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Kings top Stanley Cup champs in exhibition opener

Sep 14, 2007 - 4:44 AM By Craig Shultz PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - The last time the Anaheim Ducks played a hockey game, players such as Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne and Jean-Sebastien Giguere were skating around the Honda Center with the Stanley Cup.

When the team returned to the ice Thursday, Shane Hnidy,Dan LaCouture and Petteri Wirtanen were wearing the Anaheim sweater in a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Anaheim played with just seven players who were on the team in the finals. Niedermayer and Selanne are still contemplating retirement and Giguere is recovering from surgery for a sports hernia.

Brian Willsie scored a goal that was knocked into the net by Anaheim goalie J.P. Levasseur for the winner at 14:54 of the third period.

That came after the Ducks had overcome a 4-2 deficit to tie the game at 3:07 of the third when Jason King tipped in Francois Beauchemin's slap shot in a 4-on-4 situation.

Los Angeles got two goals from newcomer Kyle Calder and two assists each from Derek Armstrong and Lubomir Visnovsky.

The Kings, starting their 40th NHL season, took a 2-0 first-period lead on their Southern California neighbors, who won the Cup in just their 14th campaign.

Gabe Gauthier, who was born in California, tipped in a shot by Matt Moulson at 4:24 of the first period before Moulson scored a power-play goal at 12:12 to make it 2-0.

Anaheim got on the board when Maxim Kondratiev took a pass from Chris Pronger and scored a power-play goal from the right circle at 14:44 of the first.

Calder gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead with a goal at 19:23. Calder was upended as he skated from the left circle but was able to backhand the puck past Ilya Bryzgalov.

The Ducks scored just seven seconds into the second period when Mike Hoffman won a battle behind the net and wrapped the puck around to the front, putting a backhander past Dan Cloutier on the glove side.

Calder scored his second goal of the game at 8:13 of the period before Anaheim's LaCouture made it 4-3 less than a minute later.