Kings 3, Lightning 2
Jordan Nolan scored his second goal in three games early in the third period to snap a tie and Los Angeles held off visiting Tampa Bay for its fifth consecutive victory.
Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar also tallied while Dwight King collected a pair of assists for the Kings, who have beaten the Lightning twice during their winning streak. Jonathan Quick turned aside 21 shots, including one by Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos in the final seconds, to improve to 5-1-0 lifetime against the Lightning.
Defenseman Nikita Nesterov scored his first NHL goal and Tyler Johnson tallied with 36.1 seconds left to bring the Lightning within one. Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for Tampa Bay, which fell to 1-1-0 on its five-game road trip.
The Kings killed off an early penalty in the third period before Nolan swerved into the slot and lifted a backhander past Vasilevskiy at 3:36 for a 2-1 lead. Carter doubled the advantage with 6:01 left, converting from the right faceoff circle after receiving a cross-ice pass from defenseman Drew Doughty on the rush.
Nesterov opened the scoring 12:11 into the game, when he moved in to track down a rebound in the left circle and slapped the puck over Quick, who had been run over by a teammate. Kopitar tied it 7:04 into the second, steaming up the middle to take a pass from Trevor Lewis and whipping a shot that beat Vasilevskiy to the stick side.
GAME NOTEBOOK: King has collected three goals and four assists while Carter has netted two tallies and set up five others during their four-game point streaks. … Tampa Bay D Andrej Sustr played in his 100th NHL contest. … Los Angeles D Alec Martinez (concussion) missed his fourth straight game after being injured against Tampa Bay on Feb. 7.