Adrian Kempe scored a power-play goal at 1:50 of overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday. The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Kings, who improved to 2-3-1. Alex Laferriere and Justin Faulk traded goals earlier in the game.
The Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues met for the first time this season, delivering a tight contest that required overtime to decide. The first period passed scoreless, with limited scoring chances for both sides.
In the second period, the Kings struck first at 1:47 when Adrian Kempe intercepted a puck from Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in the neutral zone and fed Alex Laferriere on a breakaway. Laferriere deked to his backhand and roofed a shot over Jordan Binnington for a 1-0 lead. 'He made an unbelievable play in the neutral zone and was able to create that turnover,' Laferriere said. 'He passed it to me and told me I had time, so I just kind of went in, made a move and luckily it went in.' Reports vary on additional action, with one account noting a fight between Blues' Tyler Tucker and Kings' Jeff Malott with 6:12 left in the period.
The third period saw the Blues tie it at 2:18 on the power play. Robert Thomas passed to Faulk, who wristed a shot from the right circle past Darcy Kuemper for his first goal of the season. 'I made a pretty bad mistake there on their goal,' Faulk said of his earlier turnover. 'You’ve got to move on. You can’t let one mistake affect the rest of your night.' Kuemper, returning from a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury, made 17 saves.
Overtime began with Pavel Buchnevich missing a breakaway for the Blues before drawing a hooking penalty, giving the Kings a 4-on-3 advantage. Kempe finished a one-timer from Andrei Kuzmenko, with Kevin Fiala assisting secondarily, beating Binnington short side. 'Just a beautiful goal, great pass, great finish by ‘Juice,’' Kings coach Jim Hiller said. Binnington stopped 26 shots in the loss.
Corey Perry made his Kings debut after signing a one-year deal on July 1 and knee surgery on Sept. 13, logging 14:41 with one shot. 'I thought he added a lot,' Hiller said. 'He’s a winner and so that rubs off.' Blues rookie Jimmy Snuggerud saw limited ice time from the third period onward. The Blues fell to 3-2-1, their first overtime loss of the season.
