Kings Get the Breaks in OT Win

It will look like an end-to-end rush in the scoring summary, even if it was a broken-stick shot that glanced off a skate and into the net in overtime.

“Yeah, and my parents are going to see the box score,” King defenseman Sean O’Donnell said Monday night, laughing after he took a puck in open ice in front of Flame goalie Fred Brathwaite and fired in the goal at 1:42 of the extra period that gave the Kings a 4-3 win over Calgary before 14,455 at Staples Center.

Well, fired is a relative term.

“It’s a tough way to lose a game,” said Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, who had two goals. “They get a fluky play; they got a good bounce. . . .

“It was something that probably wouldn’t happen again in 100 times.”

Once is enough.

“It was a good play,” O’Donnell said. “I was alone in there, and Ziggy made a great pass. I was going to go low on [Brathwaite’s] stick side.”

Instead, he went low off the skate of Calgary defenseman Clarke Wilm.

It was his second goal of the season, and it rescued the Kings, who had squandered a two-goal lead in the third period against the Flames, who are winless in their last nine games (0-8-1).

“We got the two points, but we let them have one,” O’Donnell said.

Calgary earned its point on third-period goals by Phil Housley and Iginla that tied the score, 3-3, and threatened to send the Kings on a seven-games-in-11-night trip--their longest in two seasons--with the knowledge that a precious point in the Western Conference playoff race had been squandered.

Instead, they moved ahead of San Jose and Edmonton into sixth place in the West.

Two goals by Luc Robitaille and one by Ziggy Palffy were countered only by Iginla’s first of two and gave the Kings a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

Robitaille’s goals sent him rocketing past his childhood idol in Montreal, Maurice Richard, and into 18th place on the all-time NHL goal list with 545.

“It’s pretty special,” he said of passing Richard. “He meant everything to the people of Quebec, and to do this is a privilege.”

He also added an assist on Palffy’s goal in the first period that gave the Kings a 1-0 lead.

The three points give Robitaille 1,126, tied with Mike Bossy for 35th on the all-time list.

Palffy’s goal, at 1:51, came when Jozef Stumpel was served a puck in open ice, whirled and fired at Robitaille, who sent it between the legs of Calgary’s Robyn Regehr to Palffy, who only had to redirect it into an open net.

It became 2-0 when Palffy sent a pass to Stumpel, who sent it under a stick to Robitaille, who also had an open net.

Calgary got one of the goals back from Iginla.

It was left to Robitaille to counter that, which he did in the second period by rebounding a Rob Blake shot.

Their lead was cut to 3-2 when, with Glen Murray in the penalty box, Housley redirected a shot by Valeri Bure into the King net for a power play goal at 5:43 of the third period.

Only 52 seconds later, Iginla tied the score, 3-3.

Coach Andy Murray had seen enough. He called time out, reminded his charges that he had told them Calgary would not quit, added that there was a necessity to clear pucks from the Kings’ end when the opportunity arose and then sent them back onto the ice to play a little defense.

That they did, holding the Flames in check the rest of the way.

The Kings had failed to win in 10 overtime tries, losing three times.

But now the Kings are one for 11 and have five victories in their last six games. They have learned to win in overtime, just in time for the last 27 games of the season, the playoff run.

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DUCKS: 4

CHICAGO: 3

Trailing for most of the game, Kip Miller and Ted Donato scored third-period goals and Anaheim pulled out a victory over the Blackhawks. Page 3

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FLICKERING FLAMES: Weakened by injuries to their most experienced defensemen, Calgary’s season is quickly unraveling, ruining what was a promising start. Helene Elliott’s column. Page 3