LOS ANGELES_Drew Doughty took matters into his own hands after the Los Angeles Kings let opportunities slip out of theirs early and late.
But they ultimately grabbed first place in the Western Conference.
For most of Thursday night, they were locked into a tie game with the Ottawa Senators despite missing a wheelbarrow full of chances in the opening 25 minutes.
Then came Doughty, who knocked the puck loose and took it down the left wing before he looked off to pass and beat Senators goalie Mike Condon 32 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 win Thursday at Staples Center.
"I've never had that much time on a two-on-one," Doughty said.
It was a prolonged path to victory for the Kings, who allowed a tying-goal by Ryan Dzingel with 10 seconds remaining in regulation with Condon pulled for an extra attacker. But the Kings are tops in the West after their 30-game mark.
"It means we have a target on our back," Dustin Brown said.
Brown noted they got by again with another good goaltending performance, this time a 37-save win by backup Darcy Kuemper to improve to 5-0-2. The win appeared to come first in regulation following Brown's deflection of Christian Folin's point shot with 3:28 remaining in the third period before Ottawa's late heroics.
It stood as the Kings' seventh straight win, their longest streak since October of 2015, however hard earned. The Kings found themselves tied, 2-2, going into the third period, against Ottawa, which hadn't scored in two games, played its second game in as many nights and was turnover prone early. Still, the Senators forged that tie on Jean-Gabriel Pageau's goal at 8:08 of the second period after Derek Forbort's turnover as he tried to pass the puck out of his zone.
Despite the early misses, the Kings appeared to grab the game on Alex Iafallo's goal that finished a near rink-long passing sequence, from Doughty to Brown to Iafallo, who beat Condon with a shot streaking down left wing. That represented only the second goal this season for Iafallo, more of a playmaker who has created ample opportunities in his rookie season.
Toffoli and Pearson gave Ottawa fits to start the game, and they produced the first goal with Pearson's easy finish of Toffoli's pass in the first period. Toffoli did most of the work with a move around Senators defenseman Ben Harpur to please the announced 18,230 fans.
Ottawa ended its scoreless streak at more than 154 minutes with Matt Duchene's power play goal late in the first period. Erik Karlsson's shot rebounded out to Duchene and Duchene had time to get the puck on his forehand and deposit it into the open net.
It was only the 11th power-play goal allowed this season by the Kings' top-ranked penalty kill.
Andy Andreoff was activated off injured reserve but did not play. The Kings did not have to make a corresponding move but will need to when Kyle Clifford returns to the active roster.
