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Frolov helps Kings double up Rangers

Feb 6, 2008 - 4:40 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- While confidence and an improved work ethic were used to describe how things are going for the Los Angeles Kings, lack of energy and effort were being discussed in the New York Rangers' locker room.

Alexander Frolov and All-Star Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist as the Kings continued their best stretch of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night.

Scott Thornton and rookie Brian Boyle scored 2:58 apart in the first period as the Kings recorded the first 10 shots of the game and a 16-6 advantage. Los Angeles never lost the lead and improved to 7-3-1 in its last 11 games and 2-1-1 on its season-high eight-game road trip.

This current run started after Los Angeles endured a 3-11-0 slump. That featured an eight-game losing streak in December and culminated in a 7-0 home loss to the Nashville Predators on January 8.

"Even on that eight-game losing streak that we were on, we were playing really good," Kopitar said. "That was the frustrating part because we were playing good and we lost a bunch of one-goal games. Our record is not great, but the team shows character and we're playing really hard now.

"Once you get a couple (of wins) under your belt, you get more comfortable on the ice. You have more confidence in everything. That just carries in every game. When you win a couple of games, the confidence is really high, and that's a pretty important factor in hockey."

Jason LaBarbera, who appeared in five games for the Rangers from 2000-04, finished with 39 saves as he rebounded from allowing five goals in 39 minutes Saturday night at New Jersey. The Kings also rebounded from that loss as they carried over a solid third period in that one into their third straight win at Madison Square Garden.

"I thought the third period in Jersey, what we did was we re-established our work ethic," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "In the NHL, you have to make sure, especially if you're a team like us, that your work ethic is impeccable, and any team can be a good team if you have an impeccable work ethic. We want that to be a trademark of our Los Angeles Kings."

"I know I didn't play much at this level, but I was still part of their organization," LaBarbera said of his time with the Rangers. "To be able to come in here and get a win is huge."

Chris Drury and former King Sean Avery scored for the Rangers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Two days after rallying from a three-goal deficit at Montreal, New York made it a one-goal game on two occasions but could not complete the comeback.

"I don't think we (had) energy," Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr said. "It's not like we didn't want it. It wasn't there the first 10 minutes."

"They came out hard and we didn't really have an answer for them," New York rookie center Brandon Dubinsky said. "We put together some stretches, but we needed 60 minutes. We especially needed the first period. What happened that night in Montreal was great, but if you're getting down two or three goals to teams here in the NHL, you're not going to win too many games."

One of the instances in which the Rangers had energy came in the second period, when they had 24 shots on LaBarbera. Most of those shots were after Frolov scored the eventual game-winner just 64 seconds into the period.

Frolov began the play when his check on Avery resulted in a turnover along the boards. After passing to a streaking Kopitar, the Russian went to the net and converted a cross-ice feed from Patrick O'Sullivan for his 13th goal of the season.

After Frolov scored, LaBarbera made several big saves, including one on a breakaway attempt by Nigel Dawes. He gave up a goal by Avery off a goalmouth scramble late in the second, but the Kings regained the momentum just 81 seconds into the third as Kopitar scored his 21st goal of the season, surpassing his total from his rookie campaign.

That goal also was the result of a turnover as Frolov forced New York defenseman Fedor Tyutin to cough up the puck behind his own net. Once he gained possession, Frolov fed Kopitar in the slot to finish off the Rangers and further increase the amount of jeers from the crowd.

"We obviously had a really strong period in the last one," Kopitar said. "We played with a lot of energy and we knew this building was going to be rocking, too. Obviously, the Ranger fans create a great atmosphere. We tried building on it, for sure. We had a strong practice yesterday. We knew we had to come out of the gate with jump, and that's what we did."

"You have to outwork your opponent - which we didn't do to start with - and when we got working, we weren't thinking," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "We weren't the more intelligent team, and it cost us two points on a night that could have really made a difference with what happened elsewhere."

Although they did not score on their first 10 shots, the Kings did tally shortly thereafter.

Thornton converted a centering pass by Michal Handzus into his fifth goal at 10:10 of the period. That came after Rangers defensemen Jason Strudwick overskated the puck behind his own net.

Boyle, who was playing in his second career game, scored his second goal when he beat goaltender Henrik Lundqvist from the left faceoff circle at 13:08.

The Rangers finally got on the board when Drury re-directed a deflection by Dawes past LaBarbera. Drury started the play by sending the puck to defenseman Paul Mara at the left point and finished it with his fifth goal in four games.

New York, which remained winless against the Western Conference, lost center Blair Betts to a left knee injury in the first period.