not positive is just [goalie Marc-Andre] Fleury was outstanding tonight and he didn't get the win there." -- Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault

Need to know

The Golden Knights lost for the fourth time in 30 games when scoring the first goal (26-4-0). … Smith has two goals and four assists during a three-game point streak. … Center William Karlsson had an assist on Smith's goal to extend his point streak to three games (three goals, two assists). … The Kings have outscored opponents 79-46 in the third period. … Kopitar, who had two assists, has 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in his past 24 games.

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Kings: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)