LOS ANGELES — It was a battle of criss-crossing goaltenders and adjacent draft picks on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, where a seesaw affair between the Kings and Ottawa Senators culminated in a 4-3 overtime victory for the hosts.
Kings starter Cam Talbot plied his trade for Ottawa last year, where the Senators’ Joonas Korpisalo was between the pipes for the Kings from March onward last season. The Kings’ Quinton Byfield was the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, one slot ahead of Ottawa’s Tim Stützle.
Kevin Fiala scored on a spinning backhand two minutes into the extra session to give the Kings their third win in four games.
Byfield, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jacob Moverare also scored goals for the hosts, while Anze Kopitar and Matt Roy dished out two assists apiece. Talbot stopped 28 shots.
Dominik Kubalik, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson tallied for Ottawa, with Batherson adding an assist and Shane Pinto contributing two. Korpisalo made 31 saves.
The Kings wasted little time in securing their second point in overtime, where Fiala fended off Stützle and Artem Zub as he battled in tight quarters, spun and ultimately lifted the puck off his backhand past Korpisalo for the game-winner.
Ottawa extended the game to overtime when Batherson intercepted an outlet pass and later got the puck back from Zub for a one-timer with 4:23 left in regulation.
The Kings took their first lead of the night on the first goal of Moverare’s career. A dogged shift by the Kings was rewarded with a fortuitous bounce when his point shot hit a defender and caromed into the net with 8:14 left.
The Kings had killed a penalty and generated some chances in the third period, including Kopitar’s promising tip attempt that was gloved by Korpisalo, and then evened the score with 9:36 to play.
During a delayed penalty, the Kings went to work six-on-five and their efforts culminated in Matt Roy’s 100th career point, an assist for Kopitar and goal No. 14 of the season for Dubois.
With 6:46 remaining in the period, momentum seemed to shift in the Kings’ favor, first in their own zone and then going the other way for a goal 13 seconds later. Yet just 15 seconds after their equalizer, Ottawa reclaimed the lead.
First, it was the Stützle-versus-Byfield debate in microcosm, with Stützle initially gaining leverage before Byfield upended the discussion. Stützle received a cross-crease pass and fired at a gaping aperture in the net, only to be robbed by a lunging glove save by Talbot. Byfield not only helped his own cause but evened the goalie comparison on the ensuing shift with a salacious goal. Blake Lizotte’s two-line outlet pass was tipped at the red line, allowing Byfield to get behind two Ottawa defenders. He withstood a stick lift amid having to settle a puck rolling on edge four times before popping a wrist shot past Korpisalo.
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As stunning as Byfield’s goal was, its impact was wiped away on the subsequent shift. Tkachuk received the puck behind the net after a faceoff, with Pierre-Luc Dubois draped on his back. He stepped in front and, as he fell to the ice, whipped a pivoting shot through the legs of Talbot.
There were big checks thrown in both directions with Tkachuk dropping Blake Lizotte and Andreas Englund blowing up Mathieu Joseph in the corner. Englund, who was selected by the Senators in the draft, was penalized for interference, sending the Sens onto a successful power play.
Stützle and Jake Sanderson played catch high in the zone before Sanderson sent a low-flying shot through traffic to be tipped home by the former Kings draft pick Kubalik.
More to come on this story.