John Tavares’ first of two third-period goals broke a tie and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied with three goals in the third for a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the host Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (44-25-4, 92 points), who won for the second time in four games (2-1-1). Anthony Stolarz stopped 35 shots.

Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings (40-23-9, 89 points), who lost their second straight. Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves.

Tavares’ power-play goal gave Toronto a 2-1 lead with 7:56 left. He put in the rebound of Matthews’ shot. Tavares added an empty-net goal with 1:25 left. He has 35 goals, eight in his last five games and 13 in his past 14.

Matthews’ shorthanded goal 55 seconds into the third period tied the game 1-1. He scored on a shot from the right circle. The goal came seconds after Kuemper stopped Matthews on a breakaway and was Matthews’ 29th.

Kings’ coach Jim Hiller challenged the goal because Matthews appeared to touch the puck above his shoulder after his breakaway attempt. But the challenge was denied and Los Angeles assessed a delay of game penalty.

Laferriere gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead 1:57 into the second period. After picking up a loose puck, he cut in off the right wing, cut across the front of the crease and beat Stolarz with a backhand shot.
That broke a 17-game goal drought for Laferriere.

Toronto’s potent power play got an opportunity when the Kings’ Trevor Moore took a hooking penalty with 7:47 left in the middle period. But the Maple Leafs failed to register a shot on goal during its power play, while Los Angeles had two scoring opportunities.

The best chances in the first period were when Kuemper stopped the Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner’s turnaround forehand shot from in front with 8:13 left in the period and Kuemper’s save on Bobby McMann from the high slot with 6:31 remaining in the first period.

–Field Level Media