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Kopitar, Doughty help Kings top struggling Blues

Nov 9, 2008 - 7:53 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Manny Legace's return did not change the St. Louis Blues' fortunes.

Anze Kopitar recorded a goal and two assists as the Los Angeles Kings rolled to a 4-3 victory over the slumping Blues on Saturday.

Rookie defenseman Drew Doughty, Alexander Frolov, captain Dustin Brown and blue-liner Tom Preissing each netted a goal and set up another for Los Angeles, which went 3-for-6 on the power play.

"We were working hard," Kopitar said. "The previous games we were as well, (the puck) just didn't go in. We had chances, and tonight, we really came through. I'm personally pretty happy, and I'm sure the other guys are pretty happy, so hopefully we can keep on going."

Making his third straight start, Erik Ersberg stopped 24 shots for the Kings, who improved to 2-4-0 on their season-high seven-game homestand.

"Ersberg was good," Los Angeles coach Terry Murray said. "He was very good in the second period, and a couple of their power-play opportunities, he came up big for us. ... I sure like what he's done for us. He's winning, which is the most important thing, for us right now."

Brad Boyes and Andy McDonald notched a goal and an assist apiece for St. Louis, which has lost five straight (0-4-1) and is in the midst of its worst slide since going 0-5-1 from March 5-15. Rookie Patrik Berglund also tallied for the Blues, who rallied late before succumbing.

"We came out of the gate slow and we gave them a three-goal lead, and it's tough to come from behind like that," said St. Louis' Lee Stempniak, who recorded an assist on Boyes' goal. "The third period, I really feel like we dictated the play, and we need to find a way to do that all three periods."

Blues coach Andy Murray, whose team is off until Wednesday, is eager to put this one behind him.

"I wish we were playing tomorrow," he said. "This isn't the NFL, where you lose a game and you got to worry about it the next six days. This is hockey, and you've got to play tomorrow."

Doughty's second career goal, a power-play tally with 8:02 remaining in the third period, gave the Kings a seemingly commanding 4-1 lead. However, Berglund and Boyes struck a little more than five minutes apart to make it a one-goal game.

Boyes' one-timer into the left corner of the net with 87 seconds left drew the Blues within 4-3. But Brown sealed the win with an empty-netter with 11 seconds to play.

Terry Murray did not feel his team struggled to close out the game.

"We did close it out," he said. "We won. We shut it down."

The struggling Blues hoped the return of Legace would help them get back on track, but he was blitzed by the Kings' power-play unit. Legace, who had been sidelined since October 24 with a freak hip injury, stopped 26 shots.

Legace suffered the injury when he slipped on a carpet in the runway leading toward the ice that was used for former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin during a pregame ceremony. He appeared rusty in his return as Los Angeles scored the first three goals of the game.

Kopitar's tally at 3:01 of the opening period came with the man advantage, and Frolov added a power-play goal at 7:14 of the second. Preissing made it 3-0 with 1:19 left in the session.

"When we play like we say we are going to play, I think we are a tough team to beat," Ersberg said. "When we play our system right and everybody is digging in and working hard, it's going to be tough to come and beat us here."

McDonald finally got the Blues on the board 1:50 into the third.

"I thought we had all kinds of chances to score on our power plays, but Ersberg played well," Andy Murray said. "We were trying, we didn't quit."