Bertuzzi ties it late in 3rd, Blackhawks rally to defeat Kings in shootout
Forward scores with 31 seconds left for Chicago; Laferriere gets 2 goals for Los Angeles
Blackhawks at Kings | Recap
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Bertuzzi tied the game with 31 seconds remaining for the Chicago Blackhawks, who rallied for a 4-3 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato scored in the shootout for the Blackhawks (4-7-1), who won for the second time in three games following a four-game losing streak. Petr Mrazek made 37 saves.
“Three excellent goals, and again, we were lucky to get to that point,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “We should thank Petr for that, but good character in the third period, led by Nick [Foligno] pretty much all the way through the game.”
Alex Laferriere scored two goals, and Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves for the Kings (6-3-3), who had won three straight at home to start the season.
“I think we started pretty good and we were rolling them for the first 10 minutes, and then kind of got away from our game,” Laferriere said. “Yeah, I mean, we obviously would have loved a win, but we’ll take the point and try and learn from it.”
CHI@LAK: Bertuzzi with the tip-in ties the game up late in the 3rd
Bertuzzi tied it 3-3 at 19:29 of the third period, scoring from one knee at the top of the crease off a centering pass from Donato with Mrazek on the bench for an extra attacker.
“I think there’s games we played earlier in the year that we probably should have won, could have won, and we didn’t get the luck,” Richardson said. “And tonight, really, we were lucky to be in here at the end, so this is maybe the one that evens it up a little bit. But we’ll take it because that’s the way it goes.”
Foligno started the comeback by cutting it to 2-1 at 3:26 of the third. Kuemper couldn’t cover up his shot from the high slot, which dribbled under his pads before he knocked it in with his glove under pressure as Foligno followed up the rebound.
CHI@LAK: Foligno blasts the puck from in front, and wrists it off the rebound to put the Blakhawks on the board in the 3rd
Craig Smith tied it 2-2 at 5:34 with a one-timer from the slot set up by Lukas Reichell, who drove into the offensive zone and slipped a backhanded pass to Smith as Los Angeles was making a line change.
“It’s not the way we want to draw it up, but we got the result, which is what we’ve been talking about,” Foligno said. “We obviously know we can play better and need to play better, but to find a way to come back in this game and get it done is a testament to the guys in here.”
Phillip Danault responded to give Los Angeles a 3-2 lead at 11:48. Kevin Fiala’s shot missed the net and caromed back off the end boards for Danault to stuff in at the left post.
CHI@LAK: Danault gets the feed from Fiala and nets the nifty backhand to put Kings back on top in the 3rd
Laferriere gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 3:57 of the first period with a power-play goal, tapping in Anze Kopitar’s pass at the left post.
He then pushed it to 2-0 at 18:37 of the second with a wrist shot from the left circle. Laferriere has four goals during a three-game goal streak.
“He’s been our most consistent player through 12 games, so puck’s going in for him,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said of Laferriere, who has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in 12 games to start the season. “Those things tend to even out over some time, but right now he’s hot and shooting well, finding good spots.”
NOTES: The Blackhawks were 0-6-0 when the opponent scored first and 0-6-0 when trailing after two periods. … Donato has six points (four goals, two asissts) during a four-game point streak.