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 Although there is an 'I' in Lucic, there isn't one in team, he said.
Lucic scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the
Kings defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 Tuesday night at Staples Center.
Lucic's 12th goal of the season occurred at 6:17 of the final
period, capping Los Angeles' rally from an early deficit.
"Everyone was touching the puck and moving it around," Lucic said.
"Right now, when we're on the ice, we're feeling pretty good and
pretty confident, and we use each other in the right way. That was
another example of it, and it ends up being the game-winning goal."
Kings forward Anze Kopitar assisted on the goal, one of two assists
that extended his points streak to five games. Kopitar has a
team-high 27 assists.
Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 27 of 29 shots for his
26th win of the season, helping the Pacific Division-leading Kings
(29-13-3) captured their ninth victory in 12 games.
"We found a way to win," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "Coming off
the Anaheim game, where it is a different type of team than you are
playing tonight, we were able to adjust and play through it. It was
a good challenge for the team and a good character test."
Goalie Kari Lehtonen recorded 26 saves for Dallas (29-13-5), which
has lost eight road games in a row. The Stars, who fell to the Kings
for only the second time in the teams' past six meetings, also
dropped their seventh game in the past eight.
"It's frustrating, but we have to play the right way and we can't
give up too much," said Stars right winger Ales Hemsky, who scored
the game's first goal. "We have to get better on special teams."
Hemsky gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period,
slapping a wrist shot for a winner after fielding a pass from center
Mattias Janmark. It was Hemsky's fifth goal of the season, but it
meant nothing to him afterward.
"We have to work to turn this thing around," Hemsky said. "We have
to battle hard and be comfortable playing those tight games. We have
to put everything in the net and play better."
The Kings tied the score with a power-play goal at 13:31 of the
first period when center Vinny Lecavalier smoked a rocket from the
right circle on an assist from defenseman Jamie McBain.
Lecavalier has scored power-play goals in three consecutive games.
All of his goals this season have come since the Kings acquired in a
trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 6.
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Defenseman Drew Doughty lifted Los Angeles to a 2-1 advantage with
his eighth goal this season, converting a pass from Kopitar with 59
seconds remaining in the first. However, the lead wouldn't last
long.
Dallas center Cody Eakin knotted the score 33 seconds later with his
10th goal of the season.
"We had some good opportunities with a breakaway in the second and a
couple of two-on-ones where we didn't convert," Dallas coach Lindy
Ruff said. "That was a hard game, and I think you'll win your
share."
Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell made his NHL debut. Lindell logged
14:01 of ice time and finished with a minus-1 rating.
NOTES: Jake Muzzin extended his career-long point streak to eight
games (one goal, seven assists), the longest run by a Kings
defenseman since Lubomir Visnovsky recorded a nine-game streak (one
goal, 11 assists) in December 2005. ... Dallas scratched D Jyrki
Jokipakka, D Jamie Oleksiak and C Colton Sceviour. ... D Christian
Ehrhoff and C Jordan Nolan were unavailable for the Kings. ... The
Stars led the NHL with an average of 3.30 goals per game entering
the contest. They also had a league-best 152 goals. ... Dallas,
which won two of the three games against Los Angeles last season,
has 109 wins overall against the Kings, the most by the Stars
against any league franchise. ... Tuesday's contest was the first of
three between the two clubs. They meet again March 15 at Dallas and
April 2 in Los Angeles. ... Both teams resume play Thursday. The
Stars begin a three-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers,
while the Kings host the Minnesota Wild. ... An announced crowd of
18,230 attended.
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reserved.]
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