Kings Fall 6-5 After Surrendering Four-Goal Lead in Overtime Collapse

Quinton Byfield scored at 3:37 of overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 6-5 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The final score masked a dramatic third-period collapse in which the Kings surrendered a four-goal advantage.

The Kings built their lead during the second period. Trevor Moore, Mikey Anderson, Joel Armia, and Artemi Panarin each scored to extend the margin to 5-1. Panarin’s goal came on a power play after Ottawa’s Hayden Hodgson was removed for boarding Brandt Clarke. Clarke exited the game with an upper-body injury.

Ottawa erased the deficit in the final frame. Shane Pinto tied the game at 5-5 with 1:40 remaining, with goalie Samuel Ersson off the ice for an extra attacker. Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson also scored in the period. Cozens and Batherson found the net in a 33-second span, and Cozens had previously cut the lead to one goal with 7:26 left on the clock.

Goalie Darcy Kuemper recorded 17 saves for Los Angeles. For Ottawa, Jonas Johansson stopped 12 of 16 shots before giving way to Ersson in the second period. Ersson finished the game with 20 saves on 22 shots. Byfield’s winning goal came on a snap shot from the high slot, assisted by Drew Doughty, who picked up his third assist of the night.

Both teams return to action on Saturday. Ottawa travels to San Jose, while Los Angeles hosts Buffalo.