Sports

Kings' Gaborik Downs Blackhawks In OT

November 28, 2015 / 10:27 PM PST / KCAL News

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marian Gaborik scored the tying goal with 5:55 left in regulation and added his fifth of the season 2:04 into overtime, lifting the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Chicago right wing Patrick Kane broke an NHL record for American-born players with a point in his 19th consecutive game, scoring on a power play and assisting on Niklas Hjalmarsson's first goal of the season.

But the Blackhawks, who beat Anaheim 3-2 in overtime on Friday night after trailing 2-0 with less than 2 minutes left in regulation, blew a 2-0 third-period lead against the Kings. It was the Stanley Cup champions' first loss since the start of last season when leading after two periods.

Gaborik got the equalizer with a short wrist shot from the slot after defenseman Brent Seabrook overskated the puck while trying to carry it out of his own end and lost it to Anze Kopitar. His second game-winner of the season came on a shot that beat Scott Darling low to the stick side.

Jeff Carter ignited the Kings' comeback, converting his own rebound 52 seconds into the third.

Kane, who was born in Buffalo, leads the league with 37 points. Thirty-one of them have come during the streak, which eclipsed the record previously shared by Chicago native Eddie Olczyk and Phil Kessel, who is from Madison, Wisconsin.

Playing in his 600th regular-season game, Kane opened the scoring with his 14th goal of the season at 11:10 of the first while Tyler Toffoli was off for holding Artemi Panarin. It was the sixth power-play goal allowed by Los Angeles in its last six games.

The Kings were trying to work the puck out of their zone when Kopitar tried to feather a short outlet pass to Dustin Brown near the net. But Duncan Keith poked the puck off Brown's stick and it went right to Kane, whose wrist shot beat Jonathan Quick high to the glove side.

Kane is two games shy of the Blackhawks' franchise record for consecutive games with a goal or an assist, set by Bobby Hull during the 1971-72 season.

The last time Kane was held off the scoresheet was Oct. 15 at Washington. The longest point streak in NHL history is 51 games, by Wayne Gretzky with the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers.

Quick stopped 20 shots, including a breakaway by Andrew Shaw at 11:15 of the second period. Hjalmarsson made it 2-0 at 12:56 of the second, ending a 29-game goal drought by the defenseman since his goal against the Kings on March 30.

It was the second meeting of the season between the Kings and Blackhawks, who have each won two of the last four Stanley Cup championships. The defending champion Blackhawks also beat the Kings 4-2 at Chicago on Nov. 2.

NOTES: The Kings were 10-15-0 against the Blackhawks during the four seasons in which they took turns winning the Stanley Cup, including postseason play. Chicago beat Los Angeles in five games to win the 2013 Western Conference finals, and the Kings returned the favor the following year by beating the Blackhawks in a seven-game conference final that was decided by Alec Martinez's overtime goal. ... Darling's only other start against the Kings was back on March 3, when he made 31 saves in a 4-1 victory at Chicago.