It looks like your Kings' winning streak stops at two, rivercat, although I'm grateful for their win on Thursday in Edmonton! Things got weird in the third period, with four goals scored in the last two minutes. The Flames' Kristian Huselius scored an empty-netter which put Calgary up 5-2, but then the Kings scored two quick goals, including one by popular ex-Flame Craig Conroy, making it 5-4 and suddenly the win was in jeopardy. However, Huselius scored another EN goal for the Flames in the dying seconds, putting Calgary back in first place in the Northwest.

FINAL SCORE: CALGARY 6, LOS ANGELES 4

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Jarome Iginla scored his 21st goal of the season and added three assists to help the Calgary Flames snap a three-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

Dion Phaneuf and Alex Tanguay also scored for Calgary, which moved into a tie for first with Minnesota in the Northwest Division. Lubomir Visnovsky scored twice for Los Angeles, and Craig Conroy and Alexander Frolov added goals.

Iginla opened the scoring at 5:39 of the first period. With the Flames on the power play, Iginla took a pass from Kristian Huselius and skated out of the corner and slid a shot under goalie Barry Brust for his first goal in six games.

With Calgary ahead 2-1 early in the second and on a 2-minute two-man advantage, Iginla helped the Flames grab their first two-goal lead, setting up Langkow's goal from the slot at 2:54.

Iginla then set up Huselius for two empty-net goals in the final 1:21. Goals 30 seconds apart by Conroy and Visnovsky in the final minute temporarily drew the Kings to within a goal at 5-4.

The Kings entered the game ranked second-last in the NHL in penalty killing and Calgary took advantage going 2-for-8 with the extra man. Los Angeles has yielded 19 power-play goals over its last 11 games.

Calgary took a 2-0 lead at 10:13 of the first. Dustin Boyd pressured Kings defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky into turning the puck over at the Flames' blue line where Phaneuf quickly fired a slap shot in over Brust's glove hand.

Los Angeles cut the gap to 2-1 before the first was over on a strange goal.

Mike Cammalleri mishandled Brent Sopel's breakaway pass resulting in Miikka Kiprusoff racing out toward the loose puck. As Cammalleri chased it, Kiprusoff slid and from just inside the Flames blue-line kicked out his pad. However, the puck bounced off Visnovsky, flew back over Kiprusoff's head where Visnovsky got it back from Cammaleri and fired it into the empty net.

Game notes: Calgary D Andrei Zyuzin (groin) returned after missing six games, while LW Jeff Friesen (hand) came back after missing four games . . . Calgary RW Chuck Kobasew has failed to score in 12 games and has just one goal in his last 28.

And here is the jersey of Mathieu Garon when he was in the junior league with the Victoriaville Tigres.
Garon junior pics

I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THIS POST WHICH IS LONG YR IN REVIEW FOR THE LA KINGS
IT DOESN'T INCLUDE THE 6-2 LOST TO DETROIT WHAT WAY TO END THE YEAR

HAPPY NEW YR TO ALL

As the final month of 2006 draws to a close Sunday with the Kings playing at the Detroit Red Wings, LAKings.com takes a look back at the year that was for the Los Angeles Kings. For the 40-year-old franchise, 2006 was a year filled with highs and lows, with numerous changes in the organization, and marked the return of a superstar as well as a fond farewell to another.

JANUARY
The Kings entered 2006 on a 7-1-1 run, putting L.A. in first place in the Pacific Division with a 25-14-2 record through the first half of the season. A wave of injuries stung the Kings as names such as Pavol Demitra , Eric Belanger, Dustin Brown, Jeremy Roenick and Aaron Miller were among 10 players missing from their every day roster as the club went 5-7-2 during the opening month of ‘06.

The year started out on a winning note as the captain Mattias Norstrom scored a power-play goal in overtime as the Kings dropped division rival Dallas, 3-2, extending the Kings’ hold on the division to a four-point cushion on Jan. 2

The following day, goaltender Mathieu Garon, who led all goaltenders in victories with a 9-3-0 record, 2.40 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in the month of December, was named the NHL Defensive Player of the Month.

On Jan. 12, forward Alexander Frolov scored the second hat trick of his young career and Garon stopped 30 shots to help the Kings beat the Boston Bruins, 6-0.

One week later, Luc Robitaille became the King’s all-time leader in goals, potting three for his 15th career hat trick, passing Kings’ great Marcel Dionne with his 551st goal in a Kings sweater. In addition, Norstrom set a career high the same night, scoring 1-4-5 as the Kings earned a wild 8-6 victory over Atlanta.

FEBRUARY
After dropping the first three games of the month (one in OT) to extend a season-high losing streak to seven games (0-5-2, from 1/24-2/8), Los Angeles responds by winning the final two games of the month before the season was put on hold for the Winter Olympics. The club finished February with a 2-2-1 record.

Three Kings reached notable milestones during the month as Belanger played in his 300th NHL game (Feb. 7); Tim Gleason scored his first NHL goal (Feb. 8); and Tom Kostopoulos picked up his first career “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” with a goal, an assist and a fighting major (Feb. 11).

The next night after Kostopoulos’ big game, Derek Armstrong scored the game-winning goal during a four-goal third period which helped Los Angeles erase a 5-2 deficit entering the final period, in a 6-5 win over Dallas.

Four Kings participated in the Olympic Games, unfortunately, Norstrom missed the Tournament due to injury, after being selected to play for Sweden; Lubomir Visnovsky skated in six games with Slovakia, scoring 1-1-2, and former King Demitra also saw action for Slovakia; while Frolov played for Team Russia, scoring 0-1-1 in three games before suffering a shoulder injury.

MARCH
In March, the Kings used a season-high five-game win streak from the close of February to the beginning of March (2/11 – 3/7) to right the ship, but L.A. would drop eight of 11 to close the month to finish 6-8-0. Head coach Andy Murray would be relieved of his duties during the month.

Sean Avery set a career high with two goals vs. Columbus on March 4 and two days later, the Kings extended the contract of Norstrom, who then became the first Kings defenseman to skate in 700 games with the club in a 3-2 win over Minnesota on March 7. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky netted the game-winning goal 1:21 into overtime in the win over the Wild.

The Kings would bolster their roster for the stretch run, acquiring Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel from the New York Islanders and right wing Tim Jackman from the Phoenix Coyotes in separate trades.

Miller picked up his 100th NHL point on March 13 at San Jose, and eight days later, Murray and Assistant Coach John Van Boxmeer were relieved of their coaching duties. Murray concluded his Kings career with a 215-176-89 in 480 games with the franchise. John Torchetti was named Interim Head Coach.

In Torchetti’s debut, Frolov returned from a shoulder injury suffered at the Olympic Games and scored two goals in L.A.'s 6-4 win over Nashville. Craig Conroy collected his 400th point in the win.

APRIL
April marked the end of the 2005-06 season and the end of an era as Dave Taylor would be relieved of his duties as GM. On the ice, the Kings sandwiched a pair of two-game winning streaks around a four-game skid to close out the season. Garon posted back-to-back shutouts to start the month and then a four-game losing streak eliminated the Kings from playoff contention as the club closed out the month with a 4-4-0 record.

Garon was no joke on April Fools day, becoming the fourth Kings goaltender in franchise history to earn 30 victories in a single season joining Mario Lessard (35 wins in 1980-81), Rogie Vochon (33 wins in 1976-77) and Felix Potvin (31 in 2001-02) with his 1-0 win over Dallas. Garon matched that effort two days later, with his second consecutive 1-0 shutout win, this time over Vancouver.

On April 11, Robitaille officially announced his retirement and in the season finale, Los Angeles sent Robitaille out on a high note, beating the San Jose Sharks 4-0. Jason LaBarbera stopped 31 shots for his first NHL shutout as Los Angeles finishes fourth in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference, with a 42-35-5 mark for 89 points, six points removed from a playoff spot.

The Kings announced their annual post season awards and Visnovsky was named the Most Valuable Player as well as the team’s Outstanding Defenseman; Demitra was named the Best Newcomer; Norstrom took home Best Defensive Player and Most Inspirational Player awards; Robitaille was named the Most Popular Player; Conroy was the team’s Unsung Hero; while Jeremy Roenick received the Community Service Award.

The day after the season ended, the Kings entire coaching staff as well as President, Hockey Operations/General Manager Dave Taylor were dismissed and on April 21, Dean Lombardi was named President & General Manager,

MAY
In a mostly quiet month for the franchise, Marc Crawford was named as their new Head Coach on May 22 to highlight the month of May.

JUNE
In the month of June, Ron Hextall was named Assistant General Manager and the Kings selected nine players in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Highlighting the Kings’ haul at the draft in Vancouver was goaltender Jonathan Bernier, the highest ranked North American Goaltender in the draft, whom the Kings tabbed with the 11th overall selection. The Kings had a second first-round selection after completing a blockbuster deal with Minnesota, picking up center/left wing Patrick O’Sullivan and the 17th pick in the draft (C Trevor Lewis) for Demitra.

JULY
July was a busy month for the Kings, signing numerous free agents as the new management overhauled the team’s roster. Joining the kings were C Scott Thornton, C Alyn McCauley, RW Brian Willsie, D Mike Weaver, D Brendan Buckley, D Kevin Dallman, C Gabe Gauthier, LW Raitis Ivanans, while the club re-signed RW Tim Jackman, G Mathieu Garon, C Eric Belanger, LW Sean Avery and C Michael Camalleri.

The biggest singing of all, however, was bringing back D Rob Blake on a two-year contract. Before the close of the month, the club would trade for G Dan Cloutier.

AUGUST
In another quiet month after a busy July, the Kings agreed to extensions with Bob Miller and Jim Fox as their club television broadcasters.

SEPTEMBER
September would see the first training camp under the new management as well as the final tweaking of the roster as the club prepared for the franchise’s 40th season. The wheeling and dealing picked up where it left off in July, as the club completed a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, acquiring highly touted defensemen Jack Johnson and veteran blueliner Oleg Tverdovsky in exchange for Belanger and Gleason.

Later that month, the Kings hosted the fourth annual “Pacific Division Shootout” -- featuring prospects from the Kings, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Phoenix Coyotes at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, where Los Angeles fans were introduced to rookie forward Anze Kopitar.

The Kings went 4-1-1 in the preseason, including a 3-2 win over Colorado on Sept. 23, in the annual Frozen Fury game played in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. During the preseason, the squad was led by Frolov (2-6-8), Dallman (3-3-6), Kopitar (2-3-5) and Willsie and Visnovsky (1-4-5), while Avery led the squad with 21 PIM.

OCTOBER
Despite a strong preseason, the Kings dropped their season opener to the Ducks and finished the month with a 4-8-2 mark. October also marked the debut of Kopitar and the rookie was impressive, scoring 3-13-16 in 14 games in October, the most points by any NHL rookie.

October was also a very busy month for Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller, who would release his first book, Tales From the Los Angeles Kings, in addition to receiving the 2,319th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 2

Kopitar scored two goals in his NHL debut, a 4-3 loss at Anaheim. The next night, the Kings got their 2006-07 home campaign off to a great start by defeating the Blues 4-1 with Kopitar assisting on three of the club’s four goals.

In a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, which was the second game of a four-game losing streak, Cammalleri scored the 10,000 goal in franchise history on Oct. 14.

Garon stopped 40 shots to earn his ninth career shutout and Cammalleri, Frolov and Kopitar each had a goal and an assist, as the Kings beat the Coyotes 4-0 on Oct. 19, to end a four-game losing streak.

After the win vs. Phoenix, the club would drop five straight games before Sopel scored the first two goals of the game and Avery added a goal and an assist for the Kings in a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers to close out the month.

NOVEMBER
November was a much better month for LA, as the club skated to a 5-6-2 mark and Frolov went on a scoring binge during the third week of the month, being named one of the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Blake reached another personal milestone, playing in his 1000th NHL game on Nov. 4 at Phoenix.

On Nov. 13, Robitaille joined Kings front office as an Assistant to the Governor and Alternate Governor for the Los Angeles Kings.

That was the same night that Frolov began his streak, with three straight two-goal games, scoring 6-2-8 in three games with the Kings that week. Frolov was the first Kings player with three consecutive multi-goal games since March 1993, when Robitaille had a hat trick against Calgary and followed that with two-goal efforts against Ottawa and Edmonton. The club went 2-1-0 during the scoring streak, with wins over San Jose and Phoenix.

Cammalleri and Visnovsky scored during regulation, and the Kings got shootout goals from Kopitar and Frolov to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Nov. 27 to close out the month.

DECEMBER
The club has gone 5-7-1 during the month, alternating wins and losses before suffering a four-game losing streak from Dec. 16-23, which was snapped by a shootout win over Phoenix and a win over Edmonton two nights later.

On Dec. 9, Conroy netted the go-ahead goal with 6:12 remaining and Cammalleri scored twice, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Los Angeles would go 1-4-1 over the next six games before Avery scored with less than a minute remaining to force overtime and Kopitar and Brown scored in the shootout in a 4-3 win over Phoenix on Dec. 26.

On Dec. 28, the Kings scored a season-high seven goals as 13 different Kings recorded points in a 7-4 defeat of Edmonton for the club’s second straight win.

After a 6-4 loss to Calgary in which the Kings scored two goals in the final minute of play, Los Angeles will close out 2006 with a New Year’s Eve match up at Joe Louis Arena with the Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings have played a home game on Dec. 31 in all but three years since 1957 (the exceptions being 1994, 1996 and 2004) and 54 times over all since the franchise’s inception in 1926. Detroit has won its last five New Year’s Eve home games, a streak which began with a 2-1 victory over the Kings in 2000.

Did LAKings.com miss your favorite moment of 2006? Tell us your favorite moment of the season for possible inclusion in a follow up to this column. Letters may be edited for brevity, length and/or content. Please include your name and where you are from and email feedback@lakings.com.

FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 3, COLUMBUS 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) -The Los Angeles Kings finally struck first and came away with a victory.

Michael Cammalleri scored his first goal in nearly three weeks and added an assist in a 3-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

Cammalleri's 14th goal ended an eight-game stretch in which the Kings gave up the first goal. They had been outscored 15-3 in the first period.

"It was important for us to keep a 1-0 lead for that long," Cammalleri said.

Mathieu Garon stopped 26 shots for his second shutout this season and the 10th of his career.

"Defensively, we were awesome. We were disciplined and didn't take that many penalties," Garon said. "At 2-0, I just wanted to get the win and the last minute I really wanted to get (the shutout)."

Cammalleri scored at even strength in the first period. Fredrik Norrena sprawled in front of the net to stop Derek Armstrong's shot, and the rebound bounced out to Cammalleri.

The Kings scored twice in the third on goals by Sean Avery and Lubomir Visnovsky. Alexander Frolov assisted on both, giving him 45 points to lead Los Angeles.

Visnovsky scored on a power play while digging out the rebound after Frolov's shot was stopped by Norrena.

"Because we were so strong in areas like our backcheck and clearing the pucks, we showed a lot of patience and ended up getting a lot of power-play time," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "While we only scored the one power-play goal, I think it served to really wear the other team down."

The Blue Jackets committed three consecutive penalties between the Kings' goals in the third, including one that gave the Kings a 5-on-3 advantage, which Columbus killed.

"That's when the game turned," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We used our best players far too much killing penalties. That's been our nemesis the last three road games - far too many penalties. Some of them have been lazy and not very disciplined."

Norrena had 29 saves for Columbus, which has been shut out three times during a five-game road losing streak. The other losses came in overtime and in a shootout.

"They played a hard game and they were more desperate than we were," Columbus defenseman Adam Foote said. "We talked about it coming in here, but we didn't react well in the first period. They wanted it more."

Notes: Cammalleri's previous goal was Dec. 14 at San Jose, also the last time the Kings scored the first goal in a game. ... Garon's other shutout was a 4-0 win Oct. 19 against Phoenix. ... The Kings improved to 1-1-0 against Columbus this season and extended their home unbeaten streak against the Blue Jackets to six games. ... The Blue Jackets fell to 6-12-2 on the road. They'll play 13 games this month and have never won more than three on the road in January.

we beat detroit
FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 4, DETROIT 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Michael Cammalleri and Lubomir Visnovsky each had a goal and an assist, and Rob Blake also scored to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-2 victory Saturday night that snapped their 12-game losing streak to the Detroit Red Wings.

Mathieu Garon made 32 saves, and Sean Avery added an empty-net goal for the Kings, who beat Detroit for the first time since Oct. 12, 2002, at Los Angeles. The Kings, coming off a 3-0 win against Columbus on Wednesday, have posted consecutive regulation victories for the first time since beating St. Louis and the New York Islanders in October.

Kris Draper and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings, who reached the midway mark in their schedule with a 25-11-5 record and are four points behind Central Division-leading Nashville.

Pavel Datsyuk missed his third straight game because of a groin injury. Defenseman Chris Chelios missed his fifth straight game and third since two employees were stabbed to death at his Detroit sports bar. Chelios is expected to rejoin the team on Monday in Denver.

Referee Kelly Sutherland gave the Avery a diving penalty with 7:20 to play, after Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom appeared to trip him in the neutral zone. The ensuing power play resulted in an injury to Samuelsson, who was struck on the right knee by teammate Nicklas Lidstrom's slap shot and had to be helped off the ice.

this one hurt
FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 1, EDMONTON 2 OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) -LOS ANGELES (AP) -Konstantin Pushkarev landed the first big hit, Jan Hejda bounced back to deliver the knockout punch.

Hejda was checked into the boards by fellow rookie Pushkarev in the opening minute but the Edmonton Oilers' defenseman shook it off and scored the deciding goal in a 2-1 victory Monday night over the Los Angeles Kings.

Hejda won it 1:14 into overtime with his first NHL goal in his 14th game.

"It's nice to win an overtime game, because it has been a while," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "The odds have to turn in your favor when you drop as many as we have lately."

Jarret Stoll had a power-play goal, and Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves for the Oilers in the only game on the league schedule.

Pushkarev scored his first NHL goal with 14:11 left in the third period to tie it and set up Hejda's heroics.

Hejda skated down the slot and steered in Ryan Smyth's centering pass that came from the right circle.

"You don't like to see your team make a big mistake like we made in the overtime," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We lost the puck twice and then lost two guys in coverage. When you make that many mistakes on a play, you're going to eventually end up with the puck in the back of your net."

Smyth's assist gave him 10 points in seven games after missing 10 because of a broken right thumb. The Oilers (20-18-4), who were a win away from capturing the Stanley Cup last season, are now in a struggle in the tight Western Conference just to get back into the playoffs.

"We really do feel we have a better team than our record indicates," Smyth said. "There are areas we can work on, but we don't feel it's too late for us. We're right in there. Tonight was a big step for us."

Pushkarev, the Kings' 21-year-old right wing playing in his third NHL game, started the play that led to the tying goal when he bumped Edmonton defenseman Mathieu Roy off the puck in the left corner. He then backtracked toward the Oilers blue line, got a pass from Lubomir Visnovsky and took a long wrist shot that beat Roloson through a screen.

"We were doing a good job cycling in the corner and shooting at the net, whenever you shoot on the net something can happen," Pushkarev said.

Stoll opened the scoring at 7:17 of the second period with his 12th goal, a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Mathieu Garon high to the glove side while Brian Willsie was serving a hooking penalty.

The Kings, who had their highest-scoring game of the season in a 7-4 victory at Edmonton on Dec. 18, squandered a good chance to tie it about 7 minutes later when leading goal-scorer Alexander Frolov had Roloson at his mercy on a 2-on-1 rush and chipped the puck wide of the left post with a backhander.

"We had some good scoring bids, but you have to give some credit to Roloson," Kings center Michael Cammalleri said. "Matty played really well, but we have to be able to score more than one goal for him."

The Oilers nearly took a 2-0 in the final minute of the first period. Shawn Horcoff's wrist shot hit the crossbar at the end of a 2-on-1 rush, and Brad Winchester misfired on a short shot from the left of the net that trickled under Garon's legs and hit the far post with one second remaining.

Edmonton came close again about 3 1/2 minutes into the second period when Winchester found Marty Reasoner in the slot with a perfect cross-ice feed from the left boards. Garon kicked his left leg out at the last instant to rob the Oilers center.

"When we came back at the end I thought we had a good chance to win," Garon said. "We were good offensively and defensively, did not give up too many shots on goal. But in the overtime, a mistake can make a big difference."

Notes: The 28-year-old Hejda was drafted by Buffalo in 2003, but decided to play in Europe instead. ... The Oilers have won only four times in 14 games. ... Edmonton came in with the league's best penalty-killing percentage on the road at .932 (7-for-103). The Kings were 0-for-5 with the man advantage. ... Roloson received a delay-of-game penalty for playing the puck outside the trapezoid behind the net during an Oilers power play in the first period. ... Garon, who had won five of six starts, is 1-6 in seven career games against Edmonton.

THIS GAME WAS CLOSER THAN THE SCORE
FINAL SCORE: SAN JOSE 5, LOS ANGELES 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Patrick Marleau set a franchise record for career goals, Mark Bell and Milan Michalek scored the tying and go-ahead goals 4 1-2 minutes apart in the second period, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Thursday night.

Rookie Ryane Clowe also scored for the Sharks with an assist from Marleau, and Vesa Toskala posted his fourth straight victory with 22 saves, helping the Sharks win for the fourth time in five games. Patrick Rissmiller scored into an empty net with 1:26 to play and also assisted on Marleau's goal.

Rookie Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist and Michael Cammalleri also scored for Los Angeles.

The game featured a matchup of the NHL's top power play and the league's second-worst penalty-killing team. To no one's surprise, the Sharks capitalized on Sean Avery's slashing penalty to grab a 2-1 lead at 12:19 of the second. Mathieu Garon stopped Jonathan Cheechoo's backhanded wraparound attempt, but couldn't control the rebound and Michalek backhanded the puck over Garon's left shoulder for his 12th goal.

Marleau made it 3-1 with 62 seconds left in the period, converting another rebound after Garon made a glove save on rookie Joe Pavelski. It was the 12th goal this season for the Sharks' captain and 207th of his career, breaking Owen Nolan's record. Nolan played in 115 fewer games for the Sharks than Marleau, who was the second overall pick in the 1997 behind current linemate Joe Thornton.

Clowe scored San Jose's fourth goal on a deflection of Doug Murray's slap shot from the left boards. It was the sixth goal in four games for the 24-year-old left wing after missing the previous 14 games because of foot and groin injuries. He had his first career hat trick last Saturday against Columbus.

Bell's sixth goal, a short wrist shot that beat Garon to the glove side, made it 1-1 at 7:48 of the second.

The Sharks, who were short-handed seven times before going on the power play in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Edmonton, had the first two power plays in this one but couldn't do anything with them. The Kings got the man advantage for the first time after Christian Ehrhoff was sent off for hooking Dustin Brown 57 seconds into the middle period, and Lubomir Visnovsky hit the left post with a 45-foot slap shot 30 seconds later.

The Kings shook off that bad break and got a huge break a few minutes later. Ehrhoff moved the puck out from behind his net, but put his attempted clearing pass right on the stick of rookie Anze Kopitar. Brown's slap shot was wide of the net, but Koptar got it out in front and Cammalleri slid his 16th goal under the sprawling Toskala at 5:02.

Notes: The Sharks have played only four of their last 16 games on the road. Two of them have been in Los Angeles. ... The Kings, who have played a league-low 18 road games, are at St. Louis on Saturday to begin a 14-game stretch that will include 11 games away from Staples Center. ... San Jose has 15 power play goals in its last five games. ... Kings C Alyn McCauley faced the Sharks for the first time since signing Los Angeles in July. He spent three seasons with San Jose, recording career highs in goals (20), assists (27) and points (47) in 2003-04. ... Kopitar has 15 points in his last 14 games.

LA FALLS ON NATL TV FOR ALL TO SEE
FINAL SCORE: ST. LOUIS 6, LOS ANGELES 5

ST. LOUIS (AP) -Yutaka Fukufuji made his NHL debut, but allowed Denis Wideman's power-play goal midway through the third period as the St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-5 on Saturday.

Fukufuji, the first Japanese-native to play in the NHL, entered to start the third in relief of Barry Brust. He faced five shots on goal, but allowed Wideman's goal 7:32 into the period that gave the Blues a 6-4 lead.

Brust allowed five goals in the first two periods.

The 24-year-old Fukufuji was recalled Friday on an emergency basis after Mathieu Garon was placed on injured reserve with a finger injury. Fukufuji became the first Japanese native to dress for a league game Dec. 16 against Dallas in another emergency stint.

Wideman also assisted on a second-period goal by Keith Tkachuk and on Martin Rucinsky's score in the first - both on the power play.

The Blues took the lead for good on Doug Weight's goal late in the second period. His fifth of the season gave the Blues a 5-4 advantage. Weight also assisted on Rucinsky's goal and helped set up Wideman's score.

Rob Blake's power-play goal with 5:12 made it 6-5.

Blake gave the Kings a brief 3-2 lead when he Scored 97 seconds into the second period.

Michael Cammalleri started the scoring 3:31 into the game with his 17th goal of the year.

Martin Rucinsky scored at 8:24 in the first to tie it before Tom Kostopoulos gave the Kings a 2-1 lead just over 6 minutes later.

Notes: D Christian Backman returned to the Blues' lineup after sitting out seven games. He injured his right knee December 26 at Nashville. ... It was coach Andy Murray's second game against the Kings, who fired him last spring, since taking over the Blues. St. Louis won 5-2 on December 21 in the first meeting. ... Saturday's game interrupted a string of seven road games for St. Louis, which went 2-1 in the first three games and play at Phoenix, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose in a six-day span starting Monday.

Hardly. NBC has 3 games each week, shown regionally. The other two, Penguins-Flyers and Bruins-Rangers, were probably shown to most of the country.

FINAL SCORE: DALLAS 3, LOS ANGELES 1

DALLAS (AP) -Stu Barnes and Niklas Hagman scored power-play goals, Marty Turco stopped 20 shots and the injury-depleted Dallas Stars snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

Trevor Daley added a goal, and Mike Ribeiro had two assists for Dallas. Michael Cammalleri had a power-play goal for Los Angeles.

Dallas is 6-0 against Los Angeles this season, outscoring the Kings, 23-11. Los Angeles has lost four straight overall.

Barry Brust, playing in his ninth NHL game, made 22 saves for the Kings. Los Angeles is without its top two goalies, Mathieu Garon (finger) and Dan Cloutier (hip).

Coach Marc Crawford picked Brust over rookie Yutaka Fukufuji, who became the first Japanese-born player to play in an NHL game when he came on in relief of Brust in a 6-5 loss at St. Louis on Saturday.

Stars center Jeff Halpern was a late scratch after sustaining a lower-body injury in warmups, and defenseman Philippe Boucher did not return to the ice after the first period because of an undisclosed injury.

Dallas remained without five other regulars, including top offensive threat Mike Modano, who missed his 19th consecutive game with a hip/groin injury.

Also out for the Stars were defenseman Sergei Zubov (elbow) and forwards Brenden Morrow (wrist), Steve Ott (ankle) and Matthew Barnaby (concussion).

Dallas scored its 10th power-play goal in 31 chances against Los Angeles this season when Barnes connected for his sixth goal of the season on a close-range backhander at 16:01 of the opening period.

Hagman made it 2-0 on Dallas' second power play, converting Jussi Jokinen's setup at 8:00 of the second period for Hagman's 10th goal of the season.

Cammalleri cut the deficit to 2-1 at 9:43 of the second period with his 18th goal of the season. But Daley's goal from the slot at 6:56 of the final period - Daley's second of the season and sixth of his career - extended Dallas' lead to 3-1.

Notes: Dallas has outscored Los Angeles 11-0 in the first period this season. ... The Stars were playing a rare matinee to commemorate Martin Luther King Day. The crowd was announced at 17,992, but there were plenty of empty seats as fans stayed home because of icy driving conditions. ... Hagman matched his career high for goals. ... Barnes has three goals and two assists against the Kings this season.

THE LOSSES PILE UP WITHOUT GARON
FINAL SCORE: ATLANTA 6, LOS ANGELES 2

ATLANTA (AP) -Marian Hossa picked up his second hat trick of the season and the Atlanta Thrashers defeated Los Angeles 6-2 Tuesday night, ruining the first start for Kings goalie Yutaka Fukufuji.

Fukufuji, the first Japanese-born player in the NHL, was lifted less than two minutes into the second period after Jim Slater's deflection gave the Thrashers a 3-1 lead. He stopped only six of nine shots.

Los Angeles closed to 3-2 when Tom Kostopoulos scored just over two minutes into the third period. But Hossa, who will represent the Thrashers at the All-Star Game next week, found the net two more times to turn it into a runaway.

He has 29 goals for the season.

Shane Hnidy scored first for Atlanta, just 19 seconds after Alexander Frolov put the Kings ahead at 1:31 of the opening period. Glen Metropolit had the other goal for the Thrashers.

Kari Lehtonen turned aside 28 shots for first-place Atlanta, which won its second in a row after a five-game losing streak. Los Angeles is mired in a five-game skid.

Fukufuji, recalled from the minors after the Kings' top two goalies went down with injuries, played the third period of a 6-5 loss to St. Louis on Saturday night.

He started against the Thrashers and was staked to a quick lead when Derek Armstrong sped into the Atlanta zone and passed in front to Frolov, who managed to beat Lehtonen off a bouncing puck before defenseman Greg de Vries could tie him up.

But Hnidy quickly tied it with a shot that had no business going in. The defenseman circled near the blue line and fired a shot toward Fukufuji, who had a clear look at it but let the puck deflect over his shoulder for the softest of goals.

Hossa scored off a rebound later in the first to put the Thrashers ahead to stay, and the Kings switched goalies after Slater's slight deflection on a shot by Ilya Kovalchuk got the puck past Fukufuji.

Barry Brust went the rest of the way in nets, turning aside 17 of 20 shots but letting it get out of hand in the closing minutes. The Thrashers scored three times in the last 6:56.

