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OT goal lifts Kings past Wings

AP Photo Los Angeles’s Tyler Toffoli (73) and Detroit’s Mike Green vie for the puck during the second period Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Young forwards Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe did enough to help the Los Angeles Kings to consecutive wins.

Iafallo scored 23 seconds into overtime and the Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Thursday night.

Kempe scored with 1:48 remaining in the third period to tie the game at 2-all, and Iafallo got a shot into an open net after Drew Doughty’s shot caromed off the boards.

“We stuck with it,” said Iafallo, who has a goal and three assists during a four-game point streak. “Everybody was making the right plays. Most of the shifts in that third we were buzzing and getting the puck in deep and going to work, so it was good for us and gave us momentum at the end there.”

It was a welcome goal for Kempe, who was a healthy scratch against Minnesota on Tuesday. Kings coach Todd McLellan brought him back into the lineup at left wing instead of center, where he played last season. But Kempe had struggled to start his fourth season in the NHL, getting one goal and three assists in his first 17 games.

By putting Kempe on the wing, McLellan believed the 23-year-old would be able to find his game. That assumption was right when Kempe got positioned in front of the net and scored on a backhander off a rebound of a shot by Matt Roy with goalie Jonathan Quick off for the extra attacker.

“You better be able to play all over the rink, but if it’s on the wall where he believes he is most effective, then we’re going to play him there for a little while and get his confidence up,” McLellan said. “But I think when it’s all said and done, it’s just him playing really hard and competitive tonight. If he’s comfortable there, then great.”

Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists for Los Angeles, and Quick made 19 saves. The Kings won consecutive games for the second time this season.

Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice for Detroit. The Red Wings had their three-game win streak snapped, but found satisfaction in earning a point after the Kings controlled long stretches of the game.

“I thought we played really good,” said Jonathan Bernier, who made 28 saves. “You know, it comes down to finding a way at the end there, the 6-on-5, to eliminate that rebound or try to block it or somehow you got to find a way. But I thought overall it was pretty good.”

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