LOS ANGELES – Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist after getting flattened by a punch, backup Jonathan Bernier made 18 saves, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 Sunday night in the second installment of the "Freeway Faceoff."
Wayne Simmonds, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams also scored against Jonas Hiller, who stopped 19 of 23 shots. He was replaced with 2:03 left in the second period by Curtis McElhinney after Brown's power-play goal made it 4-1.
Hiller, who shut out the Kings at home on Nov. 29, is 0-4 in Los Angeles.
Matt Beleskey, playing his first game with the Ducks since Dec. 7 after being recalled from Syracuse of the AHL, scored Anaheim's goal. In the first period, he sent Brown to the ice with an uppercut to the face after the Kings captain got a little too close to Hiller as he froze the puck in the crease.
Marco Sturm, obtained from Boston in a trade on Dec. 11, replaced Brad Richardson at left wing on the Kings' No. 1 line with Kopitar and Brown in his third game with the team. The trio had no points and two shots in the first period — both by Kopitar.
The three collaborated on the goal that put the Kings ahead to stay at 9:10 of the second.
Brown sent a long pass to Kopitar, who carried the puck into the zone and was stopped by Hiller. Sturm was denied on the rebound, but another long rebound on the play resulted in Kopitar's 15th goal and a 2-1 lead.
Williams made it 3-1 at 12:55 of the period, beating Hiller with a chip shot to the glove side after Joffrey Lupul lost the puck at his feet and had it stolen by Williams. Brown added his 14th goal about 5 minutes later on a rebound of Drew Doughty's long wrist shot through a screen while Beleskey served a delay-of-game penalty.
Each team scored in the opening minute of the second. Simmonds converted a rebound of a short backhander by Michal Handzus at :15 for his eighth goal and first in a home game. Beleskey scored his first of the season 32 seconds later on a deflection of Toni Lydman's one-timer from just inside the blue line.
Notes: Kings D Matt Greene returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 13 after missing five games because of a concussion. ... The Kings have allowed 78 goals, the fewest in the Western Conference. ... Bernier, a first-round draft pick in 2006, is 8-8 in 16 NHL starts and 4-5 in nine starts this season. ... The Ducks came in having allowed an NHL-worst 34.6 shots on net per game. ... The Kings are 12-0 when leading after two periods.
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