NHL

Speedy Hagelin’s early goal not enough for Rangers

LOS ANGELES — Speed kills. Rangers winger Carl Hagelin has it, and he thrives on it.

And the Kings nearly died because of it in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night at the Staples Center before surviving with a 3-2 overtime win over the Rangers.

Hagelin gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 15:03 of the first period by using his speed, outskating Kings defenseman Slava Voynov to the puck in the neutral zone and beating goalie Jonathan Quick with a shot that deflected off Kings center Jarret Stoll.

It was a short-handed goal assisted by Brian Boyle and Ryan McDonagh, and it stunned the Kings, who were 1:31 into their power play. It was Hagelin’s seventh goal of the playoffs and his 10th career postseason goal.

“I had to try to chip it around the D and go around, and I was able to use my speed to get in on a breakaway,’’ Hagelin said.

“[Hagelin’s] speed short-handed was definitely a positive factor for us,’’ Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “We just need to be able to generate the same thing five-on-five.’’

Hagelin’s goal was not his only offensive chance.

He almost beat Quick on a sneaky turnaround wrist shot at 13:40 of the second period.

Hagelin, too, nearly burned the Kings on another breakaway at 15:10 of the second when he took the puck on a turnover by Voynov and broke across the blue line alone. But Kings winger Kyle Clifford made a strong play, catching up to Hagelin and taking him down, causing him to lose the puck before he could get a shot off.

Then, with 40 seconds remaining and the game tied at 2-2 with the Rangers again short-handed, Hagelin burst free on yet another breakaway, but his shot was stopped by a Quick glove save.

“I saw [Kings defenseman Drew] Doughty was pretty close to me on my right shoulder there and I tried to go high on the glove side and Quickie made a good save,’’ Hagelin said. “I don’t second-guess myself. The puck was rolling the whole way and I just tried to get a good shot off and he made a good save.’’

Ten seconds after that chance, with L.A.’s Dwight King looking like he was about to score on a wraparound from behind the net with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Hagelin made a sliding save with his skate, helping out Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

“We can’t get too down on ourselves,’’ Hagelin said. “This is a close-knit group that always shows a lot of character and always bounces back. Our mind-set going into the series was that we know we can play with [the Kings]. It was an overtime game. Anything can happen.’’