LOS ANGELES – Viktor Arvidsson scored the game-tying goal with 1:21 left in regulation, and the Los Angeles Kings earned a playoff rematch with Edmonton by jumping into third place in the Pacific Division with a 5-4 overtime win. against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
The Kings’ comeback and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights’ loss to Anaheim propelled Los Angeles to a third straight postseason meeting with the Oilers, who had beaten the Kings in both of their previous first-round matchups. Los Angeles (44-27-11) finished with 99 points, one ahead of the Knights (45-29-8).
Los Angeles took a two-goal lead into the third period against Chicago, but blew it when the Blackhawks scored three times in five minutes. A regulation loss would have put the Kings in a first-round matchup with Dallas, the top seed in the Western Conference.
“It’s hard not to think about the bigger picture,” Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar said. “I think we already knew what the score was (in Las Vegas) in the third period and everything. I didn’t plan on missing a goal, but I think in the end we got the job done and we’re going back to Edmonton.
The Kings finally equalized when Arvidsson scored his second goal of the night during a 6-on-4 lead, with goalie Cam Talbot pulled for an extra attacker and Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev in the penalty box.
With third place secured by the single point for reaching overtime because of Los Angeles’ tiebreaker advantage, Adrian Kempe won the game with an unassisted goal just six seconds into extra time, and the Kings’ minds turned to Edmonton .
“We definitely want to beat them now,” said Quinton Byfield, who scored his 20th goal. “I think we owe it to them, but they are a very good team. They added a lot of great pieces on schedule, so it’s going to be tough for sure. But it’s a team we really want to beat.”
Tyler Johnson, Joey Anderson and Ryan Donato scored in the Blackhawks’ third-period flurry, with Donato getting the tiebreaker with 13:32 to play in the final game of the NHL regular season.
Arvidsson had two goals and an assist in another big game for a veteran who has missed 63 games this season due to injuries. Byfield broke his personal 19-game scoring drought for the Kings, while Trevor Moore also scored and Phillip Danault had three assists.
“Well, we’re done, right?” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “I thought their goalkeeper played very well. It ended up being close because we gave them some chances in the third period. I didn’t think it should have been a close game. We had to come together and score some important goals.
Talbot made just nine saves.
Lukas Reichel also scored and Arvid Soderblom stopped 31 shots for the Blackhawks, who lost their sixth straight game and finished with the second-fewest points in the NHL for the second straight season.
Chicago finished with 52 points — the Original Six franchise’s fewest in a season since it earned 50 in 1955-56.
“I’m looking for the positives and the things we can build on, and that’s why I think it’s so disappointing,” Chicago forward Nick Foligno said. “We want to feel good about ourselves going into the offseason. But again, we’re a team that needs to make some changes here, and that’s not enough. That can’t be good enough. This will have to change drastically over the summer.”
After its fourth straight spring without a playoff berth, Chicago will have the second-best odds to win the next lottery.
Chicago won the lottery with the third-best odds last year to land Connor Bedard, who finished his rookie season with 61 points in 68 games, including 28 in his final 29 games after returning from injury in mid-February. Bedard led all NHL rookies in points and goals (22), while tied with Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber for the most assists (39).
Byfield put the Kings ahead in the second period with a redirect from the Blackhawks’ zone. The second overall pick is just the third player in Kings history to record a 20-goal season before turning 22.
Moore scored his team-leading and career-best 31st goal 80 seconds later, but Johnson scored his eighth power play goal of the season for Chicago early in the third. Anderson then tied it after 21-year-old Landon Slaggert impressively stripped the puck from Kopitar off the boards.
Donato connected on MacKenzie Entwhistle’s shot with 13:32 left in regulation, silencing the stunned Kings crowd.
NEXT
Blackhawks: The NHL draft in early May.
Kings: First-round Game 1 Monday night at second-place Edmonton.
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AP NHL:
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