Kings 3, Blues 2 (OT)
ST. LOUIS -- Turns out the early reports of the demise of the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings might have been a bit premature.
Slava Voynov scored eight minutes into overtime to give the Kings a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night, which also gave them the lead in their first-round series by the same margin.
The Kings lost the two games of the series last week in St. Louis but won Games 3 and 4 at home in Los Angeles to tie the series.
Voynov scored the winning goal by sliding a shot under the pads of St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott, giving the Kings their first road win in nine games and handing the Blues their first home loss in as many games.
All five games in the series have been decided by one goal.
The Blues were only 44 seconds away from losing in regulation when Alex Pietrangelo fired a wrist shot past Jonathan Quick to tie the game and send it into overtime. The goal came with St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott off the ice in favor of an extra attacker.
With a face-off to the left of Quick, David Backes won the draw and got the puck to Pietrangelo, who scored his first goal of the playoffs.
It was the second overtime game in the series, which now heads back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Friday night. If Game 7 is necessary, it will be played on Monday night in St. Louis.
The Kings took a 2-1 lead on Jeff Carter's second goal of the game, which came on a power-play goal just 54 seconds into the final period. He was left alone in front of the net and took a pass from Anze Kopitar and fired a shot past Elliott.
The Kings had opened the period on the power play because of a tripping penalty called against the Blues' Barret Jackman with just five seconds left in the second period. It was only the second power-play goal of the series for the Kings.
After a scoreless first period, the Kings took a 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the second period. Carter knocked in a rebound of a shot by Drew Doughty for his second goal of the series.
The Blues tied the game at 6:46 of the period when Alexander Steen stole the puck and skated from behind his net before firing a shot past Quick. It was Steen's team-leading third goal of the playoffs.
NOTES: The Blues made one lineup change for Game 5, with Adam Cracknell returning as part of the fourth line with Ryan Reaves and Chris Porter. Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko was a healthy scratch ... The Kings scratched defenseman Keaton Ellerby and inserted forward Tyler Toffoli in the lineup for the first time in the series ... The winner of the St. Louis-Los Angeles series will not have to play the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, thanks to the San Jose Sharks' upset of the Vancouver Canucks. Either the Sharks or the Detroit Red Wings will play the Blackhawks in the second round, with the Blues or Kings playing either San Jose or the Anaheim Ducks.
