Quinton Byfield scored 2:33 into overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a wild 7-6 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
In a game where defence was largely absent, Toronto wasted a strong start from Joseph Woll, who stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first period before surrendering seven goals on 40 shots overall. The Leafs made the most of their chances offensively, scoring six times on just 20 shots, but it still was not enough.
Matthew Knies opened the scoring at 4:39 of the first period with his 23rd goal of the season. After Max Domi stripped Joel Edmundson of the puck at centre ice, he drove into the Kingsā zone and fed Knies in the slot, where the winger snapped a shot past Darcy Kuemper for a 1-0 lead.
Steven Lorentz doubled the advantage with a shorthanded goal at 9:34, stealing the puck from Anze Kopitar at the Kingsā blue line before skating in and beating Kuemper to make it 2-0.
Los Angeles answered quickly in the second. Byfield got the Kings on the board just 1:11 into the period, finishing a tap-in to cut the lead to 2-1. A little more than two minutes later, Adrian Kempe tied it 2-2 after Mikey Anderson intercepted Wollās clearing attempt and set up Kempe between the circles.
Toronto regained the lead at 9:53 of the second when John Tavares jammed home a power-play goal from the top of the crease for his 30th of the season. But the Kings struck back again, as Artemi Panarin redirected a Brandt Clarke feed behind Woll to make it 3-3.
The Leafs carried a 4-3 lead into the third thanks to Easton Cowan, who buried a Tavares pass through Kuemperās five-hole in the dying seconds of the middle frame.
That advantage disappeared quickly in the third period. Kempe tied the game 4-4 at 5:36, Samuel Helenius gave the Kings their first lead just 28 seconds later, and Alex Laferriere made it 6-4 at 7:22.
Toronto pushed back. Nicholas Robertson cut the deficit to one with a shot from between the circles at 9:37, and Knies scored his second of the night at 13:29 to tie the game 6-6.
After both teams failed to break the deadlock in the final minutes of regulation, Nylander had a chance to win it in overtime on a breakaway but could not get a clean shot away. Moments later, Kempe, Panarin, and Byfield executed a crisp tic-tac-toe passing play, with Byfield finishing the sequence to seal the Kingsā dramatic win.
Toronto will look to bounce back when it returns home Wednesday to host the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena.
