Kings slip past Jets on Carter's OT goal
LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Carter scoring the game-winning overtime goal, and Anze Kopitar registered three assists as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 Saturday.
Carter took a feed from Jake Muzzin and beat Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season at 1:36 of the extra session.
Los Angeles (22-17-4) won its second straight game and improved its record on a current seven-game homestand to 3-2-0. Peter Budaj made 26 saves. The Kings, who extended their overtime record to 9-1, got regulation goals from Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown.
Winnipeg (20-22-4) lost its third straight game and four out of the past five. Drew Stafford and Dustin Byfuglien scored for the Jets, and Hutchinson made 35 saves.
Brown evened the score at 2-2 on with his sixth goal of the season at 14:52 of the third period. Anze Kopitar kept the puck alive during a scramble in front of the Winnipeg net, and Brown, positioned at the left post, shoveled a short shot past Hutchinson.
Byfuglien's power-play goal, his seventh of the season at 7:38 of the third period, gave the Jets their first lead of the game at 2-1. His wrist shot from just inside the blue line deflected off of Kopitar's skate and through Budaj.
Winnipeg tied the game at 1 on Stafford's power-play goal, his fourth of the season at 15:06 of the second period. Mathieu Perreault found Stafford breaking in from the right point, and Stafford's one-timer beat Budaj cleanly for the tying score.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 advantage on Gaborik's third goal of the season at 3:19 of the first period. Gaborik took a cross-ice feed from Kopitar and beat Hutchinson with a wrist shot over his glove side with Alec Martinez drawing the secondary assist. The goal was Gaborik's second in four games.
NOTES: Kings coach Darryl Sutter tied Jacques Lemaire (617) for 12th on the all-time coaching wins list. ... Winnipeg scratched D Ben Chariot, LW Brandon Tanev and D Julian Melchiori. ... The Jets concluded their three-game road trip against the Pacific Division on Monday in San Jose with a Martin Luther King Day afternoon matchup. They visit California once more this season with back-to-back games on March 23-24 in Los Angeles and Anaheim. ... Winnipeg C Adam Lowry played in his 200th NHL game. ... Los Angeles did not dress D Matt Greene, D Tom Gilbert and C Andy Andreoff. ... The Kings continue their seven-game homestand with a Monday afternoon tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning.