Published November 20, 2014
Dustin Brown scored in the third period and got the deciding goal in a shootout, lifting Los Angeles to a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night in Darryl Sutter's debut as the Kings' coach.
Mike Richards scored in his return to the lineup from a concussion, Drew Doughty had two assists and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves.
Despite their second straight 3-2 shootout win, it was the 13th straight game in which the Kings scored fewer than three goals in regulation — their longest such streak in franchise history. The previous worst was a nine-game stretch under interim coach John Torchetti during the 2005-06 season, when they beat San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov 4-0 in the season finale.
Niklas Hagman and Lubomir Visnovsky each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who have lost four straight and are winless in their last 13 road games. Jonas Hiller made 32 saves.
The Kings are one of six teams to make a coaching change since the start of the season, and the only one that needed an interim coach to bridge the gap until the replacement came on. John Stevens was 2-2 after the dismissal of Terry Murray, who was one victory shy of 500 when he was fired on Dec. 12.
The Kings fired Murray just 12 days after the Ducks fired Randy Carlyle and replaced him with former Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, who is 2-6-2 since taking over — including a 3-2 victory over the Kings that gave him his first win as Ducks coach.
Anaheim's Saku Koivu missed his sixth straight game because of a groin strain and linemate Teemu Selanne's point streak ended at nine games, the longest in league history by a player who was 41 or older.
The Kings grabbed a 2-1 lead at 8:02 of the third. Anze Kopitar carried the puck into the Anaheim zone with Brown carefully straddling the blue line to keep from going offside. Kopitar left a drop pass for him in the high slot, and the Kings' captain snapped off a 40-footer that beat Hiller high to the stick side through a screen for his eighth goal.
Visnovsky got the equalizer against his former club with 3:11 left in regulation, beating Quick through a screen with a 45-foot slap shot from above the right circle.
Hagman opened the scoring at 13:55 of the second, redirecting a long screened slap shot by Visnovsky for his sixth goal of the season and fifth in 16 games since he was claimed off waivers from Calgary on Nov. 14.
Richards tied it at 16:17 of the period, tipping in a shot by Doughty for his 12th goal overall and 10th in his last 12 games.
Richards missed eight games with a concussion, which occurred on Dec. 1 when he was hit in the head by Florida's Sean Bergenheim. The Kings were 2-6-0 in his absence.
The Kings have allowed just three goals in 57 short-handed situations over their last 14 games, but are only 4 for 54 on the power play in their last 15 contests. They were 0 for 4 against the Ducks.
The Ducks are 0-9-4 away from Honda Center since their last road victory on Oct. 27, when they beat Minnesota 3-2.
Notes: The Kings are 10-11-0 with three ties in their first game under a new head coach, including a 4-2 win over Philadelphia in their inaugural game in 1967 under Red Kelly. Their home record under those circumstances is 7-4-0 with two ties. ... The Kings will play all three of Sutter's former teams — Chicago, San Jose and Calgary — within the next 3 1/2 weeks, starting with the Sharks on Friday night at San Jose. ... Sutter and Boudreau were teammates briefly with the 1985-86 Blackhawks, on a roster that also included current Ducks general manager Bob Murray. ... The Kings were 24-19-5 with five ties against teams coached by Sutter, but finished lower in the Western Conference standings than Sutter's clubs in seven of his nine full seasons behind the bench. ... The last time Sutter coached a game at Staples Center was April 2, 2004, when the Flames clinched a playoff berth with a 3-2 win. ... The Ducks and Calgary are the only teams that haven't scored a short-handed goal.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/kings-get-3-2-so-win-over-ducks-in-sutters-debut