Los Angeles had a chance after Kostopoulos knocked in a rebound on Lehtonen, who was flat on his stomach in the net after being inadvertently tripped by teammate Vitaly Vishnevski.

But Hossa ended any hopes of a comeback, scoring on a nifty power play after working the give-and-go with teammate Slava Kozlov. Hossa was alone in front and shifted to his backhand to beat Brust.

Metropolit swept a loose puck into the net, then Hossa brought out the hats when he scored on a breakaway with a less than two minutes remaining.

Notes: Hossa has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in his last 14 games. ... Hossa also had a hat trick Nov. 30 against Toronto and has six three-goal games in his career. ... The Kings are without starting G Dan Cloutier, who underwent hip surgery last week, and backup Mathieu Garon, who is on the injured list because of a finger problem.

We saw the Penguins/Flyers game,here in Detroit.I wonder how the announcers handled pronouncing "Fukufuji"

la makes a move no cloutier no garon lets try sean burke
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have claimed goaltender Sean Burke off waivers from Tampa Bay and have assigned center Marty Murray to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (AHL), Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced.

Burke, 39, this season has played in seven games with the Springfield Falcons (AHL) and has a 2-5-0 record, a 4.52 goals against average and a .856 save percentage. Burke, who has not played in an NHL game this season, has played in 797 regular season NHL games with Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Florida, Vancouver, Carolina/Hartford and New Jersey, and has a 318-331-101 record, a 2.95 goals against average, a .902 save percentage and 37 shutouts over a 17-year NHL career. The 6-4, 209-pound native of Windsor, Ontario, was originally selected by New Jersey in the second round (24th overall) in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He will wear No. 1. Burke is a three-time NHL All-Star (2002, 2001, 1989), and he was the first rookie goaltender to play in the NHL’s All-Star Game, representing New Jersey in 1989. He also was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy (NHL’s outstanding goaltender) and the Lester B. Pearson Award (NHL’s outstanding player as voted by the players) in 2002 and he finished fourth in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL’s MVP) that same year. Murray, 31, played in 19 games with the Kings this season and recorded two points (both assists) and four penalty minutes after getting claimed off waivers from Philadelphia on November 11. He also has played in 11 games this season with the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, and has 15 points (2-13=15) and four penalty minutes. The 5-9, 180-pound native of Deloraine, Manitoba, has 73 points (31-42=73) and 41 penalty minutes in 261 career regular season NHL games with the Kings, Flyers, Carolina and Calgary. He was originally selected by Calgary in the fourth-round (96th overall) in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

Is anyone going to Luc's jersey retirement ceremony tomorrow night? I'll be in LA this weekend and was mulling over the idea of trying to find tix.

The struggling Los Angeles Kings will have Luc Robitaille on the ice Saturday, but they'd probably prefer he be in uniform as they try to avert a seven-game losing streak.

Los Angeles will honor its all-time leading goal scorer by raising his No. 20 to the rafters at Staples Center before the Kings face the Phoenix Coyotes, a club coached by Robitaille's former Los Angeles linemate Wayne Gretzky.

Robitaille finished his 19-year career 10th on the NHL all-time list with 668 goals - 557 of which came in 14 seasons with Los Angeles. His 1,394 points are 19th-most in league history.

K... So is that a yes or a no?

Assuming Adam isn't ill or deceased, I bet he was there. *Sigh* I miss Adam.

I watched it on TV. It was so long (why do all these things have to be so drawn out?) but well-done. Luc spoke so long he burned out a microphone. They gave him another one. But it was a good speech.

I miss Adam too. While I certainly hope he is alive and well and cheering for the Kings, I must admit I've had the same chilling thought that Joe alluded to above, not only about Adam but a few other people who have vanished from Outsports. I know for a fact that some of them have just moved on to other things, and that is probably true for the vast majority, but we really have no way of knowing for sure about all of them. Unless you have a full name and postal address, had kept in contact outside of Outsports, or have mutual friends who could inform you of someone's passing, it is really next to impossible to find out if someone is living or deceased. I realize this is not an easy subject to discuss here, and I don't mean to sound depressing, but I'm sure others have wondered about it too. Hopefully if Adam ever sees this, he may post a note assuring us he is OK.

I just assume anyone who hasn't posted in awhile is actually on some reality show and they can't talk about it until after it airs.

Adam doesn't strike me as the type of person who would go on a reality show. At least I hope not. I had a mailing address for him from a couple of years ago and I sent him a Hanukkah card. I included my phone number in the card. I haven't heard from him, but I didn't get it back with a "return to sender" stamp either.

thanks joe for the update

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 3, CANUCKS 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Alexander Frolov scored his second goal of the game 1:48 into overtime, and Sean Burke stopped 37 shots to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.

Not long after Burke stopped Brendan Morrison's slap shot from close range at the other end, Frolov parked himself at the top of the crease and banged a rebound of Kevin Dallman's shot past Roberto Luongo.

It was Kings coach Marc Crawford's first game against the Canucks since being fired by the team last summer after eight seasons, and his new team wasted little time jumping on his old one. Patrick O'Sullivan opened the scoring 1:39 in, and Frolov doubled the lead at 12:26 as the Kings ended their seven-game losing streak by beating a Canucks team that had won 10 of 12 before the All-Star break.

Sami Salo and Trevor Linden scored and Roberto Luongo made 40 saves for the Canucks, who stayed tied with Calgary atop the Northwest Division.

Burke, making just his second NHL start since being claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning, showed little signs of rust. After leaving his first start with the Kings early in the third period because of dehydration and cramping, the 39-year-old's only gaffe was a delay-of-game penalty for playing the puck in the restricted area.

He made point-blank saves off Jeff Cowan, Josh Green and Markus Naslund to keep it tied late in the second, and robbed Daniel Sedin twice in the third, including a tip with 7 seconds left.

O'Sullivan one-timed a pretty backhand pass from Anze Kopitar after Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa fell in the corner and turned over the puck, and Frolov squeezed between two Canucks defenders to convert his own rebound.

Salo put the Canucks on the board 1:47 later with a point shot that ricocheted off a pair of Kings defensemen before fluttering onto the top of Burke's mask and trickling into the net. Linden tied it 6 minutes into the second, parking atop the crease to redirect Bieksa's centering pass.

Notes: Burke was playing his 799th career NHL game. ... Crawford wasn t the only ex-Canuck returning. Kings associate coach Mike Johnston was also let go by the Canucks last summer, and equipment manager Darren Granger also used to work in Vancouver. ... Canucks C Marc Chouinard was in the lineup for just the third time in eight games after the Canucks learned earlier in the day C Ryan Kesler would miss the rest of the regular season after undergoing hip surgery on Monday. ... D Willie Mitchell (groin) is out another week and was replaced by call-up Yannick Tremblay.


FINAL SCORE: KINGS 3, OILERS 4

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Hoping to get the Edmonton Oilers back on track, coach Craig MacTavish put Ryan Smyth, Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff back on the same line against the Los Angeles Kings.

The move paid off big time.

Smyth had two goals and two assists, Hemsky added a goal and three assists and Horcoff a goal and two assists to help the Oilers snap a two game losing skid with a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.

"They were a handful all night," MacTavish said. "We needed a line to step up and they certainly did that for us. We had to make a change and this one made the most sense. They've been hit and miss at times but hopefully they can keep it up together from here."

Smyth was glad the reunion worked out.

"We've had some chemistry the last couple of years and (MacTavish) put us back together," he said. "He wanted us to lead by example and we did that tonight."

In a rare start, backup goalie Jussi Markkanen stopped 32 shots for the Oilers.

"I've been saying for the last couple days that the team had to step up and have a game for Jussi," MacTavish said. "It was just the opposite. Jussi had a game for us."

Markkanen says he was comfortable, except for the second period when the Kings peppered him with 16 shots.

"All I wanted was to make it to the locker room after that," he said. "I was pretty tired. But overall I felt pretty good out there. I've been feeling good the last couple weeks. I was pretty confident going in."

Michael Cammalleri, Patrick O'Sullivan and Brian Willsie scored for the last-place Kings, losers of seven of their last eight. Sean Burke had 27 saves.

Trailing 3-2, the Oilers tied the score at 1:07 of the third as Smyth took a shot that hit Burke up high and Horcoff knocked in the rebound. Edmonton got the game-winner at 7:58 when Steve Staios' shot from the point bounced off Burke and then caromed off a charging Smyth and into the goal.

"We let them take the game to us and it looked like we were only hoping to win," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We weren't prepared to give the commitment that we needed to have. If you want to win in this league you have to give much more effort than we did in the third.

"It's disappointing because we did have it in the second. We had the momentum and the lead and then it almost seemed like we were saying let's see if our goalie can win it. You're not going to win many games with that type of attitude."

The Oilers got to Burke just 2:48 into the first period as Horcoff passed the puck back to a trailing Smyth, who picked the corner for his 24th of the season.

Los Angeles tied the score as Cammalleri's point shot with just 28 seconds left in the period eluded a screened Markkanen.

The Oilers reclaimed the advantage just 49 seconds into the second when Smyth made a no-look pass from behind the net to Horcoff, who tipped it to a waiting Hemsky to go up 2-1.

Los Angeles tied it again at 11:05 on the power play as Lubomir's initial shot hit a post, was kept out by defenseman Matt Greene, then picked up by O'Sullivan, who lifted it up.

The Kings then took the lead at 13:17 when Greene gave up the puck to Willsie at the Los Angeles blueline. The Kings came in on a 3-on-1 with Willsie shooting it into corner, glove-side, on Markkanen.

Los Angeles outshot Edmonton 35-31, including 16-5 in the second.

The Kings wrap up their three game road trip at Calgary on Tuesday. Edmonton concludes a five game homestand on Wednesday against Columbus.

Notes: Both teams were playing in back-to-back games and had better records in their second games this season. The Kings are 2-5-2 in the openers, and dropped to 4-5-0 in the second games. Edmonton is 1-6-2 in the first game, and improved to 3-5-1 in the back end. ... Oilers D Staios returned to the lineup after missing several games with a knee injury. ... Burke made his third start in goal for the Kings after being claimed off waivers earlier in the month. He got his first win on Friday in Vancouver after leaving due to dehydration early in the third period in his first start with the Kings on Jan. 20.

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 3, FLAMES 4

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -Craig Conroy scored twice against his former team in his first game with his new club, leading the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

The Flames acquired Conroy from the Kings on Monday in a trade for Jamie Lundmark and two draft picks. The sold-out crowd didn't wait long to welcome Conroy back to Calgary, applauding when he took the ice for pregame warmups and then cheering loudly when he was shown on the video board during the national anthem.

The forward then brought the fans to their feet when he knocked a rebound past goalie Sean Burke just 1:30 into the second period to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

Conroy, who spent parts of four seasons in Calgary before signing with the Kings in 2004, rounded out the scoring at 15:16 of the third with his second goal of the night and eighth of the season.

Stephane Yelle and David Moss had the other goals for Calgary, which began a four-game homestand with its sixth consecutive victory on home ice.

Mike Cammalleri scored his 20th goal for Los Angeles, which has just one win in 10 games (1-8-1).

Moss put Calgary ahead 2-0 at 3:50 of the season, scoring his sixth goal in 18 games after deflecting Dion Phaneuf's wrist shot from the blue line past Burke.

Cammalleri deflected Anze Kopitar's slap shot from the point during a power play to pull Los Angeles to within 2-1 just 1:35 into the third.

Los Angeles outshot the Flames 16-7 in the third but couldn't beat Miikka Kiprusoff, who made numerous great saves. Five of Kiprusoff's stops came during a 1:29 two-man advantage halfway through the period.

Then Calgary sealed the win with goals by Yelle at 14:04 and Conroy's second of the night.

Conroy hadn't scored in 12 games, a streak dating to a Dec. 29 game against Calgary.

Notes: Conroy centered a line with wingers Tony Amonte and Alex Tanguay. ... Conroy could appear in 85 regular-season games, which would be the most in franchise history. He is one of only two Flames to have played in more than 82 games, appearing in 83 in the 2000-01 campaign, the season he was acquired from St. Louis. Marcus Nilson played in 83 games in the 2003-04 season. ... Los Angeles outshot the Flames 36-33. ... Calgary has gone 15 games without outshooting the opposition. ... Calgary captain Jarome Iginla hopes to return to the lineup on Friday. He has missed 11 games with a sprained knee. ... Flames RW Chuck Kobasew will be sidelined four weeks with a broken elbow.



LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have acquired center Jamie Lundmark, a fourth-round draft choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round draft choice in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft from the Calgary Flames in exchange for center Craig Conroy, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced Monday.

Lundmark, 26, has played in 39 games with the Flames this season and has four points (all assists) and 31 penalty minutes. The 6-0, 195-pound native of Edmonton has played in 203 career regular season NHL games with the Flames, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers and has 62 points (20-42=62) and 142 penalty minutes. He has also played in four playoff games, recording one point (an assist) and seven penalty minutes.

Conroy, 36, this season has 16 points (5-11=16) and 38 penalty minutes in 52 games with the Kings. A 6-2, 197-pound native of Potsdam, New York, Conroy has played in 739 career NHL games with the Kings, Flames, St. Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens and has 422 points (145-277=422) and 453 penalty minutes. Conroy, who served as one of the Kings’ four assistant captains, signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on July 6, 2004, after spending the previous three-plus seasons with Calgary.

The Kings conclude a three-game road trip tomorrow, Tuesday, in Calgary against the Flames. The game will air on FSN West, KTLK AM 1150 and along the Kings Radio Network.
WE MADE AMOVE BUT IS IT THE RITE ONE

FINAL SCORE: CHICAGO 3, LOS ANGELES 2 OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chicago defenseman Lasse Kukkonen scored 57 seconds into overtime and the Blackhawks also got goals from Martin Havlat and Jeff Hamilton to beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday night in a matchup of the Western Conference's worst teams.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 31 saves for the Blackhawks, who have won two in a row after losing 10 straight.

Alexander Frolov and newly acquired Jamie Lundmark scored for Los Angeles, both on fluke bounces. The Kings have lost 10 of 11 and five straight at home. Their 41 points are the fewest in the conference and four shy of Chicago.

Lundmark, playing in his second game since being acquired from Calgary for Craig Conroy, was credited with the tying goal with 12:51 left. He chipped the puck away from defenseman Jassen Cullimore in the left corner and Cullimore retrieved it, but inadvertently banked it into the net off Khabibulin.

Chicago escaped with the win when Denis Arkhipov got the puck from Tuomo Ruutu in the right corner and fed it out to the slot, where Kukkonen beat Sean Burke for his fifth goal and first in 13 games.

The Blackhawks began their seven-game road trip with an NHL-worst power-play percentage of 10.9, against a penalty-killing unit that was the second-worst at 77.4 percent.

Hamilton put Chicago ahead 2-1 at 10:29 of the second period, using defenseman Rob Blake as a screen and beating Burke to the stick side with a one-timer from 50 feet during a power play.

Frolov and Havlat traded goals 77 seconds apart early in the first period. Frolov was credited with his 26th when his intended pass for Michael Cammalleri from behind the net banked in off the chest of defenseman James Wisniewski. Havlat then flipped his 16th goal over Burke's right shoulder from the low slot.

Game notes Former Kings C Bryan Smolinski won all 13 of his faceoffs in the first two periods and assisted on Havlat's goal. ... Kings rookie C Anze Kopitar lost all nine of his faceoffs through the first two periods. ... This was the first meeting this season between the Kings and Blackhawks, who will face each other three more times in an 18-day span during March. ... Chicago RW Radim Vrbada came in with seven goals in 134 shots on net for a 5.22 shooting percentage -- the lowest among players who have taken at least 100 shots. ... Kings D Aaron Miller has played 132 games since his last goal, a drought that began after he beat Burke on Nov. 27, 2003, at Phoenix. Miller hasn't scored at home since April 4, 2002.
WE AREN'T GOOD IN OT AND THIS PROVES IT

MANCHESTER, NH – The American Hockey League announced today that Manchester Monarchs goaltender Jason LaBarbera has been named the Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month for January.

In 10 appearances last month, LaBarbera was 8-2-0 with a 1.88 goals-against-average, a .945 save-percentage and one shutout to keep the Monarchs in first place in the AHL's Atlantic Division.

On January 5 in Hartford, LaBarbera made 59 saves to backstop the Monarchs to a 3-2 overtime win over the Wolf Pack. He stopped 32 shots for his fifth shutout of the season on January 17 at Portland, and later extended his personal winning streak to six games with a 39-save effort in a 2-1 victory vs. Albany on January 27. LaBarbera capped the month by starting for the Canadian team in the 2007 AHL All-Star Game in Toronto, his second career AHL All-Star appearance.

In recognition of his achievement, LaBarbera will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Monarchs home game.

With a record of 25-14-1, LaBarbera currently ranks second in the American Hockey League in wins, save-percentage (.932) and shutouts (five); third in goals-against-average (2.23); and first in minutes played (2,419), saves (1,234) and shots faced (1,324) while appearing in 41 games for Manchester this season. In 226 career AHL games, LaBarbera is 117-69-20 with 26 shutouts, good for seventh on the AHL's career list. The 27-year-old native of Burnaby, British Columbia, was named the AHL's most valuable player and outstanding goaltender with Hartford in 2003-04, and played 29 NHL games with Los Angeles last season, posting a mark of 11-9-2.

Other nominees for the Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month award include Wade Dubielewicz of Bridgeport, Fred Brathwaite of Chicago, Stephen Valiquette of Hartford, Josh Harding of Houston, Karl Goehring of Milwaukee, Curtis McElhinney of Omaha, Jordan Sigalet of Providence, Craig Anderson of Rochester, Tomas Popperle of Syracuse and Dimitri Patzold of Worcester.
maybe we can call him up

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chicago defenseman Lasse Kukkonen scored 57 seconds into overtime and the Blackhawks also got goals from Martin Havlat and Jeff Hamilton to beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday night in a matchup of the Western Conference's worst teams.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 31 saves for the Blackhawks, who have won two in a row after losing 10 straight.

Alexander Frolov and newly acquired Jamie Lundmark scored for Los Angeles, both on fluke bounces. The Kings have lost 10 of 11 and five straight at home. Their 41 points are the fewest in the conference and four shy of Chicago.

Lundmark, playing in his second game since being acquired from Calgary for Craig Conroy, was credited with the tying goal with 12:51 left. He chipped the puck away from defenseman Jassen Cullimore in the left corner and Cullimore retrieved it, but inadvertently banked it into the net off Khabibulin.

Chicago escaped with the win when Denis Arkhipov got the puck from Tuomo Ruutu in the right corner and fed it out to the slot, where Kukkonen beat Sean Burke for his fifth goal and first in 13 games.

The Blackhawks began their seven-game road trip with an NHL-worst power-play percentage of 10.9, against a penalty-killing unit that was the second-worst at 77.4 percent.

Hamilton put Chicago ahead 2-1 at 10:29 of the second period, using defenseman Rob Blake as a screen and beating Burke to the stick side with a one-timer from 50 feet during a power play.

Frolov and Havlat traded goals 77 seconds apart early in the first period. Frolov was credited with his 26th when his intended pass for Michael Cammalleri from behind the net banked in off the chest of defenseman James Wisniewski. Havlat then flipped his 16th goal over Burke's right shoulder from the low slot.

Game notes Former Kings C Bryan Smolinski won all 13 of his faceoffs in the first two periods and assisted on Havlat's goal. ... Kings rookie C Anze Kopitar lost all nine of his faceoffs through the first two periods. ... This was the first meeting this season between the Kings and Blackhawks, who will face each other three more times in an 18-day span during March. ... Chicago RW Radim Vrbada came in with seven goals in 134 shots on net for a 5.22 shooting percentage -- the lowest among players who have taken at least 100 shots. ... Kings D Aaron Miller has played 132 games since his last goal, a drought that began after he beat Burke on Nov. 27, 2003, at Phoenix. Miller hasn't scored at home since April 4, 2002.

la falls to again in the ot

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 7, PANTHERS 0

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Sean Burke made 40 saves for his 38th career shutout, and Alexander Frolov and Michael Cammalleri each scored twice to help the Los Angeles Kings beat the Florida Panthers 7-0 on Saturday night.

Konstantin Pushkarev, Dustin Brown and Jamie Lundmark also scored for Los Angeles, which had dropped seven of its previous eight road games. Frolov, Cammalleri, Sean Avery and Derek Armstrong each had two assists.

The Kings scored six goals on 18 shots through two periods. Panthers goalie Ed Belfour was replaced by Alexander Auld with Florida trailing 3-0 and 5:59 left in the first period.

Florida, which entered the game 6-1-1 in its previous eight home games, was shut out for the seventh time this season.

The Kings began a five-game trip by improving to 7-18 on the road.

Goals by Cammalleri, Pushkarev and Brown gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead 13:55 into the first period.

Frolov increased the Los Angeles lead to 4-0 when he finished a 3-on-1 by redirecting a centering pass from Avery 3:34 into the second period.

Lundmark and Frolov scored 34 seconds apart to build a 6-0 cushion 14:32 into the second period.

Burke's previous shutout was for Tampa Bay against Pittsburgh on April 8, 2006. He made his sixth appearance since being acquired by Los Angeles on Jan. 18.

Notes: Frolov has 28 goals, including seven in his past eight games. Cammalleri has 22. ... Brown scored his team-high ninth power-play goal. ... Florida defenseman Martin Lojek made his NHL debut by filling in for Mike Van Ryn (hand). Lojek was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Saturday. ... L.A. hasn't lost at Florida in almost 5 1/2 years, dating back to Oct. 26, 2001. They're 2-0 since then, also winning on Nov. 5, 2003.
man i hope adam saw the kings play the best ever hockey this yr.

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 2, LIGHTNING 3 OT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Mike Weaver finally scored his first NHL goal. Unfortunately for him, it came in the latest loss by the struggling Los Angeles Kings.

Vincent Lecavalier scored his 34th goal and connected in the shootout, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning past Los Angeles 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Weaver, playing in his 123rd career game, scored during the Kings' two-goal third.

"It's about time," said Weaver, originally credited with two goals before a postgame scoring change. "I wish we would have had a victory there at the end, but we didn't. I'm just going to enjoy (the goal) for a couple of hours, then forget about it and concentrate on the next game."

Lecavalier and Blair Jones scored first-period goals for the Lightning, who have won 11 of 13. Tampa Bay took the shootout 3-1.

"We weren't the best we could be," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "We didn't play a very good game, but you still get two points. We're not the only team that goes through that. The teams that win the majority of those are the teams that are there in April."

Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Kings rallied with two goals in the third. Weaver's second was awarded to Derek Armstrong about 40 minutes after the game.

"I was just like, `Get the puck. Make sure you get the puck from the ref,"' Weaver said. "Points are not my thing anyway, so when I do get them, it's just a bonus."

The Kings, who have the worst record in the Western Conference, are 2-8-3 over their last 13 games.

Weaver cut Los Angeles' deficit to 2-1 at 1:13 of the third. Armstrong tied it on a deflection of Weaver's shot from the blue line with 12:19 left in the period.

Lecavalier put the Lightning ahead 1-0 during a power play at 2:23 of the first. Jones made it 2-0 on his first NHL goal at 4:18.

Tampa Bay's Johan Holmqvist made 29 saves. He has allowed just one goal in 17 shootout attempts this season.

"It looked like we had control for two periods, but they got back in the game," Holmqvist said. "It was a good feeling to win a shootout again."

Tampa Bay is 9-2 in games decided in overtime or a shootout this season.

Los Angeles goalie Sean Burke, who was playing for the Lightning's AHL team in Springfield before being claimed on waivers Jan. 18 by the Kings, stopped 27 shots.

"We had a chance to win that game," said Burke, who is 2-2-2 with the Kings. "I just got beat in the shootout. We got down, but I think we showed a lot of character - 2-0 in the other team's building in the first seven or eight minutes can be pretty intimidating."

Kings center Michael Cammalleri missed the game with what team officials called a muscle strain. No other details regarding the injury that sidelined the Kings' second-leading scorer (22 goals and 51 assists in 55 games) were provided.

Notes: Jones has appeared in 10 NHL games, all this season. ... Lightning LW Ruslan Fedotenko (flu) didn't play. ... The Kings have been outscored 65-45 in the first period this season. ... Tampa Bay captain Tim Taylor returned after missing the past three games with the flu.

AS GOOD AS THE LIGHTNING ARE THE KINGS AREN'T IN OT OR S/O

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 3, CAPITALS 4 OT

WASHINGTON (AP) -Dainius Zubrus poked in a rebound 2:28 into overtime Thursday night to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

Zubrus got his stick on the puck as it lay tantalizing close to the goal line, having trickled past goalie Mathieu Garon and off the right post following a shot by Alexander Semin. It was Zubrus' 19th goal.

Boyd Gordon, Ben Clymer and Chris Clark also scored for the Capitals, and Alex Ovechkin earned a second-period assist to end the longest scoring drought of his young career - he had gone three games without a point.

Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov and Lubomir Visnovsky scored for the Kings, who lost to the Capitals on the road for the first time in nearly nine years. They had gone 4-0 with one tie at the Verizon Center since a 3-2 loss on April 4, 1998.

The game was as close as one could expect from two struggling teams. The Kings entered the game having lost 11 of 13, while the Capitals had dropped nine of 12.

Kings rookie Kopitar scored the only goal of the first period, a rebound off the far post during a 5-on-3 power play.

But Garon, giving 40-year-old Sean Burke a night off, allowed three goals in a rough second period. He whiffed glove-side on Gordon's short-handed shot from the blue line, was slow to react on a wraparound by Clymer and let a close-in shot from Clark trickle over the goal line. Ovechkin got the second assist on Clymer's goal.

The Kings kept pace with a redirect from Frolov, his 29th goal of the season, and a one-timer from Visnovsky. Michael Cammalleri, who missed Tuesday's shootout loss at Tampa Bay with a muscle strain, assisted on both goals.

Los Angeles failed to score during a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:05 in the second period, and the teams went scoreless in the third.

Notes: Ovechkin played 136 games before having his first three-game stretch without a point. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two players in NHL history have had longer streaks at the start of their careers: Mario Lemieux (735 games, 1984-97) and Kent Nilsson (183 games, 1979-82). ... Cammalleri's two assists gave him 31 on the season, a career high. He also has a career-high, seven-game point streak.



MY BOY GARON IS BACK AND WE WIN A PT BUT NOT THE GAME 4 PTS IN A ROW

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -Los Angeles rookie Anze Kopitar scored two goals and the Kings beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 Saturday night.

Brian Willsie and Michael Cammalleri added goals for the Kings (19-30-9), who have the worst record in the Western Conference. Sean Burke made 21 saves.

Dan Hamhuis scored for Nashville, the West's top team. The loss snapped the Predators" franchise-record, eight-game home-winning streak. The Kings, who own the NHL's worst road record (8-18-2), are 2-0-3 in their last five games.

Kopitar gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the middle period. His shot from low inside the right circle bounced off the glove of goalie Tomas Vokoun and came to Lubomir Visnovsky, who fired the rebound back from the left side. That shot caromed off Vokoun to Kopitar, who put the puck in off Vokoun who fell backward in the crease.

Willsie struck less than a minute later, poking the puck between the right post and Vokoun from low in the left circle at 1:03.

Kopitar made it 3-0 at 11:55 of the second when he skated with the puck behind the net from the left side and fired a wrist shot past Vokoun from low on the right side.

Cammalleri pushed the lead to four goals in the third period, shooting a one-timer from high in the slot that beat Vokoun to his stick side at 6:29.

The Predators avoided the shutout at 10:14 when Hamhuis scored.

Notes: Nashville's Kimmo Timonen skated in his 550th NHL game. Cammalleri has an eight-game point streak. ... Kopitar has points in four straight games.

5 pts to get out of the cellar

I LOVE IT WHEN THE PREDS LOSE!

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 1, HURRICANES 2

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -Scott Walker scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 Tuesday night.

Ray Whitney also scored for the Hurricanes, who had lost five of seven. David Tanabe added two assists, and Cam Ward made 21 saves in earning a relatively easy win.

Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings, who are in last place in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has lost 13 of 16.

The Hurricanes went ahead for good on Walker's 17th goal of the season. It was a good way to open a key stretch for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who entered the game in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and play three of the next four at home.

With the score tied at 1, Walker took a pass from Josef Vasicek along the boards and curled toward the middle of the zone. With no Kings defender hanging with him, Walker found a lane and took a long shot from beyond the circles that slipped by goalie Sean Burke at 14:46 of the second.

The Kings looked set for a good start when Carolina's Justin Williams was given a 4-minute penalty for high-sticking Jamie Lundmark just 13 seconds in. But the Kings managed only one shot with the advantage, the beginning of an anemic offensive night.

Los Angeles managed just 10 shots in the first two periods. And when the Kings got a scoring chance - as when Dustin Brown corralled a mishandled puck by Frantisek Kaberle along the boards for a breakaway chance - they couldn't take advantage.

Still, the Kings tied it when Frolov deflected in a pass from Brent Sopel on a power play midway through the second period after Vasicek was called for roughing.

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead when Rod Brind'Amour beat defenseman Rob Blake to the puck along the boards, then sent a pass from behind the net to Whitney for a short put-away with 1:10 left in the first.

Notes: Carolina LW Erik Cole missed his second straight game with a lower body injury. ... The teams hadn't met in Raleigh since Carolina's 3-2 overtime win on Nov. 8, 2003. ... Lundmark returned to the game in the first period after Williams' high-stick that opened a cut over his right eye. ... Whitney left the game briefly in the first period and limped to the locker room with a right leg injury after a hit near the net. ... The Brind'Amour-to-Whitney goal extended the scoring streak for both players to five games. Brind'Amour has eight points in that span, while Whitney has 10.

LA HAD THIS ONE I LISTENED TO IT

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Corey Perry knew what he wanted to do before he took center ice against Mathieu Garon. Then he went out and scored.

Perry sent the puck through Garon's legs in a shootout, helping the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks edge the last-place Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Saturday night.

"I just had to fake a shot and get him to freeze and spread his legs," Perry said. "In those kind of situations, you've got to know what you're going to do when you're going in there."

The Ducks, holding the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, won their second straight after dropping 13 of their previous 19.

The Kings, last in the conference, have lost 13 of 17, including two in a row.



i watch them lose this one live and in person no seeeing adam tho

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 4, DUCKS 3 SO

Anaheim, Calif. (AP)ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Lubomir Visnovsky scored in the sixth round of a shootout to give the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.

The Ducks beat the Kings in a shootout a night earlier.

Teemu Selanne had a goal - his club-record 301st with Anaheim - and two assists in the rematch.

Los Angeles' Michael Cammalleri had a goal and two assists, and now has 11 goals and 15 assists in his last 19 games.

Visnovsky beat goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere with a shot between the pads to finally settle it. The Kings' defenseman also scored his 15th goal in regulation and assisted on Cammalleri's 24th.

The Ducks outshot the Kings nearly 2-to-1, getting off 42 shots at Sean Burke, while Giguere faced 24.

Anaheim, which never led, tied the score for the third time on Ryan Getzlaf's power-play goal midway through the third period after Derek Armstrong gave Los Angeles a 3-2 lead at 3:49 of the period.

The Ducks' Chris Pronger was struck in the face by Visnovsky's slap shot 48 seconds into overtime and, in obvious pain, quickly made his way off the ice and to the locker room. The severity of the injury wasn't immediately known.

Selanne's milestone goal, topping the previous club record set by former linemate Paul Kariya, came on a power play at 1:01 of the third period and drew Anaheim briefly even at 2-2.

Taking a pass from Scott Niedermayer from behind the goal line, Selanne threaded a shot from the right circle into the upper right corner, the puck flying just over Burke's glove.

The goal was the 36th of the season for Selanne and his 17th in the last 21 games. He has eight points in his last three games after being held scoreless in his previous two.

Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead on a pair of power-play goals, by Cammalleri in the second period after Visnovsky opened the scoring in the first. Visnovsky's slap shot down the slot ticked off the stick of Anaheim's Rob Niedermayer and sailed past Giguere 13:04 into the game.

Cammalleri set up the score when he whirled around on the right boards and passed to Visnovsky.

Anaheim's Chris Kunitz had evened it 1-1 at 1:54 of the second period. But Cammalleri put Los Angeles back in front, beating Giguere with a slap shot that bounced off the goalie's stick and into the net at 7:48 of the period.

The victory was the Kings' second in six meetings this season against the Ducks.

Notes: Kings captain Mattias Norstrom was sidelined by a knee injury, the first game he's missed this season. ... Kunitz's goal was his 20th and gave him one more than he had last season, his rookie year in the league. ... The game got off to a considerably quieter start than the previous night, when the Ducks drew eight penalties in the first period and the Kings had six before both teams settled down. In the rematch, the Ducks had one penalty in the opening period to two for Kings.

we split the series but odd enuff welost the home game

FINAL SCORE: VANCOUVER 3, LOS ANGELES 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Defenseman Kevin Bieksa scored the go-ahead goal with 3:54 left in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Brendan Morrison scored on a power play and Trevor Linden also had a goal for the Northwest Division leaders, who are 19-3-3 since Dec. 26 and 11-1-1 in their last 13 road games. Roberto Luongo made 31 saves.

John Zeiler scored his first NHL goal and Lubomir Visnovsky connected on a power play for the Kings.

The Canucks, who came in with the league's top penalty-killing percentage, were short-handed eight times. It was the 12th time this season they have had to kill eight or more power plays in a game, and their record in those contests is 8-4.

Bieksa got the winner on a 20-foot wrist shot from the slot that beat Mathieu Garon high to the glove side, after Markus Naslund fed him the puck from the right circle. It was his 10th goal of the season.

Linden snapped a 1-1 tie at 1:34 of the second period with his ninth of the season, and first in 12 games. He beat Garon from a sharp angle to the stick side after taking a pass off the left boards from Willie Mitchell.

The Kings thought they had tied it just 83 seconds later. But a goal by Michael Cammalleri was waved off by referee Marc Joannette because Derek Armstrong bowled over Luongo right before Cammalleri's shot, resulting in a penalty for goaltender interference.

Los Angeles eventually pulled even at the 15-minute mark of the second, cashing in on Matt Cooke's second minor penalty in a 2:58 span. Luongo stopped Cammalleri at the right of the crease, but Visnovsky flipped the rebound over the prone goaltender for his 16th goal as a diving Linden got a piece of it.

Just seconds after a goalmouth scramble in which Garon tried to smother the puck - only to have one of his teammates keep it alive at the last instant - the Kings came down the ice and scored the game's first goal at the midway mark of the opening period.

Zeiler, playing in only his third NHL game after signing a one-year contract on Feb. 17, got a return pass from Tom Kostopoulos and sent a 15-foot wrist shot between Luongo's legs as the goalie dropped to his knees.

Los Angeles defenseman Aaron Miller, playing in his 600th NHL game, was serving an interference penalty when the Morrison tied it with his 17th goal. Sami Salo's one-timer from inside the blue line went wide of the left post, but Morrison played the carom off the end boards and beat Garon to the glove side at 16:12 of the first.

Notes: It was the second straight game that the Canucks fell behind 1-0 on an opposing player's first NHL goal. Tuesday night it was Anaheim's Tim Brent - but the Canucks won that one 3-2 in overtime. ... Vancouver LW Jeff Cowan, who spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Kings, has played in 42 games this season without scoring a goal. The only forwards who have played more games this season without one are Columbus LW Jody Shelley (55 games) and Ottawa RW Brian McGrattan (43). ... Lauri Tukonen, the Kings' first-round draft pick in 2004, made his NHL debut and started at RW on a line with C Anze Kopitar and LW Dustin Brown. A spot opened up on the roster for Tukonen when Raitis Ivanans was placed on injured reserve because of an infected cut on his right arm. ... Kings captain Mattias Norstrom returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained right knee.

we lose again at home so much for home ice advantage

LOS ANGELES (AP) -The Los Angeles Kings stole a vital point from the Colorado Avalanche, who can't afford to squander many more if they expect to make the playoffs.

Rob Blake tied the game with 4 seconds left in regulation, Dustin Brown scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of a shootout and the Kings ended a seven-game home losing streak with a 6-5 victory Saturday night.

The Avalanche are 10 points out of a playoff spot with 20 games remaining, so the team's streak of 11 consecutive postseason berths is in serious jeopardy.

"Colorado's still in the playoff race and they have to get those points, but we were up to the challenge tonight and finished strong," Kings rookie Anze Kopitar said.

Kopitar and Lubomir Visnovsky scored on power plays for the Kings, who also got goals from Brian Willsie and Alexander Frolov. Michael Cammalleri had three assists, all in the third period.

"We know we can play better than that," Brown said. "We made a lot of mistakes, but the positive thing is that we never quit and rebounded from two goals down. So it was a big win for us - not the type of win we want, but we'll take it. It's a fun game to play in when you get the crowd into it like that."

The Kings were penalized with 2:06 left in regulation for having too many men on the ice. But Blake got the equalizer, converting his own rebound just 2 seconds after the bench minor expired. The goal, which came after Los Angeles goalie Sean Burke was pulled for an extra attacker, ended a 16-game drought for Blake.

John-Michael Liles, Brett Clark and Milan Hejduk scored power-play goals for the Avalanche, and Andrew Brunette had three assists in a matchup of last-place teams. Ian Laperriere also scored and Marek Svatos extended his goal streak to three games.

Frolov's 32nd goal narrowed Colorado's lead to 4-3 with 10:57 left in the third period, but Hejduk responded with his 23rd goal less than four minutes later while Tom Kostopoulos was off for hooking.

Visnovsky's 17th of the season, during a two-man advantage, made it a one-goal game again with 4:46 left following a delay-of-game penalty against Ossi Vaananen and a hooking call against Paul Stastny 25 seconds later.

"It was a killer. This one stings," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "Everything was perfect at the 6-minute mark. Then we shot the puck into the crowd and then we were two men short. That was definitely the turning point. That gave them a ton of momentum when we had everything going our way."

Liles gave Colorado a 3-2 lead 61 seconds into the third period, beating Burke with a screened 15-foot wrist shot while Kings defenseman Brent Sopel was serving a delay-of-game penalty. Burke then left a bad rebound on a shot from the left circle by Ben Guite, and Svatos banged it home with 15:22 remaining for his 14th goal.

Down 2-0, Colorado got on the board at 4:42 of the second during a 5-on-3 advantage after Mattias Norstrom got a delay-of-game penalty and Aaron Miller went off for hooking 58 seconds later.

Joe Sakic carried the puck out from behind the net away from Sopel and then slipped it to Clark, whose 25-foot snap shot from the slot beat Burke to the glove side with 15 seconds left on Norstrom's penalty.

Laperriere tied it at 11:23 of the second with his fifth goal. He caught up with a loose puck that caromed off teammate Mark Rycroft in the Avalanche zone, went in alone on Burke and beat him with a short backhander.

Laperriere, who also got into a fight with Kostopoulos in the first period, has an NHL-leading 15 fighting majors this season. He had 61 goals and 1,017 penalty minutes in his nine seasons with the Kings, and now has four goals in 12 games against his former team.

Sakic, the newest member of the 600-goal club, extended his assist streak to 10 games and tied Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis for the longest such streak this season. The Colorado captain has 14 assists and five goals during that stretch. His next game will be his 1,300th in the NHL.

Notes: Willsie was a sixth-round pick by the Avalanche in the 1996 draft and signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on July 4. He scored seven goals in 69 games with Colorado and had a career-high 19 last season for Washington. ... Colorado LW Wojtek Wolski turned 21, but missed his fourth straight game because of a concussion. ... Colorado was 3-for-6 on the power play. It was only the second time in 24 games that the Avalanche had more than five power-play opportunities. ... Willsie's goal was his first in 20 home games since Nov. 16 against Philadelphia.


Three star selections:
1st: ROB BLAKE
2nd: ANDREW BRUNETTE
3rd: LUBOMIR VISNOVSKY
Winning Goaltender:
SEAN BURKE Losing Goaltender:
PETER BUDAJ


burke carries us to victory a big win over a good squad

but as last place team here come the trades

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have acquired defenseman Jaroslav Modry, a first-round draft choice in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, a second-round choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, a third-round draft choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and the rights to defenseman Johan Fransson from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Mattias Norstrom, right wing Konstantin Pushkarev, a third-round draft choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and a fourth-round draft choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.

“Like with most trades, this was a very difficult decision to make. Matty has been a tremendous player for this club for a number of a years and he has been a very respected captain as well. The ability, however, to get two high draft picks will be of great benefit for our organization as we move forward and help build our reserve list and team.”

Modry, 36, has played in 57 games with the Stars this season, recording 10 points (1-9=10) and 32 penalty minutes. The 6-2, 220-pound native of Ceske-Budejovice, Czech Republic, played for the Kings from the 1995-96 season through the 2003-04 season and was an All-Star in 2002 when the Game was played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

A veteran of 12 NHL seasons, Modry has recorded 233 points (48-185=233) and 438 penalty minutes over 626 regular season NHL games with the Kings, Dallas, Atlanta, Ottawa and New Jersey. He has also played in 19 career NHL playoff games and has three points (1-2=3) and six penalty minutes.

During the 2005-06 season, Modry’s lone season with Atlanta, he led the team in assists (31) and points (38) among defensemen. In 2003-04 with the Kings, he led the club in plus-minus (plus-11) and average ice time (24:23). In 2002-03, he was fourth in the NHL in total shots among defensemen (205), while in 2001-02 he led all Kings defensemen with a career-high 38 assists and 42 points. In 2000-01, Modry named the Kings’ “Unsung Hero” in a vote by his teammates.

Modry was originally selected by New Jersey in the ninth-round (179th overall) in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

Fransson, 22, has appeared in six games this season with Assat Pori of the FNL, registering one point (an assist) and two penalty minutes. From 2002-06, he played 140 games with Lulea HF of the Swedish Elite League, registering 21 points (7-14-=21) and 132 penalty minutes.

Fransson was drafted in the second-round (34th overall) by the Stars in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The native of Kalix, Sweden, is 6-1, 183 pounder in 2005-06 appeared in 50 games with Lulea and recorded eight points (3-5=8) and 74 penalty minutes. He also played for Sweden at the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Championship.

Norstrom, 35, has played in 62 games with the Kings this season, recording nine points (2-7=9) and 40 penalty minutes. The 6-2, 210-pound native of Stockholm, Sweden, is the Kings’ all-time leader in games played among defenseman (780) and he is fourth overall in games played in franchise history. He was also the 12th captain in club history and had worn the “C” for the Kings since the 2001-02 season.

Norstrom has played in 823 career regular season NHL games with the Kings and the New York Rangers, and has 149 points (16-133=149) and 613 penalty minutes. Acquired by the Kings from the Rangers on March 14, 1996, with Ian Laperriere, Ray Ferraro, Nathan LaFayette and a fourth-round draft choice (Sean Blanchard) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft for Marty McSorley, Jari Kurri and Shane Churla, Norstrom was originally selected by the Rangers in the second-round (48th overall) in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

Pushkarev, 22, has played in 16 games with the Kings this season, recording four points (2-2=4) and eight penalty minutes. He also has played in 35 games with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League this season, recording 15 points (4-11=15) and 29 penalty minutes. Most recently assigned by the Kings to the Monarchs on February 17, Pushkarvev, a 6-0, 180-pound native of Ust Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, has played in 17 career regular season NHL games, all with the Kings, and has five points (2-3=5) and eight penalty minutes. He was originally selected by the Kings in the second-round (44th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 4, ANAHEIM 3 OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) -LOS ANGELES (AP) -Jamie Lundmark tied the game with 8:49 left in the third period and Michael Cammalleri got the winner on a power play at 3:17 of overtime, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

Alexander Frolov and Raitis Ivanans also scored for the Kings, who are last in the Pacific Division - 31 points behind the first-place Ducks. The largest gap between the Southern California rivals at the end of any season was 26 points, when the Kings had the advantage in 2000-01 and again in 2001-02.

Dustin Penner and Scott Niedermayer had power play-goals for Anaheim, and Andy McDonald also found the net for the Ducks.

Each of the teams' first seven meetings this season has been decided by one goal - with the Kings winning three of them. Neither team has won a division title since the NHL expanded to Anaheim in 1993-94. They face each other for the final time on March 18 in Anaheim.

Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi, who in recent weeks unloaded Craig Conroy, Sean Avery, Oleg Tverdovsky, Brent Sopel and Jeff Cowan with the Kings way out of the playoff picture, shook up the roster Tuesday with a flurry of trade-deadline deals that had the crowd of 17,620 scrambling for programs.

The Kings played their first game without captain Mattias Norstrom, who has appeared in more games than any defenseman in franchise history. Norstrom was sent to Dallas with Konstantin Pushkarev and a couple of draft picks for defenseman Jaroslav Modry, three draft picks and the NHL rights to Johan Fransson.

Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer received an interference penalty 39 seconds before Cammalleri cashed in with his 25th goal, a one-timer from the right circle that beat Ilya Bryzgalov high to the glove side. It was the second time in five games that Niedermayer took a penalty in overtime that resulted in a goal. Daniel Sedin also made him pay on Feb. 20 in Anaheim.

Jamie Heward set up the equalizer with a 55-foot wrist shot that Lundmark redirected past Bryzgalov for his third goal in 12 games since being acquired from Calgary in the Conroy trade. Heward was making his Kings debut after coming over from the Washington Capitals at Tuesday's trading deadline.

Rob Blake was serving an interference penalty when Penner tied the score 1-all with his 22nd goal, a deflection of Niedermayer's wrist shot from the right circle at 16:29 of the first period. Niedermayer put the Ducks ahead 2-1 at 3:43 of the second, parking himself in the low slot and redirecting Chris Pronger's 50-foot slap shot past Sean Burke's glove for his 12th goal.

McDonald made it 3-1 at 15:39 of the second with his 19th goal. Persistent forechecking by Chris Kunitz knocked Blake off the puck in the left corner of the Kings' zone and Teemu Selanne took control behind the net before feeding it to McDonald at the edge of the crease for a short backhander. But the Ducks gave it right back just 21 seconds later on a goal by Ivanans, who was activated Thursday from injured reserve.

Frolov opened the scoring at 4:24 of the first period with an unassisted goal. Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin coughed up the puck to Frolov inside Los Angeles blue line, and the Kings' leading goal-scorer beat Niedermayer in a race down the ice before switching to his backhand and lifting his 33rd of the season over Bryzgalov's stick.

Notes: It was announced Thursday that the Kings and Ducks will open next season with a two-game series against each other in London - England not Ontario. The NHL's first-ever regular-season game in Europe will be played in a brand new arena being built by Anschutz Entertainment Group, the Kings' parent company. The Ducks opened the 1997-98 season in Tokyo with a pair of games against the Vancouver Canucks. ... LW Brad May played his first game for Anaheim after being acquired Tuesday from Colorado for rookie G Michael Wall, and was on the ice for only four shifts totaling less than 2 1/2 minutes before getting injured.

well new guys new victories

LA TAKES A NAP TO THE BEST TEAM IN THE NHL
FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 3, NASHVILLE 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Paul Kariya scored twice, defenseman Shea Weber recorded his first two-goal game in the NHL, and the Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.

J.P. Dumont had a goal and an assist in his 500th NHL game, Marek Zidlicky scored one of Nashville's three power-play goals and Peter Forsberg had three assists for the Western Conference-leading Predators, who took a two-point lead over idle Detroit in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Michael Cammalleri scored twice and Jamie Lundmark also scored for the Kings. Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky and rookie Anze Kopitar, two of the team's top four point producers this season, sat out with unspecified injuries.

Kariya tied the game with 14:13 to play, beating Sean Burke high to the glove side with a one-timer from 20 feet in the slot. Zidlicky put the Predators ahead to stay on a one-timer from the left circle with 10:21 remaining and Rob Blake off for tripping Ryan Suter. Dumont and Kariya capped Nashville's four-goal third period.

Kariya has 22 goals this season and 31 career goals against Los Angeles, the most he's scored against any other team.

The Kings tied the game for the second time at 14:05 of the second period, as Blake got a cross-ice pass from Derek Armstrong and found Cammalleri alone in front of the crease. The Predators are 18-1-0 this season when Kariya scores a goal.

Cammalleri put the Kings ahead for the first time during a goal-mouth scramble with 14:53 left in the third period, while Zidlicky was serving a delay-of-game penalty. It was his career-high 27th goal, one more than last season.

The Predators outshot Los Angeles 14-4 in the first period, but had to settle for a 1-0 lead. The Kings, who came in with the worst penalty kill in the league, thwarted Nashville's first two power plays before Weber scored on the third with a 20-foot wrist shot at 18:11 while Jaroslav Modry was off for hooking.

The Kings tied it at 3:36 of the second period on Lundmark's fourth goal. Tom Kostopoulos carried the puck into the Nashville zone and was ridden wide by defenseman Greg Zanon in the right circle, but managed to throw the puck in front of the crease and it caromed off Lundmark's stick and the skate of Nashville's Martin Erat.

But Weber scored again less than three minutes later, snapping off a one-timer from the right point that deflected in off the front of defenseman Mike Weaver's jersey. It was Weber's 13th goal, the most among Nashville defensemen and five shy of Andy Delmore's single-season club record for that position.

Notes: Weber is the first Nashville defenseman to score two goals in a game this season. ... Predators C Jason Arnott sat out the game because of flu-like symptoms. ... Vokoun is the only player Nashville selected in the 1998 expansion draft that is still with the team. ... The Kings, coming off victories over Colorado (shootout) and Anaheim (overtime), have not won three consecutive games since a five-game streak that ended on March 7, 2006. ... Nashville has scored nine power-play goals in its past six games after going 0-for-19 over the previous five. ... Nashville captain Kimmo Timonen, who has played in more games than anyone in the franchise's nine-year history, was a 10th-round draft pick by the Kings in 1993. ... Eleven of the Kings' final 17 games are on the road, including the next four. ... Nashville won the season series 4-1.

FINAL SCORE: BLACKHAWKS 3, KINGS 0

CHICAGO (AP) -It took nearly two seasons for Nikolai Khabibulin to post a shutout with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Khabibulin stopped 26 shots in his 99th game in a Chicago uniform and Patrick Sharp scored two goals in a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Khabibulin, who signed a four-year, $27-million contract with the Blackhawks in August 2005, posted his first regular-season shutout since March 1, 2004, while with Tampa Bay. He recorded his 36th NHL shutout.

In the 2004 playoffs, Khabibulin posted five shutouts with the Lightning to help lead them to the Stanley Cup title.

"It really was a long time since the last one," Khabibulin said. "I don't know why, but I had that feeling that tonight was the night.

"I knew it was going to happen one of these nights sooner or later. It took longer than I anticipated and now it's over and maybe I'll have a few."

Khabibulin faced his toughest chances in the first period when Los Angeles took 11 shots.

"I saw the puck well but also I think in the first period we got fortunate a couple of times," he said. "But to get a shutout you have to be fortune sometimes and the guys really played well."

Khabibulin's teammates knew their goalie - Chicago's highest-paid player - had yet to post a shutout since joining the Blackhawks.

"We didn't talk about it at all, for superstitious reasons I guess," Sharp said. "But we were all aware. Going into the third period, we looked around and realized that we needed to dig in and play smart hockey."

Rene Bourque also scored for Chicago, which won its second straight after a 1-6-2 stretch. Brent Seabrook and Jeff Hamilton each had two assists in the matchup of two of the Western Conference's worst three teams.

Sean Burke made 18 saves for the Kings, last in the West with 54 points.

Following the game, Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford could be heard yelling at his team behind the closed dressing room door.

"When you allow any team in the National Hockey League not to work for their goals, then you're really facing an uphill battle," Crawford said. "In a game tonight between two teams at the bottom of the league battling for position, I was disappointed in how our battle level was."

Still, Crawford credited Khabibulin.

"He played well," Crawford said. "I thought he was sound and didn't allow a lot of rebounds, especially in the first period.

"But we didn't test him to the level that we'll be sending that one to the Hall of Fame."

Bourque had the only goal of the first period, scoring just 22 seconds in on the game's first shot.

After taking a long lead pass from Hamilton, Bourque slipped past defenseman Aaron Miller and skated in on left wing. He scored on a low shot that squeezed between Burke's pads.

Khabibulin made a couple of close-in stops in the first, including a toe save on Ken Cammalleri at 4:37.

Sharp made it 2-0 at 1:38 of the second period. He swept in a one-timed shot from the left circle after Seabrook chipped a cross-ice pass to him that bounced past two Kings.

Sharp's power-play goal with 8.1 seconds left in the period gave Chicago a 3-0 lead. He popped in a rebound of Tuomo Ruutu's shot following a Los Angeles turnover.

The Kings managed only three shots in the second, two on a late power play.

Khabibulin faced 12 shots in the third.

Notes: Blackhawks D Jim Wisniewski tore a ligament in his right knee during the game and will be out indefinitely. ... Chicago C Jason Williams played despite a broken left big toe. ... The Blackhawks will play their next five games on the road as the Big Ten and the NCAA basketball tournaments take over the United Center. ... The Kings recalled D Peter Harrold from Manchester of the AHL and put him in the lineup. ... Los Angeles D Rob Blake was a late scratch because of a groin pull. Kings C Anze Kopitar missed his third game with a muscle strain, and D Lubomir Visnovsky sat out his second with a lower body injury.

la falls again and again


FINAL SCORE: BLUE JACKETS 3, KINGS 2 OT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -The Columbus Blue Jackets had a little talk in the dressing room before coming out for the third period.

What coach Ken Hitchcock said must have left an impression.

David Vyborny scored twice - including a goal with 21.4 seconds left in overtime - to rally the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

The Blue Jackets trailed 2-1 but earned their fifth victory after being down through two periods.

"We had a discussion after the second period about who had to step up - and the right people stepped up," said Hitchcock, 22-20-5 since taking over a team that was 5-13-2. "It's your best players who have to step up and win. Our best players came on in the third period when we needed them."

Vyborny's 15th goal tied it 2-2 at 5:02 of the third period when he had an open net in front of him after two Kings and Columbus' Gilbert Brule bowled over goalie Mathieu Garon.

"It was an easy night for me," Vyborny said with a grin.

In overtime, the Blue Jackets were on the power play when Ron Hainsey skated to the top of the left circle and passed across the ice to Vyborny on the right wing. Vyborny's quick snapper beat Garon inside the near post.

"Hainsey made a very nice pass to me. I just tried to wait a little bit," Vyborny said.

Garon thought Hainsey was going to take the shot.

"They had time to set up 4 on 3," he said. "I was expecting a shot from Hainsey at the point and he passed. So it caught me by surprise."

Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford wasn't happy that Alexander Frolov took a penalty while the Kings had a man advantage.

"Frolov has to be smarter than that," Crawford said. "I'm not going to bench him or anything like that. He's one of our best players, if not our best player, but those are hopefully the type of lessons we learn. You want to make intelligent decisions in overtime: don't slash a guy's stick on a 4-on-3."

The victory was the Blue Jackets' third in a row. The Kings dropped their third straight.

Geoff Platt scored his first NHL goal and added an assist, giving him four points in two games. Vyborny assisted on Platt's goal.

Kevin Dallman scored his first goal in almost a year for the Kings, and Jamie Heward added a power-play goal.

Fredrik Norrena had 27 saves to run his season record to 18-15-3 in his quest to become the first Columbus goalie to finish a season with a winning record.

Platt, coming off a strong game Saturday in Phoenix in which he had four shots and two assists, didn't have a good view of his goal.

Rick Nash came down the right wing and traded passes with Vyborny in the middle. Nash sent a centering pass to Platt, who was upended and flew through the air as he tipped the pass into the net.

"I'm happy that I at least got one now," Platt said. "It was just a hardworking goal more than anything. It wasn't pretty by any means. The red light going off, it was a great feeling."

The Kings came back with two goals in the second period.

Dallman scored his first goal in 51 games when his wrister from the left wing slipped by Norrena. Dallman hadn't scored since April 8, 2006.

Just 10 seconds after Platt went to the penalty box for hooking, the Kings took the lead. Michael Cammalleri skated toward the net along the goal line and slipped a pass under the stick of Hainsey for a one-timer by Heward for his fifth of the season.

"Vyborny is just one of those guys who is going to make the right play 90 percent of the time," Hitchcock said. "He's one of the most accountable players in the league."

Notes: Nash set a career high with his 24th assist. ... Before the game, Columbus general manager Doug MacLean said G Pascal Leclaire (knee), D Duvie Westcott (concussion), D Bryan Berard (back) and F Dan Fritsche (lacerated wrist) won't play the rest of the season. ... Los Angeles C Anze Kopitar missed his third game because of a strained muscle in his upper body.

wow what bad road trip and it continues detroit and dallas

we were up 2-0 then this is the result
FINAL SCORE: RED WINGS 3, KINGS 2 OT

DETROIT (AP) -Mikael Samuelsson's goal 3:26 into overtime completed a comeback and gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

It was Samuelsson's first game back after being out since late January with a broken bone in his foot.

Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist, and Brett Lebda also scored for Detroit. Dominik Hasek, who returned after missing three games with tightness in his thigh, made 24 saves.

Raitis Ivanans and Brian Willsie scored for Los Angeles, and Sean Burke stopped 51 shots.

Samuelsson tipped in a pass from Datsyuk on a 2-on-1 break for the game-winner.

Lebda tied the game at 2 with 5:58 left in the third period off an end-to-end rush on which he cut around Kevin Dallman off the left wing, and flipped a shot in off Burke. Hasek, who left the puck for Lebda behind the Detroit net, got the lone assist.

The Red Wings outshot the Kings 26-4 in the third period.

Datsyuk tied the game at 1 for Detroit with 5:56 left in the second period on his 21st goal. He put a loose puck in off Burke's skate.

Willsie gave the Kings a 2-1 lead just 27 seconds later when he batted a rebound past Hasek.

Los Angeles opened the scoring on Ivanans' goal with 8:44 left in the first period. He put in the rebound of John Zeiler's shot after Zeiler had picked the puck up off a turnover by Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

Note: Los Angeles D Rob Blake missed his third game with a groin injury and Kings C Anze Kopitar missed his fourth game with a muscle strain. ... Red Wings' C Henrik Zetterberg missed his fifth game because of an inflamed disc in his back. ... Kings' C Derek Armstrong was helped off the ice favoring his left knee after a hit by Andreas Lilja late in the first period. ... Detroit winger Johan Franzen left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury. ... Burke is a native of Windsor, Ontario, which is right across the Detroit River from Detroit.

FINAL SCORE: LOS ANGELES 5, EDMONTON 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Noah Clarke became the first native Southern Californian to score a goal for the Los Angeles Kings. The assists were credited to Dustin Brown and Jaroslav Modry, but the primary credit should go to Wayne Gretzky and the Anaheim Ducks.

Mathieu Garon recorded his first victory in more than two months on Monday night in a 5-1 victory that extended the Edmonton Oilers' losing streak to eight games.

Outside the Kings' dressing room, was the man who signed Clarke to his first NHL contract.

"I think it's just a matter of time when we're going to see a lot of California-born players in the National Hockey League," said former Kings general manager Dave Taylor, now the team's director of amateur development. "I've been watching a lot of amateur games, junior games and college games this year, and it seems like every team's got a kid from Southern California."

Clarke, from La Verne, was the first Southern California-born player in the Kings' 40-year history. Left wing Gabe Gauthier, called up Saturday from Manchester, is the second. He was born in Torrance. There have been 19 Southern Californians in the NHL.

"I think it's the Gretzky effect," Taylor said. "It started when Wayne came here in the late 1980s. I mean, if you look at the number of rinks that we had then compared to today, I'd say we went from a handful of rinks to maybe 25 in the greater L.A. area. So that just means there's a lot more kids playing."

Clarke opened the scoring in his 15th NHL game and fourth since getting recalled from the AHL. The 27-year-old left wing used defenseman Danny Syvret as a screen and beat Jussi Markkanen to the glove side with a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle at 2:05.

Clarke understands that he is one of a select few and realizes what odds he's overcome to get to the NHL.

"I remember going to pee wee and bantam tournaments and people kind of sneered and said, 'Aw, California kids can't play hockey.' It's still not a hotbed, but I think you see more and more California kids coming up now," Clarke said. "When the Mighty Ducks started out, all these rinks started popping up in Orange County. So it just led to more ice time for California kids to play."

Michael Cammalleri had two goals, and Rob Blake had a power-play tally and two assists to help Garon win for the first time in seven starts. Alexander Frolov also scored and Lubomir Visnovsky had three assists for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Garon made 26 saves.

Edmonton's skid is three games shy of the franchise record, set during the 1993-94 season. The Oilers, who came within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup last June, have played their last three games with just 17 skaters due to the absence of 10 players including Ales Hemsky, Marty Reasoner, Petr Nedved, Steve Staios and Jan Hejda.

The Oilers had never begun a month with more than five straight losses since joining the NHL in 1979. They have been outscored 32-6 and are 0-for-22 on the power play during this streak, which began one game before they traded Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders.

"I'm not saying we're snake-bit. It's a product of what we have on the ice right now," coach Craig MacTavish said. "We're having a hard time getting the shots through from the back end and we aren't giving ourselves a chance to get lucky. It's just frustrating."

Markkanen, benched by MacTavish on Friday after allowing a goal on the first shot he faced, surrendered two goals on the Kings' first three shots. Frolov scored his 34th goal at 5:27 of the first on a rebound after Markkanen stopped Aaron Miller's slap shot.

Markkanen skated back to the bench after giving up Clarke's goal, but only to change sticks. He stopped the next 17 shots before Cammalleri beat him high to the glove side with a short wrist shot at 9:39 of the second period for a 3-1 lead. Cammalleri capped the scoring with his 29th goal on a power play with 4:13 remaining.

Peterson trimmed the Kings' lead to 2-1 at 10:32 of the first, scoring his third career short-handed goal on a breakaway. The Oilers have scored two goals in the past three games - both short-handed.

Notes: The Oilers haven't scored more than four goals in their last 48 regular-season road games since beating the Kings 5-3 on Jan. 26, 2006. They have scored four or fewer in all but two of their last 30 games overall. ... Edmonton had allowed only 18 power-play goals in 169 short-handed situations on the road coming in, the best percentage in the league.

well we mite not be going but we will make it hard on the rest of them spoilers are we

AND THEN I SAY THAT THEN THIS HAPPENS I SURE COULD USE ADAMS INSITE ON WHATS HAPPENING TO THIS TEAM.
FINAL SCORE: CHICAGO 4, LOS ANGELES 3 SO

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Tuomo Ruutu scored the tying goal in the third period and Nikita Alexeev netted the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout, giving the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Alexeev and Denis Arkhipov scored first-period goals for the Blackhawks, who have won four of five - including two in shootouts. Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves.

Jamie Lundmark and Brian Willsie scored less than 3 1/2 minutes apart to erase an early two-goal deficit, and Scott Thornton also had a goal for the Kings, who have an NHL-worst 14 losses after regulation.

Ruutu tied it with 8:07 left in regulation, carrying the puck out from behind the net and putting a backhander past goalie Sean Burke's left skate for his 16th goal. It was one of only three shots by Chicago in the third period - one fewer than the Kings.

Willsie, who turns 29 on Friday, tied the score 2-all at 17:11 of the first period while Arkhipov was serving a holding penalty.

Thornton put the Kings ahead 3-2 at 15:36 of the second, just 4 seconds after the Blackhawks killed off Patrick Sharp's tripping penalty. Tom Kostopoulos carried the puck deep in the right circle and waited for Khabibulin to commit before setting up Thornton's sixth goal with a perfect cross-ice pass.

Alexeev opened the scoring at 4:54 of the first period with his 11th goal.

The Blackhawks didn't record another shot on net until Adrian Aucoin was stopped on a wrist shot from the right point and Arkhipov converted the rebound at 13:21 for his ninth of the season and first in 18 games against the Kings.

Lundmark scored just 29 seconds later from the edge of the crease. It was Lundmark's fifth goal this season and fourth in 19 games since joining the Kings on Jan. 29.

The Blackhawks entered with the NHL's worst power-play percentage (12.1), and the Kings came in with the league's lowest penalty-killing percentage (77.5). Chicago was 0-for-4 with the man advantage, including one in overtime.

Notes: The Stanley Cup was in the building, part of a charity event sponsored by actress/model Carmen Electra to help raise money for brain tumor survivors and their families. ... Of the 96 NHL players who have at least 20 goals this season, only Chicago RW Martin Havlat (24 goals) and Calgary's Alex Tanguay (20) have not scored a game-winner. ... The Kings have 20 power-play goals in 20 games. Until Willsie's goal, they were the only Western Conference team that hadn't scored against the Blackhawks with the man advantage.

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 5, BLUE JACKETS 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Defensemen Jamie Heward, Lubomir Visnovsky and Mike Weaver scored for the Los Angeles Kings on the team's first seven shots against Brian Boucher, and defenseman Rob Blake connected on a power play in a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

Jamie Lundmark also scored and Jaroslav Modry had two assists for the Kings, who earned a split of the four-game season series. Mathieu Garon had 31 saves.

The four goals by defensemen was a first this season for the Kings. The only other time that they got as many as three from their blueliners was Jan. 13 at St. Louis, when Blake scored twice and Mattias Norstrom once in a 6-5 loss.

Geoff Platt had two goals, Rick Nash also scored and Nikolai Zherdev had three assists for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five games.

The Kings were outshot 11-2 over the first 15 minutes, but scored twice. Heward, who spent two seasons with the Blue Jackets, opened the scoring at 3:14 with his sixth goal. The puck was standing on its side when Heward took a snap shot from the right point that bounced a few feet in front of Boucher and skipped past his stick.

Less than 4 1/4 minutes later, Columbus defenseman Rostislav Klesla was attempting to carry the puck out of his own end along the right boards when he received a hard but clean check from Dustin Brown that left him with an apparent hip injury. Alexander Svitov retaliated against Brown, initiating a fight that earned the Columbus center 19 minutes in penalties - including a double-minor.

Klesla, who was still prone on the ice during the brawl, had to be helped off by Zherdev and teammate Anders Eriksson. The Kings ended up with a two-man advantage because of Marc Methot's earlier slashing penalty, and Visnovsky capitalized just 24 seconds into the power play with a 35-foot slap shot from the slot that beat Boucher between the pads.

Weaver chased Boucher to the bench at 4:16 of the second period, shrugging off a stiff check along the right boards from Ole-Kristian Tollefsen at the Columbus blue line and beating Boucher to the glove side with a short wrist shot inside the near post. The goal came just 8 seconds after Weaver finished serving a delay of game penalty.

Blake made it 4-0, beating Fredrik Norrena to the glove side with a screened one-timer from 45 feet in the slot at 13:35 of the second. Blake's 13th goal came with one second left on Aaron Johnson's cross-checking penalty.

Notes: The Blue Jackets, who set a modern-day NHL record for shutout losses on Friday at San Jose with their 15th of the season, came in averaging a league-worst 2.41 goals. ... Columbus C Gilbert Brule left the game after getting hit in the helmet by Johnson's deflected slap shot from the left point with 18:06 to play. ... The Kings, who have three home games remaining, have yet to be shut out at Staples Center this season. The last time they went an entire season without getting blanked on home ice was 1995-96, Wayne Gretzky's final season with the team. ... Platt scored his first NHL goal against the Kings on March 7 in a 3-2 overtime win at Columbus.
la wins a little too late

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 2, BLACKHAWKS 1

CHICAGO (AP) -Mike Weaver's power-play goal with 3:29 left in the third period snapped a tie and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Friday night.

Weaver, left open at the inside edge of the right circle, beat Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin high on the glove side after taking a pass from Alexander Frolov.

Patrick O'Sullivan had a goal and assist for the Kings, 4-1-1 in their past six games following a five-game losing streak.

Patrick Sharp also scored for Chicago, which dropped its fourth straight.

Los Angeles defenseman Rob Blake left the game after the first period with an undisclosed injury.

Kings goalie Mathieu Garon made 26 saves. Khabibulin stopped 30 shots.

O'Sullivan, a rookie, extended his point streak to seven games. He has two goals and eight assists during the span.

Sharp scored for the third straight game and has seven goals in his past eight games.

Both the Kings and Blackhawks have been eliminated from playoff contention. Chicago will miss the postseason for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

O'Sullivan opened the scoring during a 5-on-3 power play midway through the first period, beating Khabibulin on the glove side with a shot from the low edge of the right circle.

Khabibulin had stopped a Kings' attack seconds earlier. The puck landed in the right corner, where Mike Cammelleri passed it to O'Sullivan.

Sharp tied it at 1 with a power-play goal at 6:10 of the second. He slipped past the Kings defense on right wing, broke in on Garon and fired a shot over his shoulder on the stick side.

Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar hit the right post with a backhand shot with 5:40 left.

Notes: Chicago RW Peter Bondra sat out his fourth game with a shoulder injury. Blackhawks C Jeff Hamilton missed Friday's game with a sore back. ... Los Angeles C Derek Armstrong missed his seventh game with a knee injury. Kings D Lubomir Visnovsky sat out with an undisclosed injury and LW Noah Clarke was a healthy scratch.

WE JUST LOST 4-1 TO THE WILD

FINAL SCORE: SHARKS 3, KINGS 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -Patrick Marleau scored two goals, Bill Guerin added the go-ahead score and the San Jose Sharks clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Christian Ehrhoff had a career-best three assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves for the Sharks, who shook off a sluggish start in their return from a lengthy road trip to win their fourth straight home game - their seventh victory in nine games overall.

The Sharks broke it open when Guerin capitalized on a remarkable centering pass from Ehrhoff early in the third period. Guerin, acquired in a trade with St. Louis last month, buried his eighth goal in eight games after failing to find the net in his first six games with the Sharks.

Brian Willsie scored and Sean Burke stopped 23 shots for the Kings, who lost to San Jose for the fifth time in seven meetings this season.

San Jose is tied with Dallas and Minnesota with 98 points in fifth place in the Western Conference standings. The Stars and the Wild also clinched postseason spots Tuesday.

Joe Thornton's 10-game scoring streak ended, but the Sharks thrived with three points from Marleau and another solid effort from Nabokov. The goalie was pulled from his last start at Carolina, but hasn't lost in regulation since March 2.

The Sharks won twice and lost in overtime during their four-game road trip, keeping pace in the conference race, but not excelling enough to threaten Anaheim atop the Pacific Division. Five of San Jose's final six games are at home, including Sunday's second visit from the Kings in six days.

Marleau scored his 31st goal of the season on a power play midway through the first period, rifling a long rebound over Burke's far shoulder. Los Angeles surged in the second period, and Willsie tied it with a quick power-play goal against the Sharks' slow-to-react penalty killers.

San Jose took the lead during 4-on-4 action thanks to an alert play by Ehrhoff, who also assisted on Marleau's goal. The defenseman stretched out to chip the puck from the boards all the way to Guerin in the slot. The veteran forward buried the chance for his 36th goal of the season.

Marleau then slipped behind the defense for a breakaway with 10 minutes left, capping the 23rd multigoal game of the San Jose captain's career.

The Kings found a ray of hope in another gloomy season earlier Tuesday when they signed touted college defenseman Jack Johnson, the third overall pick in the 2005 draft. Johnson, acquired from Carolina in a trade last September, is expected to play for the Kings at home Thursday night against Vancouver.

Notes: Kings D Lubomir Visnovsky missed his third straight game with an ankle injury, and Derek Armstrong missed his ninth game with a knee injury. ... Before the game, the Sharks held a brief ceremony honoring coach Ron Wilson, who coached his 1,000th NHL game during the road trip. The team presented Wilson with several gifts, including the framed original scoresheets from his first and 1,000th games. ... Sharks D Scott Hannan sat out with an undisclosed injury.

the seson winds down with a game against vancouver

WE FALL AGAIN WITH 4 TO GO
FINAL SCORE: CANUCKS 4, KINGS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -The Vancouver Canucks gained an important two points and gave Kings rookie Jack Johnson a rough welcome to the NHL.

Daniel Sedin scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 32 saves as Vancouver defeated Los Angeles 4-2 on Thursday night.

Bryan Smolinski and Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Canucks to help Vancouver build a three-point lead over the second-place Minnesota Wild in the Northwest Division.

"It wasn't our best game, but we found a way to win," Canucks coach Alain Vignealut said. "Our power play got us two goals and two points, that was the difference tonight."

Johnson, the third overall pick in the 2005 draft, left the University of Michigan after two seasons and signed with the Kings on Tuesday. He was originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes but Los Angeles acquired his rights in a trade on Sept. 29.

The 20-year-old had an impact in his NHL debut, but not as he likely wanted.

With the game tied 1-1 five minutes into the second, Canucks winger Jan Bulis flipped Johnson head over heels with a hip check along the right boards. The hit immediately drew Kings forward Scott Thornton into retaliating against Bulis, leading to a roughing penalty.

Vancouver took the lead on the ensuing power play as Sedin batted in a rebound. Pyatt added a backhander from the slot off a pass from Sedin 6:20 later to give the Canucks a two-goal advantage.

"It was a good hit; I figured something like that would happen sooner or later," Johnson said. "It's good that I got that first one out of the way. In college, it's easier to get around a player like that."

Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. Kopitar drew the Kings to 3-2 at 6:23 into the third period but could not get the equalizer against Luongo. Sedin scored his second goal into an empty net in the final minute.

"They allow a lot of shots, so they must rely on his saves," Kopitar said. "(There's a reason) he is the best goalie and has the most wins in the league."

Henrik Sedin had three assists for the Canucks, who were out shot 34-21.

"They put a lot of pressure on us and I though that they fought hard," said Luongo.

The teams matched power play goals in the opening period. A pass by Pyatt deflected off a Kings defender and fell to Smolinski in the slot where he wristed shot past goalie Sean Burke to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead.

Brown drew Los Angeles even, deflecting in a shot by Jamie Heward for his 16th goal.

Notes: Kings defenseman Rob Blake, who like Johnson originally joined the team at the end of his college season with Bowling Green in 1990, missed Johnson's debut with a neck strain ... Los Angeles center Derek Armstrong returned after missing nine games with a knee injury ... Vancouver defenseman Sami Salo, who returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing three games due to a groin injury, was back out of the lineup Thursday.

WELL ADAM HAS BEEN MISSING AS WELL AS THE LA KINGS THIS YR BUT MY CLIPPERS ARE HANGING TO NO.8

FINAL SCORE: CANUCKS 4, KINGS 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -The Vancouver Canucks offense finally bailed out Roberto Luongo instead of the other way around.

