Adrian Kempe was far ahead in the offensive zone when the long pass came.
He just caught up with Washington goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek.
The puck then bounced over his club, which fooled Vanecek who did not have time to get up the picking glove in time.
The goal was 3-2 and came halfway into the third period.
It was the culmination of a somewhat unexpected match reversal, where Washington halfway into the match had a 2-0 lead.
Late pickup
Only with three minutes left of the second period did Los Angeles start the pick-up, when Los Angeles managed to get an attack in boxplay.
Alex Iafallo - taken care of by three Washington players after rounding up the Washington goal - found Blake Lizotte in front of goal that set the reduction.
Barely three minutes into the third period came the equalizer, where Christian Wolanin scored the first goal of the season through a return, and a few minutes later Kempe was able to break the deadlock with the last goal of the match.
Shaky journey
Los Angeles had reserve goalkeeper Garret Sparks between the posts from the start for the first time this season.
With his 33 saves, he got his first win since 2019, and the first in a Los Angeles jersey.
- I started dressing for the morning training in the (AHL team) Ontario and looked forward to it.
I had lost three games in a row, so I wanted to get back to the winning streak again.
They came in, patted me on the shoulder and said: You're flying out at one o'clock.
Get ready to play, says an emotional Sparks at the press conference after the match.
The 28-year-old has had a shaky journey, and suffered a concussion during training when he played with Toronto in 2019.
- It made my season derail.
I had to start again and work my way up again.
I started in the East Coast League at this time last year, earning $ 600 a week and enjoying playing ice hockey again.
It was crazy to be on an NHL ice again and play against the best goal scorer ever - and stand on the podium.
So it was cool, he says.