Los Angeles Kings defeat Carolina Hurricanes to claim third straight win
The Los Angeles Kings continue to impress early in the season as they won their third straight game on Wednesday 20 October with a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
How it happened
It was a high-flying first period at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday night as the Kings and Hurricanes each scored two goals.
Veteran forward Ryan Smyth got the scoring started at 5:43 with his third of the season. Less than two minutes later and the Hurricanes had the game tied up when Chad Larose scored his second of the season.
Eric Staal had the Hurricanes up 2-1 when he pounced on a loose puck, which Kings defender Jack Johnson failed to control at the Hurricanes blue line. Staal raced in and fired a quick wrister past Carolina goaltender Justin Peters. The Kings tied it up at
2-2 with only nine seconds left in the period when Michal Handzus scored his first of the season.
The Kings and Canes traded goals again in the second period with Kings forward Anze Kopitar scoring at 6:58, and Canes rookie center Jeff Skinner scoring at 14:39. It the was the first goal of the year
for each player – for Skinner it was his first career NHL goal.
Just over three minutes into the third period and the Kings took the lead for the third and final time when Andrei Loktionov scored his first of the season.
What they're saying
Aside from the final score, Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice was happy with the way his team played.
"I liked a lot of what we tried to do," he said. "We had a lot of fight in our game, a lot of jump. We had scrums around the net and couldn't put it in.
"I hate l losing, but I'm pretty impressed with 80, 85 percent of our team. I like the way our club played tonight."
The victory came at a price for the Los Angeles Kings as second-year defenceman Drew Doughty left the game at the first intermission after injuring himself in a collision with Erik Cole. The extent of
the injury is as yet unknown, but the early consensus seems to be that Doughty will miss the team's next game.
"We're not going to take him. He might join us on the trip," Kings head coach Terry Murray said.
What it all means
The Kings improved their record to 4-1 and now begin a five-game road trip beginning with a visit to the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday 21 October.
The Carolina Hurricanes, who have to play at the home arena so far this season, continue their road swing with a meeting also against the Phoenix Coyotes but not until Saturday October 23. With the loss
to the Kings, the Hurricanes are now 3-3 on the season.
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