Down 2-0 after their star goaltender let in a rare soft goal, Bryan Smolinski, Taylor Pyatt and Matt Cooke scored in the second period to help the Canucks rally to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Tuesday night.

"It was nice finally to help him out a little bit; he's bailed us out so many times this year, said Markus Naslund, who scored into an empty net with 31.2 seconds left.

Luongo overcame his early gaffe to finish with 15 saves and help keep the Canucks three points ahead of Minnesota atop the Northwest Division. Vancouver can clinch the division title - and a top three seed in the Western Conference playoffs - with a win over Colorado on Thursday night.

"We're close," Luongo said. "So it will be a big one Thursday night for us."

After Derek Armstrong opened the scoring on a power play breakaway in the first period, Dustin Brown beat Luongo from behind the goal line on another power play 2:50 into the second to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

"I got to give myself a lot of credit on the second goal, I just wanted to do something to get the boys going so I think it worked out well and we were strong after that," Luongo joked. "I had to do something; it was either that or get into a fight, so I figured I'd let one in from the corner."

In any case, it worked.

Smolinski one-timed a power-play shot past Mathieu Garon from the slot less than 2 1/2 minutes after Brown's goal, and Pyatt tied it at 13:26 by driving to the net and redirecting a pass out of the corner from Jan Bulis. Cooke completed the comeback on a power play with 51.9 seconds left in the second period, jamming the puck under Garon after a scramble at the side of the net.

"We were doing good the first period and beginning of the second and after that we took too many penalties and put ourselves in trouble," said Garon, who finished with 28 saves in the Kings' fifth straight loss. "After that, the momentum changed sides."

Part of the momentum shift came from Canucks coach Alain Vigneault's line juggling.

Smolinski was added to the top line with identical twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin before finishing a passing play between the two. Pyatt was moved off that top unit and responded with a goal playing on the third line with Trevor Linden and Bulis. And Naslund was in on Cooke's goal after being moved to a line with Cooke and Brendan Morrison.

"Our start wasn't good enough and sometimes you have to mix and match to create execution and intensity and it seemed to work out," Vigneault said.

Not much worked for Vancouver early.

Armstrong got behind the defense and took a long pass from Jaroslav Modry for a power-play breakaway and Brown made it 2-0 early in the second.

"There just wasn't a lot of energy and emotion," Morrison said. "It was almost like a chore to go and try to win the division, when we should be excited about something that's right there for us."

Luongo made up for the mistake with a couple of close-range saves off rookie Anze Kopitar early in the third. He also made a point-blank glove save off Patrick O' Sullivan on a power play with 1:47 left to preserve his 46th win of the season.

Daniel Sedin had a goal waved off with 5:38 left after it was ruled he directed a pass from twin brother Henrik into the net with his skate.

Vancouver finished 2-for-6 on the power play against the Kings' last-ranked penalty kill. Los Angeles was 2-for-5 against the Canucks' top-ranked penalty kill, failing twice to tie the game on third-period man advantages.

Notes Canucks D Sami Salo returned after missing five of the past six games with a groin injury. D Mattias Ohlund is expected to return Thursday against Colorado after missing five games with a laceration on his elbow. After hosting the Avalanche, Vancouver wraps up the regular season with back-to-back games in San Jose and Phoenix this weekend. ... Los Angeles finishes with consecutive games against Phoenix in a battle for last place in the Western Conference.
3 down 3 to go

FINAL SCORE: COYOTES 3, KINGS 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -Jeremy Roenick is playing as if these are his last games - just in case.

Roenick had a goal and an assist to help the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Thursday night. He has two goals and two assists in his last three games.

"It's been a good couple weeks for me," said the 37-year-old Roenick, who indicated last month that he was considering retiring after this season. "I don't know if these are the last couple, but I'd like to think I'm trying to play like they are."

Curtis Joseph made 19 saves for his first victory since March 22 and the Coyotes snapped a five-game losing streak. Joseph's 445th career win moved him within two victories of Terry Sawchuk, who is fourth on the career list.

Joseph will start Saturday in the Coyotes' next-to-last game in Los Angeles.

"I think a lot of us should be playing for Cuj," Roenick said. "Cuj can be getting into the upper echelon of goaltenders. He's already there. But he can pass a couple of guys now and I think we should be playing for him now."

Bill Thomas and Shane Doan also scored for Phoenix, which is out of playoff contention.

"I thought we played a pretty solid hockey game throughout tonight," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said.

Tom Kostopoulos and Michael Cammalleri scored for the Kings, who have dropped six straight.

Roenick gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead at 9:17 of the first when he redirected Derek Morris' blast from the top of the left faceoff circle past Sean Burke for a power-play goal.

Thomas made it 2-0 at 17:48 when he pounced on a loose puck above the right faceoff circle and one-timed a shot over Burke's glove.

"The first period was the difference," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We didn't respond to the level the game was being played at. We wanted a soft game and they didn't give us one."

The Coyotes finished the first period with a season-high 20 shots on goal.

"We were ready to play and we played excellent," Joseph said. "You get 20 shots in the first period and that's a pretty positive sign that you have a chance to win."

Kostopoulos cut the lead to 2-1 at 17:23 of the second period, scoring from the right side of the crease after the puck took a long bounce off the end boards. But Doan extended the lead to 3-1 just 75 seconds later when he took a pass from Roenick in stride between the circles and beat Burke with a wrist shot.

The Kings pulled to 3-2 with 11:22 to go when Anze Kopitar's shot bounced off Joseph's right skate on the far left edge of the crease and Cammalleri scored into the vacated net.

"We thought it would be crucial to come out and have a good start, but they did it to us," Cammalleri said. "We've had lots of chances to win games this year, but it's time to start winning some of these."

Notes: Cammalleri has 23 points - 10 goals, 13 assists - in his last 22 games. ... Kostopoulos' goal was his first since Jan. 16, a span of 32 games. ... Coyotes LW Jeff Taffe, who missed the last two games with a sore left foot, played one shift before leaving for the night because of the soreness. ... Kings C Derek Armstrong injured his knee late in the second period and did not return. ... Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk was inducted into the Coyotes' ring of honor before the game. Hawerchuk scored 379 goals in nine seasons for the Winnipeg Jets from 1981-90. ... Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett was booed when he was introduced during the ceremony.
the season can't end too soon for us and adam was missing could there have bee coincidense
i wonder

FINAL SCORE: KINGS 3, COYOTES 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -At least the Los Angeles Kings went out on a high note.

Rookie Anze Kopitar scored his 20th goal of the season with 53 seconds remaining and the Kings beat Phoenix 3-2 on Saturday in their season finale, clinching last place in the Western Conference for the Coyotes.

"It is a pretty fitting way for our season to end," said Kings coach Marc Crawford, whose team won 11 of 35 one-goal games. "We've had to battle to be any good. We could not win games this year if we didn't have a great effort. I can't be too critical of the effort our veteran players gave this year and our young players followed with."

Scott Thornton and Michael Cammalleri scored 2 1/2 minutes apart in the second period for the Kings, who avoided finishing last by beating their Pacific Division rivals and snapping a six-game losing streak. Jaroslav Modry and Dustin Brown each had two assists.

Mike Zigomanis and Nick Boynton scored for the Coyotes, who will finish their season Sunday against Vancouver. They lost their final seven road games and finished 13-26-2 away from home.

"If you're not in the playoffs, it's embarrassing. But to be last is not something you want to be," Boynton said. "It's not something to be proud of."

Los Angeles finished 27-41-14. Of the 13 coaches that made it all the way through their first season with the Kings, Crawford is the fourth with at least 40 losses - joining Don Perry, Larry Robinson and Larry Regan.

"I think the message is pretty apparent," Cammalleri said. "I think a lot of guys in here are optimistic about the fact that we're going to be better - probably sooner than a lot of people might think. And that's exciting for us."

The Kings missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season, matching the longest drought in the franchise's 40-year history. They had 68 points, their lowest total in a regulation season since 1996-97, when they had 67.

Cammalleri led the team with 80 points.

"There's probably a lot of guys in the lineup today who won't be in it in the future," Crawford said. "But they can take some solace in the fact that they've at least showed some veteran leadership and showed the right way for a lot of these great young players who will form the nucleus of the Kings in the future. And I think the Kings' future is very bright. L.A. is a city of stars, but I also think it's a city that appreciates hard work and winning as well."

Jeremy Roenick was sent off for hooking with 17:56 to play and Derek Morris followed him into the penalty box on a tripping infraction 38 seconds later. The Kings capitalized with 49 seconds left on the 5-on-3 advantage, as Kopitar converted Alexander Frolov's pass through the crease.

Los Angeles spotted Phoenix a 2-0 lead before Thornton scored his fifth career short-handed goal at 11:43 of the second period, just nine seconds after Kopitar received a hooking penalty. Cammalleri got the equalizer, beating Curtis Joseph with a short wrist shot at 14:12 of the period - the moment that Niko Kapanen's roughing penalty expired. It was his 34th goal, one fewer than Frolov had for the team high.

Kings heralded rookie defenseman Jack Johnson got into his first NHL fight when he went toe-to-toe with Daniel Carcillo at 15:26 of the first period. Less than 2 1/2 minutes later, Zigomanis opened the scoring with his 14th goal.

Notes: Mathieu Garon finished with a 13-10-6 record. This is the sixth time in Kings history that none of their goaltenders had more than 13 wins. ... It was the third time the Kings went through a season without any player recording a hat trick (also 1970-71 and 2003-04). ... Los Angeles was 16-16-9 at home. They had nine sellouts and averaged 16,473, the second-lowest figure in their seven seasons at Staples Center. ... This is the first time since 1985-86 that the Kings failed to win more than two consecutive games. It was also the first time they have played an entire season without getting shut out at home since 1995-96.

THIS SEASON CAME TO GOOD CONCLUSION OF VICTORY HOWEVER WE ONLY AVOIDED LAST PLACE IN THE CONFERENCE I AM SURE THERE MAY BE MANY TRADES AND FIRINGS AS FOR ADAM HE WENT UNDERGROUND AFTER EACH GAME HOPE FULLY HE WILL BE BACK TO START THIS POST NEXT YR AND TO ALL THE KINGS FANS THANKS FOR UR PATIENCE I TRY TO DO YOMANS WORK WHILE ADAM IS STILL MISSING ACTION AND JUST LIKE THE KINGS THE WHOLE SEASON OF MISSION IMPOSSIBLE OH WELL I WILL BE ROOTING FOR THEM NEXT YR. GO KINGS WHO EVER THEY MAYBE NEXT YR. AND COME BACK ADAM THEY OUT SPORTS FANS MISSED U.
AS DO I

But now, LAKings.com is curious, how well do you know your Los Angeles Kings? Here is your chance to find out. Answer all 10 questions below correctly and you will be entered into a drawing to win an autographed hockey stick from the Kings leading scorer in 2006-07, Michael Cammalleri.

Submit your answers via email feedback@lakings.com. All emails must be date stamped by 5 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. Only one entry per email address. Please enclose your name, address and telephone number and submit your answers to the 2006-07 Kings trivia. To be entered into the drawing, you must have answered each question correctly.

A winner will be selected on Thursday, April 12.

2006-07 Kings Trivia:

1) In 2006-07, Michael Cammalleri (34) and Alexander Frolov (35) became the first pair of Kings teammates to score more than 30 goals in the same season since 2000-01. Who were the last players to do it?

a) Zigmund Palffy and Luc Robitaille
Luc Robitaille and Alexander Frolov
c) Alexander Frolov and Luc Robitaille
d) Zigmund Palffy and Bryan Smolinski

2) How many Kings scored their first career NHL goal in 2006-07?
a) Six
Five
c) Seven
d) Nine


3) Which two Kings scored goals in Overtime this season?
a) Michael Cammalleri and Alexander Frolov
Michael Cammaelleri and Anze Kopitar
c) Anze Kopitar and Lubomir Visnovsky
d) Alexander Frolov and Anze Kopitar

4) Who had the most assists at STAPLES Center in 2006-07?
a) Lubomir Visnovsky
Anze Kopitar
c) Michael Cammalleri
d) Alexander Frolov

5) Who had the most goals on the road this season?
a) Lubomir Visnovsky
Anze Kopitar
c) Michael Cammalleri
d) Alexander Frolov

6) Who scored the most shorthanded goals this season?
a) Lubomir Visnovsky
Anze Kopitar
c) Michael Cammalleri
d) Alexander Frolov

7) Who had the best plus/minus on the team this year?
a) Derek Armstrong.
Rob Blake
c) Lubomir Visnovsky
d) Michael Cammalleri

8) Luc Robitaille had his number retired this season on Jan. 20, 2007. What are the names of the other Kings to have their numbers retired?
a) Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Wayne Gretzky.
Bernie Nichols, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Wayne Gretzky.
c) Rogie Vachon, Bernie Nichols, Dave Taylor and Wayne Gretzky.
d) Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Bernie Nichols and Wayne Gretzky.

9) Which defenseman had the most power-play goals in 2006-07?
a) Rob Blake
Lubomir Visnovsky

10) Who led the Kings in Shutouts?
a) Matheiu Garon
Dan Cloutier
c) Sean Burke
d) Barry Brust

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jack Johnson will represent the United States at the 2007 World Championship tournament, the Kings announced Monday in conjunction with USA Hockey. Johnson will join Kings forward Michael Cammalleri and Kings Associate Coach Mike Johnston (both named to Team Canada earlier this month with Johnston serving as an Assistant Coach) in Moscow, Russia, where the tournament takes place from April 27-May 13.

Conference Call Quotes

Johnson, 20, most recently played for Team USA at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship tournament in Sweden and earned a bronze medal. At the tournament, Johnson played in seven games and had three points (all goals), which tied for the team lead. He was also one of three Kings prospects -- Trevor Lewis (center) and Jeff Zatkoff (goaltender) were the others – who played for the United States as the Kings had the most players named to the squad of any other NHL club.

A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Johnson played in five games with the Kings this season and had 18 penalty minutes. He made his Kings/NHL debut on March 29 after signing a multi-year entry level contract on March 27. The 6-1, 215-pound Johnson also recently completed his sophomore season at the University of Michigan where he helped lead the Wolverines to the NCAA West Hockey Regional semifinals while recording 39 points (16-23=39) and 87 penalty minutes in 36 games.

Johnson’s participation in the 2007 World Juniors was not the first international experience of his young career. He was an All-Star selection at the 2006 World Junior Championship where his six points (1-5=6) in seven games helped the U.S. to a fourth place finish. In addition, Johnson has earned gold medals with Team USA at the 2005 World Under-18 Championship, the 2005 Five Nations Tournament (U.S. Under-18 Team) and the 2004 Compuware Four Nations Cup (U.S. Under-18 Team).

Johnson was the third overall selection (behind Sidney Crosby and Bobby Ryan) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes, he was acquired by the Kings along with defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in exchange for center Eric Belanger and defenseman Tim Gleason on September 29, 2006.

Team USA begins play in the 2007 IIHF World Championship on Friday, April 27, at 4:15 p.m. (local time)/5:15 a.m. (PT) against Austria. The United States will play a pre-tournament game against Sweden on Wednesday, April 25, at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. (local time)/10 a.m. (PT).