Kings Cruise Past Maple Leafs 5-2

[January 11, 2008]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dustin Brown scored twice on power plays, Alexander Frolov and Rob Blake each had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 Thursday night.

Jason LaBarbera made 24 of his career-high 48 saves in the third period, and Kyle Calder also scored for the Kings, who had lost 11 of their previous 14 games and were coming off a 7-0 defeat to Nashville -- their worst home loss since March 21, 2001.

The Leafs made their first visit to Staples Center since the NHL instituted a shootout format to decide the outcome of games that were tied after overtime. The last time they played the Kings on the road was Nov. 13, 2003, when the teams played to a 4-4 draw.

Nik Antropov and Darcy Tucker scored for the Maple Leafs, who have been outscored 19-6 during their four-game losing streak. They were held to fewer than three goals for the 10th time in their last 11 games, and are 2-7-2 during that stretch.

Los Angeles cashed in on both power-play opportunities in the first period, building a 4-0 lead just before intermission at the expense of goalie Andrew Raycroft. Raycroft faced the Kings for the first time since Jan. 12, 2006, when they beat him 6-0 victory at Boston with a hat trick by Frolov that included a penalty shot.

Calder opened the scoring in this one with a short backhander at the 2:44 mark, less than a minute after teammate Jaroslav Modry hit the right post with a screened wrist shot from the left point.

Brown increased the margin to 2-0 at 13:52 after Tomas Kaberle was sent off for holding Brown. Raycroft made the save on Patrick O'Sullivan's backhander, but Brown beat Boyd Devereaux and defenseman to the rebound.

The Kings made it 3-0 when Frolov shook off a check from Gill behind the net, carried the puck out in front and did a complete spin before beating Raycroft between the pads with a 15-foot wrist shot at 17:22 of the period for his eighth goal.

Brown scored again with just 54 seconds left in the first while Andy Wozniewski was serving a delay-of-game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass. Lubomir Visnovsky played the carom of Blake's wide shot off the end boards and tried to jam it past Raycroft before Brown converted the rebound for his team-high 22nd goal.

Toronto coach Paul Maurice didn't want goalie Vesa Toskala to play on back-to-back nights after losing 5-0 at Anaheim in his first game back from a groin injury, but had no choice to use him because of Raycroft's poor outing. Blake made it 5-0, beating Toskala high to the glove side with a 25-foot slap shot from the right circle at 6:41 of the second period.

Toronto got on the board at 15:08 of the period, as Antropov tipped in Ian White's long slap shot while Jeff Giuliano was off for hooking Mats Sundin.

Notes: This is the first season since 2003-04 that all six Canadian teams will play at Staples Center. "O Canada" had been played or performed before Kings home games 22 times since the Maple Leafs' last visit. ... Seven of the previous eight meetings between the teams have been at Toronto. The Maple Leafs haven't won at game at Los Angeles since Mar 12, 1998 at the Forum. ... Anze Kopitar, whose assist on Brown's goal was his 23rd point in 25 games, was selected Thursday as a reserve for the Western Conference All-Star team. Kopitar is the sixth center in the Kings' 40-year-year history to make the All-Star team, and the first since Wayne Gretzky in 1996. The others were Eddie Joyal, Butch Goring, Marcel Dionne and Bernie Nicholls. Goring was picked as a replacement for injured LW Charlie Simmer in 1980.

[Associated Press]

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