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Armstrong, Frolov help Kings top Flames

Feb 16, 2008 - 7:28 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Kings would not allow Daymond Langkow to beat them this time.

Derek Armstrong scored a goal and set up two others and Patrick O'Sullivan added a shorthanded tally and an assist as the Kings avoided being swept of their season series with the Calgary Flames by posting a 6-3 victory Friday night.

Alexander Frolov collected three assists and Jason LaBarbera made 39 saves for Los Angeles, which had lost the three previous meetings with Calgary this season and the last six overall. The Kings had not beaten the Flames since November 25, 2006.

"We're a young team and we're starting to grow together as a team. We need to put the past behind us," Armstrong said. "We're disappointed in the standings, but we take every game as if it was a playoff game."

"It was a great game for us after coming off a road trip," added Frolov, whose brother Sergei was watching him play at the Staples Center for the first time.

Kings coach Marc Crawford was impressed with Frolov's effort.

"(Frolov) has been pretty good since Christmas for us," Crawford said. "He's gotten stronger and the team's playing better. We understand what a team needs to do with a puck."

Langkow, who had scored the game-winning goal in each of the first three games against Los Angeles this season, tied this one at 1-1 just 70 seconds after defenseman Kevin Dallman opened the scoring for the Kings.

After taking a pass from captain Jarome Iginla, Kristian Huselius fanned on his shot attempt and was then knocked down. Langkow picked up the loose puck and fired it past LaBarbera at 4:15 of the first period for his eighth goal against the Kings this season.

Los Angeles, however, refused to let Langkow make the difference yet again, as a pair of rookies provided a 3-1 bulge.

"It's a fun team right now with the younger forwards," Crawford said.

Less than two minutes after Langkow's tally, Brian Boyle scored his fourth goal in just his seventh career game after corralling Frolov's pass with his skates and unleashing a wrist shot from the slot past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff at 6:02.

Teddy Purcell, playing in his sixth career contest, then doubled the advantage with his first career tally. The 22-year-old took a feed from Kyle Calder in the slot and released a quick wrist shot that beat Kiprusoff.

"I thought that when we signed Teddy (last year), he was going to be an NHL prospect," Crawford said. "By the time the season rolls along, he's going to be in the lineup. Because of a couple of injuries, he's gotten in there and is taking advantage. We are seeing the fruits of that now."

Dustin Boyd halved the deficit and ended a 12-game goalless drought with 7:01 left in first, but the Kings answered with three goals in the middle period to take a 6-2 lead.

"We wanted to have a good start, and we did," O'Sullivan said. "That really got the crowd going and it gave us momentum."

O'Sullivan started the second-period rally with a shorthanded goal at 4:14. O'Sullivan forced a turnover in his own zone and started a 2-on-1 rush with Michal Handzus before burying a one-timer off a pass.

"I think a couple of things have happened," O'Sullivan said of the team's recent run of five wins in nine games. "The defensive mistakes have been cleaned up on our end and the guys have wanted to make a difference. It was frustrating. We have had three different teams this year."

After receiving a feed from Frolov, Armstrong scored at the seven-minute mark, and All-Star Anze Kopitar netted his team-leading 25th goal on a power play with 9:11 left to give the Kings the four-goal advantage.

"We didn't play with preparation," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "It makes you wonder what level of preparation or element is needed to play with consistency. We just didn't have any defense, particularly in the first period."

Owen Nolan cut the deficit to 6-3 at 5:15 of the final session with a power-play tally, his 15th goal of the season.

Jeff Giuliano was denied by Kiprusoff on a penalty-shot attempt after he was taken down by defenseman Anders Eriksson with 8:45 remaining in the contest.

Kiprusoff turned aside 19 shots for Calgary, which remains four points behind the first-place Minnesota Wild in the Northwest Division.

Dallman gave the Kings an early lead with his first goal of the season on a one-timer off a pass from Frolov at 3:05 of the first.