LOS ANGELES _ In a battle of two teams at the bottom of the pile in the NHL, the first goal of the season by L.A. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, with 54.6 seconds remaining in regulation broke a tie and doomed the Rangers to a 4-3 loss Sunday in a matinee at the Staples Center. It was the second straight loss for the Rangers to start their four-game road trip that continues Tuesday in San Jose.
Martinez, who skated the puck out of his own end and fired from just above the right wing circle, beat Henrik Lundqvist to break a 3-3 tie and snap the Kings' six-game losing streak.
Trevor Lewis jammed a pass from Ilya Kovalchuk (goal, two assists) at 10:28 of the third period to give the Kings a 3-2 lead, but Ryan Spooner's first goal of the season, at 15:16, tied it at 3. Spooner took a diagonal pass from Tony DeAngelo and fired a shot over the right shoulder of Kings goaltender Jack Campbell.
Vladislav Namestnikov started the Rangers off with his first goal of the season at 11:11 of the first period, though he and the Rangers had to wait a long time to get it confirmed. Namestnikov came in from the right wing and chipped a shot over the shoulder of Kings goaltender Jack Campbell, then was bodychecked, hard, into Campbell by Lewis. Namestnikov went crashing into Campbell and both crashed into the crossbar and tore the net off the supports as the puck crossed the goal line.
First, the referees announced there was no goaltender interference, and then the four officials huddled, for a long time, and eventually decided that since there was no interference, then the goal should count, so a goal was awarded to the Rangers. Then the Kings challenged the ruling that there was no interference. Finally, the officials announced that after video review, no interference had been committed, and the goal would stand.
The Kings kept peppering Henrik Lundqvist with shots and held a 12-7 advantage in shots on goal after one period. Early in the second, DeAngelo, playing for the first time since Oct. 11, taking the place of the injured Adam McQuaid, fired a shot from the right wing corner as he was being checked. Somehow the puck went in off Campbell for DeAngelo's first goal of the season, at 7:42 of the second. That quieted the building, but at 10:55, Cody McLeod was assessed a slashing penalty, and the Kings cashed in, with Dustin Brown, playing his first game of the season after missing the first 10 games with a broken finger suffered in the final preseason game, scored at 11:23.
Little more than a minute later, at 12:41, the Rangers were called for having too many men on the ice _ the sixth time they've been called for that infraction in 11 games _ and L.A. tied it up on a power play goal by Ilya Kovalchuk at 13:14.
