lift

Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift the Kings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San José and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for the Kings, who stopped a four-game losing streak at home.

Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is four points behind the Kings for the second wild-card spot.

Moore sped up the right side, outskated Jonatan Berggren, centered the puck and snapped a shot past Binnington for the victory. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty assisted on the goal.

With the Kings leading 1-0, Thomas went to the front of the net and Philip Broberg’s shot deflected off Thomas’ skate and past Forsberg to tie it.

After a scoreless first period, Jared Wright nearly put the Kings ahead midway through the second, but his goal was waved off for goaltender interference.

The Kings got one that counted on Kempe’s power-play goal on a wrister with 3:01 left in the second period to put them up 1-0.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Nashville at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.

Japan edges tournament hosts Australia 1-0 in ⁠the Women’s ⁠Asian Cup final to claim third title in four editions.

Maika Hamano scored the only goal as a formidable Japan battled past Australia to clinch a third Women’s Asian Cup title in front of a record-breaking 74,357 fans in Sydney.

The Tottenham star hit a stunning long-range strike in the 17th minute at Stadium Australia to break Australian hearts and add to their continental crowns from 2014 and 2018.

Those finals were also against Australia and ended 1-0.

The edge-of-the-seat decider culminated a landmark tournament with more than 350,000 fans through the turnstiles, reinforcing the growth in popularity of the women’s game.

This was about six times as many as the previous tournament record set in 2010 in China, with the final setting a new attendance record for a single game in tournament history.

The Asian Cup doubled as qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil next year, with Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, North Korea and the Philippines all punching their tickets.

The Japanese team, stacked with English-based players, was invincible in their run to the final, fluid across the park, and defending well, steamrolling everyone in front of them.

While Australia proved a much tougher test, nothing could stop them as they accumulated 29 goals and conceded just one through their six tournament games to reinforce their status as Asia’s number one team.

Japan named an unchanged lineup from their 4-1 semifinal thumping of South Korea.

Australia made one change to the team that beat defending champions China 2-1 in the last four with Wini Heatley preferred in central defence to Clare Hunt.

The hosts were composed at the start, looking to dictate the game, and Caitlin Foord should have scored on 11 minutes when Mary Fowler threaded a pass through inside the box.

But the unmarked Arsenal striker sent her shot straight into the arms of Japan keeper Ayaka Yamashita to miss a golden opportunity.

It proved costly with Japan breaking the deadlock six minutes later when Tottenham midfielder Hamano collected the ball outside the penalty area and unleashed a 25-yard rocket that found the top corner.

Foord had another chance when she pounced on a sloppy clearance from Yamashita, but failed to find the target from a tight angle, then scuffed another wide just before the break.

Japan were always a threat, and West Ham’s Riko Ueki went close twice in as many minutes soon after the restart.

With the game on a knife-edge, Australia threw everything they had at Japan in a desperate attempt to find an equaliser as the crowd noise reached fever pitch.

Alanna Kennedy almost pulled off a late equaliser in the 88th minute, but despite intense pressure, Japan were rock solid and absorbed the threat to cling on for the win.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game with 1:26 left in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

With the victory, the Kings moved within a point of Seattle in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Columbus tied the score late for the second straight home game. Kirill Marchenko scored on the power play at 18:04 to force the extra period.

Brian Dumoulin had a goal and two assists. Scott Laughton scored for the second straight game since joining the Kings from Toronto and added an assist. Artemi Panarin also scored. Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for the Kings in the opener of a five-game trip.

Connor Garland scored twice — his first goals since coming to Columbus from Vancouver — and Denton Mateychuk added a goal and an assist. Jet Greaves made 26 saves for Columbus, which has lost two straight at home.

The Blue Jackets are two points behind Boston in the race for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot, and three points behind the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division.

The Kings killed off a high-sticking double minor to start the game before Dumoulin set up Laughton in front of the net at 6:46 of the first. Panarin made it 2-0 at 14:47 with his second goal since joining the Kings from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4.

Garland cut the lead in half with 2:25 left in the period, snapping a career-long 24-game scoring drought. Mateychuk tied it with 9:07 remaining in the second period, and Garland’s second goal put Columbus ahead 81 seconds later.

The lead was short-lived as Kempe tied the game with 5:51 remaining in the second period. Kopitar’s assist was his 167th on a game-tying goal, the most in Kings history.

Dumoulin scored with 9:53 left in the third period, but Marchenko tied it with a power-play goal with 1:56 left,

Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who missed 42 games earlier this season due to injury, left in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

The game had a rare afternoon weekday start after being rescheduled from Jan. 26 because of a blizzard in Columbus.

Up next for the Kings: at Boston on Tuesday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, Darius Garland scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Clippers held on for a 123-120 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Bennedict Mathurin finished 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points as the Clippers won for the fourth time in five games despite hitting only four three-pointers, a season low.

Ty Jerome led Memphis with 23 points and seven assists. Taylor Hendricks scored 18 and Cedric Coward 15 as Memphis lost its third straight.

The game was close throughout, and the Grizzlies held a 118-117 lead with about two minutes left. Leonard and Jordan Miller each made a pair of free throws to give the Clippers a 121-118 edge. Mathurin’s two free throws with 4.4 seconds left sealed the win as Jerome’s closing three-point try for Memphis was off the mark.

The Clippers, who were 15 games under .500 earlier this season, now sit at 31-32. The are in ninth place in the Western Conference, and in the running for a postseason bid.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ season has been marred by injuries. Six rotation players were on the injured list for Saturday’s game, including guard Ja Morant, who missed his 20th game with a left elbow ulnar collateral ligament sprain.

Before the game, Morant said he wanted to remain with the franchise, even referring to a Grizzlies logo tattooed on his back as a sign of his loyalty.

Memphis got off to a fast start building a 19-point lead against the Clippers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

The advantage was short-lived. The shooting touch left Memphis, which committed 10 turnovers in the second. Leonard scored 15 points and the Clippers trailed by a point at 59-58 at the break.