Byfield scores 2nd goal in OT, Kings defeat Maple Leafs

LOS ANGELES -- Quinton Byfield scored his second goal of the game at 2:33 of overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings won 7-6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Byfield finished off Artemi Panarin’s cross-slot pass on a 3-on-2 break after William Nylander whiffed on his breakaway shot at the other end. 

Byfield also scored in overtime at Toronto to give the Kings a 4-3 win on Nov. 13.

“On that play, a 3-on-2, him and ‘Bread’ were connected,” said Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe, who tied his career-high with four points. “I just tried to find one of them, and then great pass by ‘Bread’ to him backdoor. But Q’s been playing really, really well for us, and that’s what we’re going to need from him.”

Kempe had two goals and two assists and has six goals on a four-game goal streak for the Kings (31-26-19), who are 3-1-1 in their past five games. Panarin had a goal and two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 14 saves.

“That’s a really weird game,” Los Angeles coach D.J. Smith said. “We created a ton and just shot ourselves in the foot. You know, 6-4 lead, we just made some poor decisions with the puck. … We’re gonna take that (win), and we’re gonna take the two points, and we’re just gonna throw the tape away and move on to the next one.”

Los Angeles is tied in points with the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference but has fewer regulation wins (26-19).

“That’s the most important thing, to get the two points,” Kempe said. “Doesn’t matter what the score was or how we played.”

Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist, John Tavares had a goal and two assists, and Joseph Woll made 33 saves for the Maple Leafs.

Toronto had not lost when scoring at least six goals since a 7-6 overtime loss at the Florida Panthers on April 5, 2022.

“Certainly, the entertainment value was really high,” Tavares said. “For us, we had a lot of leads in this game, and I think for us to just (be) a little bit loose, execution, some of our decisions, just some mistakes that hurt us. But the investment, I think, the way we competed, emotionally, just the fight that was in our game, and the resolve that we showed mentally, we were able to fight back and give ourselves a chance to win it. And, obviously, didn’t execute well enough in overtime.”   

Kempe’s second goal tied it 4-4 at 5:46 of the third period. He scored on a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic.

Kempe has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past five games. 

“I’m playing with really good players, and, yeah, just trying to get open and do my work out there, and not try to think about it too much,” Kempe said. “But obviously, it’s crucial games that we have to play, so obviously I’m happy that I can contribute and do my part.”

Samuel Helenius gave the Kings their first lead at 6:14, going ahead 5-4 on a wrist shot from above the left circle.

Alex Laferriere made it 6-4 at 7:22 on a wrist shot from the left circle.

“We said going into the third that if we stick with it, we’re going to get scoring chances,” Kempe said.

Nicholas Robertson cut it to 6-5 at 9:37 on a one-timer in the slot, and Knies tied it 6-6 at 13:29 on a wrist shot from the right circle.

The Kings set an NHL record with their 31st overtime game of the season, having already set the record for most losses in overtime or shootout in a season (19).

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Smith said. “We play with everybody. … You can sit here and chuckle about it because you win. You don’t win that game, and you’re not feeling very good.”

Knies put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 4:19 of the first period. Max Domi poke-checked the puck away from Joel Edmundson in the neutral zone and came in on the rush before making a drop pass to Knies, who scored his 22nd goal on a wrist shot from the high slot.

Steven Lorentz made it 2-0 at 13:42, forcing a turnover by Anze Kopitar at the Kings’ blue line and scoring short-handed with a wrist shot from the slot.

The Kings cut it to 2-1 at 1:11 of the second period when Byfield tipped in Jared Wright’s pass on a 2-on-1 rush created by overloading the right side on an effective zone entry.​

Kempe tied it 2-2 at 3:55, finishing a 3-on-1 break started by Mikey Anderson as he came out of the penalty box.

“For a team that doesn’t score a lot, we created a ton of opportunities. Now, we got to tighten it up for sure,” Smith said.

Toronto looked to have reclaimed the lead at 4:37 when Morgan Rielly’s centering pass went in off Edmundson’s left foot, but Los Angeles successfully challenged for an offside in the buildup.

Robertson scored at 5:34, but the Maple Leafs had too many men on the ice, resulting in a penalty.

Tavares did put the Maple Leafs back up 3-2 at 9:18 on the power play when he was at the right post to put in Nylander’s rebound after hitting the crossbar. 

Tavares reached the 30-goal mark for the eighth time.

“I’m just trying to work for my game to be what I expect it to be and try to get as much value as you can out of our finish to the season here,” Tavares said.

Panarin tipped in Brandt Clarke’s pass at 14:53 to tie it 3-3.

Easton Cowan put Toronto in front 4-3 at 19:47 by sweeping in Tavares’ pass at the top of crease on the power play.

“Just ups and downs of the game, and we just got to be consistent for a full 60,” Cowan said. "At the end there, we managed to get a point. We fought back."

NOTES: The 2003-04 Boston Bruins previously held the record for overtime games in a season (30). ... Kempe also had four points against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 18, 2017 (three goals, one assist), the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 11, 2023 (four goals), and at the Anaheim Ducks on April 13, 2023 (three goals, one assist). … Kempe’s four-game goal streak is tied for the longest of his career, having done so five other times. … The Maple Leafs tied their season high for goals allowed (7-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 27).