Kings 5, Rangers 4 (OT)
NEW YORK -- Center Anze Kopitar's third goal of the night with 29.7 seconds remaining forced overtime, then left winger Tanner Pearson won it with 1:50 remaining in the extra period as the Los Angeles Kings rallied for a 5-4 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Pearson's goal was a wrist shot as he streaked down the left wing while Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle was too slow to cover the play.
The Rangers also received goals from left wingers Kevin Hayes and Viktor Stalberg, center Derek Stepan and right winger Mats Zuccarello. Goaltender Antti Raanta made 29 saves.
Right winger Marian Gaborik also scored for the Kings before leaving late in the first period with a lower-body injury.
Kings goaltender Peter Budaj stopped 24 shots.
It took 33 seconds for the Kings to grab a 1-0 lead on Kopitar's 14th goal of the season. The Rangers appeared to be confused in their defensive coverage, which allowed an unchecked Kopitar to fire a shot from the slot that beat Raanta.
With defenseman Marc Staal in the penalty box, Gaborik gave the Kings a 2-0 lead with his 12th of the season. As was the case when Kopitar scored, Gaborik was given free access to the middle of the ice and snapped a shot to the stick side that found the back of the net at 11:26.
Stalberg responded 1:34, as he beat defenseman Drew Doughty to the front of the net and one-timed a pass from center Kevin Hayes that scorched past Budaj's catching glove to slice the lead to 2-1.
About three minutes after Zuccarello stopped a shot headed toward an empty net with his skate, Stepan tied the game at 2. He took the puck away from right winger Tyler Toffoli, skated to the middle and wristed a shot through Budaj's legs for his 100th of the season at 7:44.
Zuccarello put the Rangers ahead 3-2 when his backhand toward the net banked off the back of Kings center Vinny Lecavalier and trickled across the goal line at 9:21.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Kopitar's second of the game made it 3-3 with 4:14 to go in the period. Rangers left winger J.T. Miller turned the puck over at the blue line, which led to left winger Milan Lucic feeding Kopitar for a tap-in goal on a 2-on-1 chance.
NOTES: Kings G Peter Budaj made his first start of the season as G Jonathan Quick missed his second straight game after a collision in Boston on Tuesday. ... Kings D Matt Greene (upper body) has not played since Oct. 13. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash missed his ninth straight game with a bone bruise on a leg. ... Rangers D Ryan McDonagh (concussion) missed his third straight game. ... Rangers G Antti Raanta made his first start since Dec. 17 and second start since leaving a Jan. 17 game with a concussion.