This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

San Jose, Calif. • Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick made 39 saves to cap the Los Angeles Kings' historic comeback from three games down with a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of their first-round series Wednesday night.

Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli, Dustin Brown and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Kings, who became the fourth NHL team to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.

The Kings joined Toronto (1942), the New York Islanders (1975) and Philadelphia (2010) as the only teams to complete that comeback and now will get another California showdown in the second-round with the first Freeway Playoff against the Anaheim Ducks.

Matt Irwin scored the lone goal and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Sharks, who added perhaps their most bitter playoff disappointment to a history of them.

San Jose has the second most regular-season wins in the NHL the past 10 seasons but has never made it past the conference finals.

Wild 5, Avalanche 4 (OT) • In Denver, Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game 5:02 into overtime and Ilya Bryzgalov made a big save filling in for an injured Darcy Kuemper, leading Minnesota over the Colorado in Game 7.

It's the first playoff series win for the Wild since 2003.

Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild, who will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the second round.

Nick Holden, Jamie McGinn, Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson scored for the Avalanche.

Rangers 2, Flyers 1 • In New York, Daniel Carcillo and Benoit Pouliot scored second-period goals to help New York Rangers advancd to the second round.

The Rangers improved to 6-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. —

NHL playoffs

O Wednesday

• N.Y. Rangers 2, Philadelphia 1

Rangers wins series 4-3

• Minnesota 5, Colorado 4, OT

Wild win series 4-3

• Los Angeles 5, San Jose 1

Kings win series 4-3

SECOND ROUND

Thursday

• Montreal at Boston, 7:30 p.m., MSNBC

Friday

N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, TBA