Overtime Is Right Time for Chartrand

In a game that seemed destined to end in a tie, Kings’ forward Brad Chartrand had a different finish in mind Thursday night at Staples Center.

With a flick of the wrist from the top of the left faceoff circle, Chartrand gave the Kings a 4-3 overtime victory in front of a record-breaking crowd of 18,738, the team’s 10th sellout of the season.

“At the end of a game like that, you’re not looking for anything fancy,” said Chartrand, who has three goals over his last three games, including two in a victory over the Mighty Ducks.

Chartrand’s goal ended a mediocre effort from the Kings, who added another body to their injury list in the second period when Bryan Smolinski had to leave the game with an eye injury. He’s listed as day to day.

With Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller heading the Kings’ group of injured players, Coach Andy Murray was pleased to pick up two points, but not with how his team played down the stretch.

“For us, we had a lead in the third period and we let it get away,” said Murray, whose team ended a two-game overall losing streak but extended their home winning streak to four.

The Christmas break seemed to agree with Kings early when they opened the scoring 98 seconds into the first period. Although he never touched the puck with his stick, rookie Michael Cammalleri got credit for the goal because of a little luck.

From the left wing, Mikko Eloranta gathered in an Ian Laperriere pass and fired a shot on goal that deflected off Cammalleri’s left skate into the Coyote net, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead.

The Kings, however, made sure the Coyotes received their own share of gifts. Phoenix picked up its first soft goal off an odd bounce from a shot by right wing Mike Johnson at 6:39. With the puck just beyond the goal line deep in the right corner, Johnson fired it toward the King net, only to have it bounce off goaltender Felix Potvin’s left skate to tie the game, 1-1.

Smolinski gave the Kings a 2-1 lead on a highlight play that would make the Galaxy proud. After receiving a pass from defenseman Lubomir Visnovski, Smolinski played a little soccer with the puck by knocking it down with his stick and then kicking it back to his stick before scoring at 6:39 for his seventh goal.

The Coyotes didn’t have to work as hard as Smolinski to tie the score at 2-2, benefiting again from a King miscue. This time it was the Kings’ failure to get the puck out of their own zone that led to Phoenix’s second score, which came on a goal from Daniel Briere, who slid the puck between Potvin’s legs at 13:19.

In a wild second period, which featured a major fight between King defenseman Brad Norton and former King Kelly Buchberger along with 38 combined penalty minutes, the Kings took their third lead of the game on a power-play goal from defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

But Phoenix right wing Branko Radivojevic tied the score at 3-3 and forced overtime when he launched a shot from the left circle that seemed to catch Potvin off guard. The King goaltender allowed the puck to sneak under his legs at 13:59.

The crowd total was also the largest hockey crowd ever at Staples Center, surpassing a mark of 18,700 established in the first round of last season’s playoffs against Colorado in Game 6 on April 27.