Kings win an overtime thriller, 6-5

They were on their feet chanting, “Goal, goal, goal!” and pointing at center ice at Staples Center on Saturday night.

This moment of high drama seemed to run endlessly as the referee was on the phone, conferring with the video-replay judges. A goal, and a game, and a highly improbable comeback were hanging in the balance as replay after replay of Kings forward Ladislav Nagy’s stick and its position in relation to the crossbar were shown over and over.

After a heart-pounding, pulse-racing spell, the goal stood and gave the Kings their first lead of the game. Not only was Nagy’s goal the fifth straight by the Kings of the third period, it represented history, the fastest five Kings goals in franchise history, coming in a span of 5:07.

But, wait. Incredibly, that wasn’t the final twist.

Dallas’ Mike Modano sent it into overtime with 1:05 remaining on a power-play goal with Stars goalie Marty Turco pulled for an extra attacker. Still, the cosmic energy hardly left the building and the Kings won it, 6-5, on Anze Kopitar’s brilliant backhander at 2:34 of overtime, beating Turco between the pads before a dazzled sellout crowd of 18,118.

“We knew our building was behind us and gave us that energy,” said Kopitar, whose earlier goal, an easy tap-in from the left crease, made it 4-4.

Said Kings Coach Marc Crawford: “That is the type of finish you look back on and say, ‘That was really special.’ And you never know, this may be the turning point for our season. It was a great win for our players. They showed no quit.”

The other King goals came from Dustin Brown (on the power play), Scott Thornton and Alexander Frolov. Frolov, in particular, was a force in the third period, scoring once and adding two assists, including the assist on Kopitar’s game winner. Four of the Kings’ goals came on five shots.

Said Brown: “I got the first goal and the momentum kind of built. You don’t see that happen too often.”

Thirty-four times, the Stars have won when leading by two goals or more at any point in a game. But who could have predicted a third-period collapse would unfold, preventing No. 35?

“They played three games in four nights,” Kopitar said. “. . . It turned out great.”

Some understatement.

Dallas maintained something of a hockey stranglehold before the third, taking a 4-0 lead after two periods on goals by Brenden Morrow (on the power play), Mike Ribeiro, Chris Conner and Jeff Halpern. Morrow and Ribeiro scored on consecutive shots.

Turco was like two different goalies. Perfection through 40 minutes and peeved through the third and overtime. Until the third, the Kings seemed almost muted, leading to questions as to whether this was a byproduct of a rare week without a game.

“The whole third period was brutal,” Turco said. “Other than embarrassing, it’s a total lack of respect for each other.”

Credit Crawford for changing the tempo. He tweaked the personnel on the first-unit power play midway through the second period. Then there was a goalie change -- not that starter Jason LaBarbera was the first-, second- or third-biggest problem, having kept the Kings in it early on before the Stars scored twice in the final 3:33 of the first. He faced 21 shots, allowing four goals, and was replaced by J.S. Aubin at the start of the third.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com