Vladislav Gavrikov scores in overtime to lift Kings to homestand sweep
Vladislav Gavrikov scored 25 seconds into overtime and the Kings snapped the Tampa Bay Lightning’s five-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory Saturday night.
Steven Stamkos scored twice in the final 4:34 of regulation for Tampa Bay, tying it with 45.8 seconds left while the Lightning had a six-on-five advantage. But Gavrikov promptly buried his sixth goal of the season after the Kings executed a nifty set play to begin the three-on-three period, allowing the defenseman to break in alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy early in overtime.
Trevor Moore scored his 26th goal and Mikey Anderson ended his 54-game goal drought as the Kings won their season-best fourth straight home game against a surging Lightning team that had lost just once in March.
After a midseason lull that resulted in coach Todd McLellan’s firing, the Kings are closing in on their third consecutive playoff berth with increasing confidence from eight wins in their last 12 games.
Anze Kopitar became the 52nd player in NHL history to score 1,200 points during the Kings shutout of the Wild.
“In the room, we know what we have and how good we can be if we do it the right way consistently and together,” Anderson said. “We’ve beat some good teams this year. Obviously, if we have things going the right way, we like our chances against anyone. They’ve had a lot of success the last couple years, so they’re a good team to test yourself against. They know how to win, so being able to come out and play that well against them, we’re moving the right way.”
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot made 21 saves for the Kings, who completed a perfect three-game homestand with their fifth win in seven games.
Tampa Bay, which leads the NHL in power-play scoring percentage, got all three of its goals with a man advantage. The Kings have the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit, and coach Jim Hiller wasn’t disappointed by its effort despite the Lightning’s success.
“I thought we did a pretty good job on it until the end, but all they need is basically one second, one seam (for a) one-timer,” Hiller said. “We’ve seen that goal over and over again by those players. We did a good job on the PK. That wasn’t really the issue. They executed when they had a chance, and they buried.”
Brayden Point had a goal and an assist and Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots for the Lightning, who had won the first three games of their five-game West Coast trip by a combined 14-7.
“They’re a really good defensive team, so they don’t give you much,” Stamkos said of the Kings. “They’ve always been a good, structured team. That’s just the style that they play, and that’s why they’re always in the mix and give teams trouble. So sometimes you’ve got to rely on your power play, and we did that tonight to get us a point.”
Stamkos extended his points streak to eight games when he made it 3-2 in the final second before the expiration of a power play. He added the tying slap shot for his 29th goal of the season, capping a prolonged stretch of pressure.
NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov extended his points streak to 13 games with the primary assist on Stamkos’ tying goal.
“Late in the power play, we stuck with it, and great players make great plays,” said Victor Hedman, whose slap shot shattered Trevor Lewis’ stick moments before the tying goal. “In the six on five, we had opportunities to get some goals, obviously caught a break with a broken stick, and that’s when seams open up and we shoot the puck. You get it in (Kucherov’s) hands, he’s going to find the open man, and he did.”
Los Angeles scored in the first period when Quinton Byfield intercepted Matt Dumba’s clearing attempt and Anze Kopitar eventually set up a redirect for Kempe’s 22nd goal.
Point evened it with his 41st goal of the season on a power play 5.8 seconds before the first intermission.
Moore put the Kings back ahead early in the second with a rebound tap-in. The goal by Moore — the undrafted Thousand Oaks native who improbably leads the Kings in goals — gave him 49 points this season, setting a new career high.
Anderson scored only his second goal of the season early in the third period, keeping the puck on an odd-man rush and beating Vasilevskiy cleanly for the sturdy defenseman’s first goal since last Oct. 27.
The game was played on the 30th anniversary of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record-breaking 802nd goal, which he scored for the Kings at the Forum.
Up next for Kings: at Vancouver on Monday night to open a four-game Canadian trip.
