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Kings rally to take down Coyotes
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Drew Doughty celebrates (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Los Angeles Kings mounted a rally and the Phoenix Coyotes couldn’t stop it.
Phoenix had a 3-1 lead but the Kings scored four unanswered goals en route to defeating the Coyotes, 5-3, Monday night at Jobing.com Arena.
Anze Kopitar gave the Kings an early 1-0 lead, but Shane Doan scored his fourth goal of the season with just 1.7 seconds left in the first period to tie the game up.
Phoenix took control of the game in the second period, getting goals from Martin Hanzal and Scottie Upshall to extend the lead to two, but that’s when the wheels came off for the Coyotes.
L.A. closed out the second with a Ryan Smyth goal to cut the Phoenix lead to one, and the rally continued into the next period with three more goals, including Drew Doughty’s game-winning goal at the 15:09 mark of the third period, and Ryan Smyth’s empty-netter with 39 seconds left in the game.
“It was pretty exciting,” said Doughty about the game-winning goal. “Two shifts before that I made a couple of mistakes there, so I was pretty upset with myself, and scoring that goal obviously put my team up tonight.”
The Kings’ Jonathan Quick stopped 13 of 16 shots, while Jason LaBarbera got the start over Ilya Bryzgalov and made 22 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.
NOTES: Coyotes forward Peter Mueller was a healthy scratch for the second straight game… The Kings went 0-for-2 on the power play while Phoenix converted on one of their five power play opportunities.
Quote of the game
“It was a tough one. We didn’t have a great first, but I thought we played pretty good in the second. I made a bad play at the end of the period and kind of changed the momentum there and I think that was the turning point in the game.”- Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbera on his first home start of the season
Anthony’s three stars
1. Ryan Smyth (two goals, two assists)
2. Shane Doan (goal, assist)
3. Scottie Upshall (goal, three shots, four hits)
Final thoughts
These matchups between the Coyotes and Kings are fun to watch. In three meetings this season (one in L.A., two in Phoenix), neither team has won on home ice. Has the balance of power shifted in the Pacific? Probably not. But the future of the division might in these two teams.
Make sure to check back tomorrow for information on the NHL's purchase of the Coyotes, Ilya Bryzgalov, James Wisniewski and Jobing.com Arena attendance!
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