Rangers stunned in L.A.
LOS ANGELES — Bad breaks and bounces piled up during the Kings’ six-game skid, and it looked as if another gaffe would extend that drought when goalie Jack Campbell accidentally deflected a centering pass into his own net with his skate midway though the second period.
Instead, the Kings found the resolve they had been lacking to rally for their first win since Oct. 11.
Alec Martinez scored with 55 seconds remaining, and the Kings beat the Rangers, 4-3, on Sunday.
Martinez brought the puck from behind his net into the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot through the legs of Brendan Smith and past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for his first goal of the season.
“Yeah, when the buzzer sounds, it was obviously a good feeling,” Martinez said. “We haven’t felt that in a while. That said, we enjoy it tonight and tomorrow it’s back to work.”
Ilya Kovalchuk notched a goal and two assists, Trevor Lewis scored and Drew Doughty had two assists for the Kings.
Dustin Brown, making his season debut after breaking a finger in Los Angeles’ final preseason game, also scored.
Vladislav Namestnikov and Tony DeAngelo each had a goal and an assist and Ryan Spooner also scored for the Rangers, who are winless in five road games. Lundqvist made 36 saves.
Spooner tied the game at 3 with 4:44 remaining after Lewis had put the Kings ahead five minutes earlier, ending a 410minute span during which the Kings failed to hold a lead. Los Angeles tied it on powerplay goals from Brown and Kovalchuk just under three minutes apart in the second period after DeAngelo’s pass ended up in Campbell’s net to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
“I don’t think anybody panicked. I gave up that bad one in the second and they just kept going,” said Campbell.
The Rangers have not won away from home this season, and the frustration was evident after another self-inflicted mistake for too many men on the ice resulted in Kovalchuk’s power-play goal.
“You just have to stop beating yourself,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “It’s hard enough in this league to beat teams when you’re not beating yourself. We helped them win tonight, and that’s got to stop. That’s on me.”