Brock Boeser scored his second goal of the game with 30 seconds left in overtime to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Alex Chiasson also scored, and Spencer Martin made 33 saves in his eighth NHL start and fifth this season for the Canucks (40-30-11, 91 points), who had lost three of their previous four to fall out of playoff contention.
Gabriel Vilardi and Adrian Kempe scored, and Cal Petersen made 26 saves in the regular-season finale for the Kings (44-27-11, 99 points), who will finish in third place in the Pacific Division.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead with 4:52 left in the second period.
Brendan Lemieux won the puck along the wall in the Vancouver zone, spun to the top of the left circle and flung a wrist shot into traffic. Vilardi lifted his stick and tipped the puck past Martin and into the net.
Petersen made his best save on Boeser’s attempt off a 2-on-1 rush with 1:52 left in the second period. Kempe scored 42 seconds later when he found room coming through the slot and beat Martin with a wrist shot for a 2-0 lead.
Kempe’s 35 goals were a season high for a Los Angeles player since Anze Kopitar also scored 35 in 2017-18.
Vancouver didn’t score during a two-man advantage for 41 seconds early in the third period, but Boeser scored on a one-timer from the high slot during the remainder of the second penalty to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 6:52.
Chiasson scored on a rebound to tie the score 2-2 with 5:29 remaining.
Kings forward Dustin Brown played his final regular-season game after announcing earlier Thursday that he would retire after this season, his franchise-record 18th with Los Angeles, the team that drafted him 2003.
Brown is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Kings and their all-time leader in regular-season games played (1,296).
Vancouver is scheduled to conclude its season on Friday at Edmonton.
–Field Level Media
