Kings defeat Flames in overtime on Pearson goal

CALGARY --Tanner Pearson scored with 27 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.
Jake Muzzin scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves for the Kings (26-18-5), who have two wins in the past nine games (2-7-0).

"That was the team effort we needed to get wins," Kuemper said.
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Flames highlights]
Sean Monahan scored, and Mike Smith made 25 saves for Calgary (25-16-7), which is on a 10-game point streak but is 0-0-3 coming out of its five-day break.
The Flames, who have not lost in regulation since Dec. 29, 2-1 to the Anaheim Ducks, entered the break on a seven-game winning streak.
"That's the hardest thing is to understand that it's not easy to win in this league and it's not easy to get points," Smith said. "Obviously we're disappointed with not getting two and not winning games, but we're right in the thick of things and you've got to continue to gain points and gain momentum."
Pearson took a pass from Drew Doughty before shooting by Smith from the right face-off circle for the game-winner.
"I think in overtime you just want as much possession as possible," Pearson said. "Drew and I were kind of giving give-and-goes all over the ice and then he faked the shot there and froze everyone, so I just wanted to get it off as quick as possible, and it went in."

Muzzin tied the game 1-1 on the power play at 4:09 of the third period with a slap shot through a screen from the point by Smith's blocker.
"One point isn't satisfying enough for us right now, and to have a lead in the third and give it away, that's where it hurts," Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk said.
Monahan put the Flames up 1-0 at 14:03 of the first period. He took a drop pass from Micheal Ferland before finishing a give-and-go with Johnny Gaudreau by shooting past a diving Kuemper. The line has combined for 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) in the past 10 games.
"What a goal that was," Tkachuk said. "We weren't getting too much offense going, and it was a great play by them to get us the lead. They were playing good. They were creating. It was just unfortunate that the rest of us couldn't get one either."
Smith made a glove save on Alex Iafallo's one-timer at 10:57 of the second period, and Kuemper made consecutive saves on three Monahan shots in a span of four seconds, starting at 15:34 with Calgary on the power play. Monahan also hit the post, and was stopped by Kuemper on a follow-up attempt at 16:04.
"[Darcy] was awesome," Pearson said. "He kept us in the whole night and made some really big saves for us."

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Goal of the game

Pearson's goal at 4:33 of overtime.

Save of the game

Kuemper stopping Monahan at 1:08 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Monahan's goal at 14:03 of the first period.

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They said it

"I think it's good to have two points going into the (All-Star) break. It gives us something positive [to] end on a positive note, but we've just got to keep it going after the break, and that's the big thing." -- Kings forward Tanner Pearson
"We went through a stretch like this earlier in the season. We found a way to get out of it. The good thing is we're still getting points in these games and we're doing some good things. We're just a little half-degree off and it's costing us some points, but we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to keep going here. We're still in the hunt." -- Flames goaltender Mike Smith

Need to know

Monahan had a game-high eight shots on goal. … Kings forward Anze Kopitar has six points (one goal, five assists) during a five-game point streak, and 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games. … Calgary has not allowed more than three goals in a game since Dec. 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers, and has not allowed more than two goals in a game since Jan. 4 against the Kings. … Kings forward Nicholas Shore did not play because of a lower-body injury. … Los Angeles defenseman Derek Forbort, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 6-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, did not play and is day-to-day.

What's next

Kings: At the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Flames: At the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, NHL.TV)