Richardson, Coyotes slip past Kings

[November 11, 2015]  LOS ANGELES -- Phoenix Coyotes right winger Brad Richardson knew what to expect from his former club Tuesday. Richardson, though, didn't expect his current one to get off to a slow start for the second night in a row.

"I played with them for five years, so it's just a heavy game," said Richardson, a member of the Los Angeles Kings from 2009 through 2013. "They played to a 'T' the way they wanted to, and we let them play that way in the first (period), and they took it to us. But then we had a little bit of composure, started making plays, and then got them on their heels a little bit."

Richardson scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, lifting the Coyotes to a 3-2 victory over the Kings at Staples Center.

With 8:13 remaining, Richardson delivered his second goal of the season after receiving an excellent pass from left winger Jordan Martinook just outside the crease.

"We were soft on all three goals," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.

Center Martin Hanzal scored his first two goals of the season for the Coyotes, who were playing the second end of back-to-back contests. Arizona (8-6-1) earned a 4-3 overtime victory over the Ducks in Anaheim on Monday night.

"Well, we started slow, so we must've saved a lot of energy in the first period for the third period," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "We started a little slow, we weren't moving our feet, whether it's just a back-to-back thing, but as the game went on, I thought we got better."

Goaltender Mike Smith stopped 33 of 35 shots for the Coyotes, who won for the third time in four games. Arizona beat Los Angeles at Staples for the second time this season despite a sluggish start.

"I think we're pretty resilient," Richardson said. "We didn't play very good in the first period at Anaheim and then found a way, and then tonight again we stunk in the first period. 'Smitty' held us in, and we kind of regrouped and found our legs."

Goalie Jonathan Quick recorded 22 saves for the Kings, who lost for only the third time in 12 contests.

The Kings (9-6-0) grabbed a 2-1 advantage on center Tyler Toffoli's second-period goal before Hanzal scored his second of the night at the game's midpoint.

"There were a lot of errors and we can do better, so that is what we need to focus on as a group," said Kings captain Dustin Brown, who recorded his first goal of the season to open the scoring. "Our D-zone was not very good tonight, and that's a staple of our game. When we are winning and playing well, we are not giving up chances and are much cleaner in our zone."

Arizona right winger Shane Doan, who had an assist in the win, tied Paul Coffey for 32nd place on the NHL's all-time games played list.

Brown put the Kings up 1-0 at 5:54 of the first period. The Los Angeles right winger gathered the puck in front of the Coyotes' net after Smith was unable to field a shot by defenseman Drew Doughty, and he punched it in to end a 14-game scoring drought.

The assist pushed Doughty past Lubomir Visnovsky for third all time on the Kings' list for defenseman assists at 210.

Hanzal tied the score, picking off a pass by Los Angeles defenseman Brayden McNabb and converting at 11:37 of the first.

Toffoli gave the Kings the lead again with a power-play goal on an assist by defenseman Jamie McBain five minutes into the second period. Toffoli has a club-high 10 goals.

Hanzal scored again at 9:59 of the second, corralling a loose puck in the slot and flinging a backhand shot past Quick for a goal to knot the score 2-2.

NOTES: One day after receiving the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in recognition for his outstanding work as a hockey broadcaster, longtime radio play-by-play announcer Nick Nickson was honored by the Kings as part of its "Legends Night" series. ... Coyotes G Mike Smith, who played his 400th career game, had a 12-6-1 mark with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in 20 previous contests against the Kings. ... Darryl Sutter passed Terry Murray for fourth on the franchise's all-time games coached list with 276. ... The Coyotes scratched RW Stevie Downie, D Philip Samuelsson and C Dustin Jeffrey. D Christian Ehrhoff and C Jordan Weal were unavailable for the Kings. ... Both teams resume play at home Thursday, when Arizona meets the Edmonton Oilers while Los Angeles plays the New York Islanders. ... An announced crowd of 18,230 attended.

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