Toffoli scores in OT to give Kings win against Rangers

NEW YORK-- Tyler Toffoli scored 25 seconds into overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Toffoli, who also assisted on Adrian Kempe's game-tying goal at 19:00 of the third period, scored with a short-side shot from the right circle seven seconds after Rangers center Mika Zibanejad hit the post with a shot from the left circle.
Kempe scored two goals and had an assist on Toffoli's overtime winner. Anze Kopitar also scored, Ilya Kovalchuk had two assists and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for the Kings (21-27-4), who couldn't hold a 2-1 lead in the third period against the New York Islanders on Saturday and lost 4-2.
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Rangers highlights]
"It's big," Kings coach Willie Desjardins said. "I've said our guys have good character. They're excited. They wanted to do well. The Islander game was a tough game for us. It was a good feeling tonight winning."

Adam McQuaid, Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers (22-22-8). Mats Zuccarello had an assist to extend his streak of consecutive games played with a point to eight and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves.
Zibanejad also assisted on Kreider's goal before scoring to set a Rangers record with a point on 10 consecutive team goals (six goals, four assists). Rod Gilbert had a point on eight straight (two goals, six assists) for the Rangers in 1967-68.

The record, though, was secondary to the disappointing finish for the Rangers. They led 1-0 in the first period, 2-1 in the second and 3-2 in the third but couldn't hold any of the leads.
"We've had a tendency at times when we're winning 2-1 to act like it's 5-1," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "Such a fine line between winning and losing at this level, and you've got to finish the job."
Lundqvist was particularly disappointed by how he was beaten on the overtime winner; he said the shot went through the five-hole even though it didn't appear to him that Toffoli was shooting for that.
"It hurts, definitely," Lundqvist said. "I thought we played really well the whole game, but that overtime goal sums it up, not only this game but a lot of games. The effort is there, crossbar and out, misses the shot and I don't know what to think. It's just really frustrating."

Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 8:32 of the first period when he stopped in front of the net and redirected Tony DeAngelo's pass from below the right circle past Quick.
The Kings made it 1-1 on Kempe's first goal in 20 games since Dec. 11 at 17:23 of the first period. The Rangers regained the lead, 2-1, 32 seconds into the second period on Zibanejad's goal off a rebound of Zuccarello's shot.
Kopitar made it 2-2 at 5:04 of the third period, scoring on a backhanded shot that beat Lundqvist high on his glove side.

McQuaid's seeing-eye wrist shot from inside the right point gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead with 10:45 remaining.
But Kempe's second of the game, a 6-on-5 goal, tied it at 3-3. Quick went to the bench for the extra skater 23 seconds earlier and Toffoli delivered a blind pass from behind the net to Kempe, who gained inside position on McQuaid and one-timed it past Lundqvist.
"We keep fighting," Kovalchuk said. "We're not going to give up. It's 30 games left, you never know, especially in the west. It's a lot of teams struggling so we just have to push and hope for the best."

They said it

"The push in the third was really good. It's a good confidence boost for our team to turn this game around and get two points, win in OT. That was a big win." -- Kings forward Adrian Kempe

"Listen, you've got to play 60 minutes and you can't give an opportunity to a team like that that's got some high-end guys that can take advantage of opportunities. I thought as the game went on we got more sloppy and weren't as responsible and got away from some of the things that we were doing that I thought allowed us to have a really good first period." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Need to know

Kings center Jeff Carter didn't play in the third period after leaving the game late in the second with a lower-body injury. Desjardins said there was some talk about bringing Carter back in the third period, but the Kings didn't want to take the risk. He said Carter is questionable to play against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday. … The Rangers' top line of Kreider, Zuccarello and Zibanejad contributed another four points (two goals, two assists) and has 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in the past eight games it has been together. … Zibanejad's goal was his team-leading 52nd point of the season, an NHL career high for points in a season from the 25-year-old center. His 31 assists are also an NHL career high.

What's next

Kings:At the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN)