• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kings rally late, Oilers win in shootout

Feb 15, 2009 - 1:09 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- A late goal helped the Los Angeles Kings salvage a point, but Dwayne Roloson made sure that was all they would get.

Roloson stopped both attempts he faced in the shootout and Sam Gagner and Robert Nilsson scored in the bonus format to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Saturday.

Dustin Penner recorded a goal and an assist, Shawn Horcoff scored on the power play and Ales Hemsky set up both tallies for the Oilers, who won despite being outshot, 41-21.

"He was outstanding, he played exceptionally well," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said of Roloson. "It was a great performance by Rolly."

Edmonton appeared on its way to victory in regulation before Andrew Cogliano was whistled for tripping with 1:40 remaining in the third period. The Kings pulled rookie goaltender Jonathan Quick for an extra attacker, and the move paid off as captain Dustin Brown tied the game at 2-2 with 26 seconds left in regulation.

"The game was there at the end, and it would've been great to get both points," Quick said. "But we're fortunate we ended up with at least one point after that first period."

But Roloson, who made 39 saves in regulation and overtime, stopped Patrick O'Sullivan to open the shootout, and Gagner beat Quick to the glove side to give the Oilers an early edge.

"I just tried to get him moving," Gagner said. "I did that move in preseason, and I haven't used it yet, so I just faked the shot and tried to get it up, and it worked out."

After Roloson turned aside Alexander Frolov's wrist shot, Nilsson used a nifty move to slide the puck past Quick, giving Edmonton its second straight shootout win over Los Angeles.

The Kings trailed, 2-0, after the first period before taking advantage of another two-man advantage early in the second. With a pair of Oilers in the penalty box, Michal Handzus set up in front of Roloson, and rookie defenseman Drew Doughty blasted a shot from the point past the netminder at 6:29 of the session.

Despite owning a 16-3 shot advantage in the second period, the Kings were unable to do any more damage and trailed by one until Brown's dramatic goal sent the game into overtime.

"The first period wasn't the scenario we're trying to put on the table, but it sometimes happens," Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar said. "They were jumping on loose pucks, but in the second period, we dominated - we had (a lot) more shots than them. It seems that we're generating a lot of chances, but we are not getting any lucky breaks. I'm sure if we're creating, those breaks are going to come, too."

It was a physical contest, featuring three different fights, 66 combined penalty minutes and 74 total hits.

"I think it's just the nature of the playoff chase," said Brown, who sustained a big hit midway through the third period. "We're fighting for a spot, and they were going after some of our players and we went after some their players. That's just the nature of the way the playoff chase is going to be."

Los Angeles' struggles at home continued as it fell to 1-4-1 in its last six at Staples Center.

"It was a hard game," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "We wanted to come out better than what we did in the first period. I didn't feel that we were skating, and it's a playoff atmosphere with that kind of importance, and we did not respond as we needed to. The second and third periods were terrific. It was hard work and it was a hard game down low. It was very emotional."

The Oilers jumped ahead, 1-0, at 4:58 of the opening period, when Penner took a backhand pass from Hemsky and beat Quick for the early lead.

Horcoff doubled the advantage on the power play with 6:49 left in the session with his first goal in nine games.

"It was a very competitive game, indicative of where everybody is in the standings and how important games are," MacTavish said. "Night in and night out, two teams that desperately want to win, and the players played hard. It was a heckuva hockey game."

Quick made 19 saves in losing his second straight contest following a four-game winning streak.