The Kings saved the drama for the last game of the regular season on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. Not known who the Kings were going to face in the first round of the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs at the time of puck drop, it took the whole 60 minutes of regulation and a goal with 1:21 remaining in the game to solidify a third straight postseason matchup between themselves and the Edmonton Oilers after the Golden Knights lost to the Anaheim Ducks on home ice earlier in the night.
It was the Blackhawks who netted the first goal on Thursday when Lukas Reichel flipped the puck to himself and beat both Kings defensemen down the ice for a breakaway goal with 4:21 remaining in the first period.
Trailing 1-0 entering the second period, the Kings responded with a trio of goals in the middle stanza. Viktor Arvidsson evened the game at 1-1 at the 4:37 marker with one-timer on a tic-tac-toe passing play with linemates Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Next on the scoresheet with 3:56 to left in the period was Quinton Byfield, who notched his 20th goal of the season with a backdoor tap-in on the power play. Giving the Kings a 3-1 lead just 1:20 later was the Kings leading goalscorer this year Trevor Moore, who potted a backdoor one-timer off of passes from Arvidsson and Danault.
Now up 3-1 entering the final 20 minutes of regulation, all the Kings needed to do to surpass the Golden Knights in the standings was earn one point in the game. But even that went under question as the Kings got into period when the Blackhawks scored three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead. Goals from Tyler Johnson (17), Joey Anderson (5) and Ryan Donato (12) all in the first 6:28 of the third period has the Kings on their heels. Still down 4-3 with 1:42 remaining in the game, Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev flipped the puck over the glass in his own zone and was called for a delay of game penalty. The Kings followed by pulling Cam Talbot and ejected for a 6-on-4 power play in attempt to tie the game. Taking just 21 seconds, the Kings found the back of the net in dramatic fashion when Adrian Kempe and Byfield set up Arvidsson for the game-tying goal and his second tally of the with a one-timer from low to high in the slot. The clock eventually ticked down to 0:00 and the Kings earned the single point needed to pass the Golden Knights in the standings.
The meaningless overtime lasted just six seconds as Kempe buried a goal after the Kings won the opening face-off and went right down and wristed a shot past the Blackhawks goalie. Kempe’s two-point night gave him 75 points on the season (28-47=75) and separated himself from Kevin Fiala’s 73-point season for the most points on the Kings this year. In doung so, Kempe snaps Anze Kopitar's 16-season streak of being the Kings leading point-getter.
Cam Talbot made nine saves on 13 shots and picked up his 27th win of the season.
