After assisting on Tyler Bertuzzi’s tying goal with 31 seconds left in regulation, Ryan Donato recorded the decisive score in the shootout, and the visiting Chicago Blackhawks rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Facing a 2-0 deficit with eight shots on goal through two periods, Chicago woke up in the third.
Just 3:57 into the final frame, Nick Foligno successfully pushed in a rebound of his own shot that Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper (17 saves) allowed to trickle behind him. Then a little more than two minutes later, the Blackhawks caught the Kings in a line change, and a streaking Lukas Reichel sent a backhand pass into the high slot for Craig Smith to one-time past Kuemper.
However, the Kings regained the lead with 8:12 remaining in the third when Phillip Danault whacked in a rebound for his first goal of the season. But the Blackhawks answered with less than a minute to go when Bertuzzi tipped in Donato’s toss at the net to tie things at 3-3.
Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Donato each scored in the shootout, and Petr Mrazek made 37 saves for Chicago, which improved to 2-2-0 on a five-game trip. The Blackhawks also handed the first home loss in four tries to Los Angeles, which got two goals from Alex Laferriere.
The Kings wasted no time opening the scoring. Just 3:57 into the game, and on the power play, Anze Kopitar slid the puck through the legs of Chicago Alex Vlasic and over for Laferriere to easily tip in.
The Kings owned a 12-4 shots-on-goal advantage through the first 20 minutes, and didn’t allow the Blackhawks to record their initial shot until there was 8:50 remaining in the opening period. However, Kuemper preserved the Los Angeles lead in the final seconds of the first period when he stopped Smith via a two-on-one opportunity.
Laferriere struck again with just 1:23 remaining in the second period. After Bertuzzi had the puck taken away along the far boards, Alex Turcotte controlled possession in the Blackhawks zone, then centered for Laferriere to wrist past Mrazek.
–Field Level Media
