Frolov Gets Hat Trick As Kings Top Blues

[February 22, 2008]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Alexander Frolov scored three goals and Patrick O'Sullivan had a goal and four assists, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

Anze Kopitar broke open a scoreless tie in the second period with a power play goal, triggering a four-goal barrage that chased former Kings goaltender Manny Legace.

Dan Cloutier made 31 saves in his third start of the season for the Kings while Jason LaBarbera sat out with a groin injury.

Cloutier stopped 30 shots before Martin Rucinsky scored on a power play with 4:02 remaining to spoil his bid for his first shutout since March 24, 2004 with Vancouver.

Legace was making his 18th consecutive start after consecutive 5-1 wins over Columbus and Chicago.

The Kings scored their first two goals on rebounds. Teammate Andy McDonald was serving a holding penalty when Kopitar connected at 6:43 of the second for his 26th goal, tying Dustin Brown for the team lead.

Frolov made it 2-0 at 8:19, stuffing the puck past Legace's glove after Michael Cammalleri's backhanded centering pass grazed defenseman Erik Johnson's stick and was kicked away by the Blues' goalie. Frolov scored again about 2 1/2 minutes later on a short backhander from a sharp angle to the left of the net.

Blues coach Andy Murray called a timeout, but it didn't show down the Kings' momentum. O'Sullivan capped the four-goal blitz at 13:23 of the period, playing a carom off the end boards and scoring his 14th goal while Brad Boyes was off for goalie interference.

At that point, Murray replaced Legace with Chris Beckford-Tseu after 19 shots by the Kings. But Frolov completed his third career hat trick with 16:29 remaining, giving the Frolov-O'Sullivan-Cammaleri line 11 points for the night. The five points by O'Sullivan were a career high and tied Frolov and Ladislav Nagy for the most by a Kings player this season.

Notes: Los Angeles C Derek Armstrong left the game with a knee injury after his second shift. ... Erik Ersberg joined the Kings on an emergency recall from Manchester due to LaBarbera's injury, and served as Cloutier's backup. ... The Blues play down the freeway in Anaheim on Friday night, which will give Paul Kariya a chance to personally congratulate ex-linemate Teemu Selanne for breaking Kariya's record for most career points in Ducks history last Sunday. ... Legace, who began his NHL career with the Kings in 1998-99, won a Stanley Cup with Detroit as their backup goalie in 2002.

[Associated Press]

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