Brown’s goals help lift Kings

CHICAGO —  Dustin Brown’s first goal was an important one for the Kings. His second goal Sunday night was one to remember.

The 23-year-old left wing helped rally the Kings in regulation, then scored 3:31 into overtime for a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The game-winner past Nikolai Khabibulin was Brown’s 18th goal, setting a season high.

“I just made a quick move, a power move to the net,” Brown said of the winning goal. “I got in tight and tried to get it over him.”

Brown and Kyle Calder connected in the third period to rally the Kings from a 2-0 deficit and force overtime.

“You have to make good shots to beat a goalie of Khabibulin’s caliber,” Kings Coach Marc Crawford said. “He made a great shot to beat him.”

The Kings ended an eight-game losing streak Saturday by scoring three times in the third period for a 3-1 win in Colorado.

“Our goal is to wear down other teams,” said Brown, in his fourth year in the league. “The last two wins we came back in the third and wore on teams.”

The Blackhawks played in front of a season-high United Center crowd of 21,715 -- their second straight sellout and largest since drawing 21,811 on Dec. 27, 2001.

“It feels real good,” Calder said. “It was a tough there for eight games and it’s not what you want to go through, but the team stuck together.”

Rookies Jonathan Toews and Jacob Dowell scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, whose four-game winning streak ended. Toews leads all NHL rookies with 15 goals and is second only to teammate Patrick Kane in points by a first-year player.

Khabibulin made 33 saves. Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera stopped 30 shots.

“What happened tonight is we just didn’t have enough experience after taking the lead,” Khabibulin said.

Added Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith: “It’s tough when you have a 2-0 lead and end up losing. We have to learn from it and realize when we’re up 2-0 to keep it simple and play it safe.”

The Blackhawks’ first-round draft picks of the last five years -- Kane (2007), Toews (2006), Jack Skille (2005), Cam Barker (2004) and Brent Seabrook (2003) -- all played Sunday night.

Skille, a right wing who was selected seventh overall in 2005, was recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Saturday and skated in his first NHL game. He narrowly missed scoring in the second period when his shot hit the crossbar.

Toews opened the scoring at 2:16 of the second.

Dowell, playing in his first game after missing 12 because of a broken foot, made it 2-0 at 2:10 of the third. From the right circle, he one-timed Martin Lapointe’s cross-ice pass.

Brown responded 33 seconds later to cut it to 2-1. He beat Khabibulin on the glove side with a shot from the left circle.

Calder’s power-play goal at 7:29 tied it at 2-2 when he fired in Tom Preissing’s initial shot.