The Los Angeles Kings came late to force overtime before eventually winning it in an overtime session with a 3-2 overtime win on Monday night at TD Garden.
Striker Andreas Athanasiou scored the game-winning goal in overtime, scoring two goals in a row, with forwards Blake Lizotte and Trevor Moore scoring in regulation time. Goaltender Cal Petersen won for the second day in a row, stopping 30 of the 32 shots he faced in the win.
After an aggressive start to the game, Boston opened the scoring just over 14 minutes later thanks to forward Travis Frederick. After cycling below the goal line, forward Charlie Coyle hit an open Frederik in the slot, who shot through the net through light contact ahead of goaltender Cal Petersen.
However, the Kings reacted to the next shift when Lizott scored his eighth goal of the season to bring the tally to one. Less than a minute after the first goal, defender Olli Maatta shot through the left flank and batted the puck down the center, while Lizott fought his way into the danger zone and equalized.
After a fast-paced period, in the same physical nature of the first 20 minutes, Boston scored the only goal in the middle stanza to take a 2-1 lead at the second halftime. With the same forward line on the ice, Smith made his way into the open in the slot where Coyle served him the puck and he completed a high blocker for his 11th goal of the season and his second point of the night. and Coyle.
With less than a minute to play and Petersen on the bench for an extra hitter, the Kings found a way to force overtime through Moore. After winning a faceoff in the attacking zone, the puck went to Artur Kaliev, who saw his only timer stop, but the rebound came straight to Moore up front, where he scored the decisive goal.
In a 3-on-3 extra session, the Kings found a way to win at the expense of Athanasiou. On open ice, Athanasiou passed to his side, used his speed to go the full length of the ice, and scored a goal on the blocker’s end to give the Kings two points.
Listen to Athanasiou, Cal Petersen and Todd McLellan after today’s game.
*Guard Mikey Anderson left today’s game with an upper body injury and did not return.
Andreas Athanasiou
Winner after the game🔥@LAKings | #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/rOJCblPPYT
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) March 8, 2022
Cal Petersen
On the team’s ability to come back in almost any situation this season
Yes, 100 percent. We come up with a lot of different tricks to find ways to win and I think this will only help us in the future. Now that we have figured out how to win in such situations or need to come back in the third period, I don’t think anyone is panicking. Everyone knows what their job is, what we need to do, and it all comes down to execution. I think there is a lot of faith in each other now.
When you run consecutive nights
I felt great. I played a lot in a row in my life, I was comfortable in this situation, but it was also a little different because there were more than 24 hours between games, a little extra rest. I felt good, I like to play in a row, it’s nice to transfer a good game to another. I was happy that I got the nod.
On whether the team had extra motivation given the loss to Boston last week
For us it was a huge event in the game. We felt awkward at home against a team that is a phenomenal hockey team, one of the best in the league, and we feel like we should be there. I think it was unacceptable for us to make such an effort when we failed and we came up with something to prove, to show that we can play with the big boys. We want to be one of the best teams at the end of the year, it’s very important for our confidence, but we wanted revenge.
On Todd McLellan returning to the bench today
That was great. I think everything went smoothly when he left and Zeus came in and he did a phenomenal job. I think the guys are very comfortable with the coaching staff, so he did a phenomenal job. When Todd returned, everything was as before. We have a lot of confidence in our coaching staff, no matter who needs to step up, it’s the same with the guys who are out, it’s the mentality of the next person. It was great to have him back and I’m glad he’s healthy now.
If he feels like he’s finding a groove in this last extended stretch of the game
Yes, I mean I just take things from day to day. As for me, I don’t feel that anything has changed dramatically since the beginning of the year, I just get better results, play a few more games and feel more confident. I think when I didn’t get the results I wanted, the difference was in small adjustments, that’s what I focused on. It’s a daily job, I think Quickie and I, whoever is online, the team is very confident.
Todd McLellan
On returning to the team for such a competitive game
It was a tense game, from the puck to the finish line. Both teams fought very hard, a lot of board work, walls, weight lifting for both teams. It’s good for our team to play this, it’s very good for our team to play this, stick with it and we found a way to get two in the last few minutes of the game. We used every minute we had, which was important.
On whether he felt it made sense, the Kings reacted to the physicality of the game.
I thought that the first maybe seven or ten minutes of the game was a kind of probing process and we might have gotten a little. Dumps, searches, spending a little more time on heels than on toes. I thought the Lizotte/Grundstrom line started to grind a bit, start pre-checking, and then we settled in after that. From that moment on, there was not much space in this game. Two pretty good defensive teams that have made a commitment to play this way, with good goalkeepers at both ends. In my opinion, it was a typical playoff game.
For the whole group to contribute tonight
Everyone was important today. All four lines, no matter who played 12 minutes, and someone 20, they were all important. At the end of the trip, 4-to-6, we did it for two weeks in a row, you need the whole team. That’s what we have right now, everyone plays an important role, most of the guys take their part, and it works well for us.
On the reaction of the team during the descent
Like I said, we used every minute. We again conceded a goal in the last minute of the period, which is not very good, but they made us make a mistake and took advantage of it. It gave us a chance to regroup a bit, we stuck to the game plan, we knew we couldn’t open up. Finally, an extra player was needed, Boston tested it well, and an extra player was needed to find the loose puck in and around the net, and anything can happen in overtime.
On Cal Petersen’s second-half performance
One thing [with Boston] whether they shoot the puck a lot, in my opinion, these two teams have a lot in common. They have volume shooting and are good at breaking the grid, shooting and returning it, so Cal had to not only make the first save, but also react quickly to the second ones, which can come from a bad angle. . He did a good job back to back.
Notes –
– Goaltender Cal Petersen started consecutive games for the first time this season and the fifth time in his NHL career. Petersen made 30 saves and won for the fifth time in six starts and the eighth time in ten starts.
– Striker Andreas Athanasiou scored in the second game in a row with the overtime winner, his fifth career overtime goal.
– Striker Trevor Moore scored his 10th goal of the season in the final minute of normal time, reaching double figures for the second consecutive season.
– Striker Artur Kaliev made the first assist on the decisive goal, bringing him four points (2-2-4) in four away games.
– Today defender Sean Durzy showed a career-high 24:55, while Matt Roy’s team’s best was 26:52, which was his third result of the season.
The Kings are scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles tonight. Tomorrow is the team’s day off, and training will resume on Wednesday morning at 11:00 am at the Toyota Sports Performance Center.