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Frolov, LaBarbera help Kings end drought vs. Stars

Oct 26, 2007 - 6:09 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Kings have been unable to find a way to defeat the Dallas Stars of late. Alexander Frolov and Jason LaBarbera came up with a solution Thursday.

Frolov snapped a tie early in the third period and LaBarbera made 29 saves as the Kings halted a nine-game losing streak against the Stars with a 2-1 victory.

Brian Willsie also tallied for Los Angeles, which lost all eight meetings with Dallas last season as well as the first matchup this campaign on October 10. The Kings' last win over the Stars came on April 1, 2006.

"It was nice to finally get a win against them," LaBarbera said. "It's been a long time. We need to build on this one and keep doing what we're doing because it's working."

"It's a great feeling and a big win for this locker room," Kings center Anze Kopitar added. "We did a lot of good things tonight. We were very disciplined and didn't give up a lot of chances. And the chances we got, we put the puck in the net."

Entering having outscored the Kings, 14-2, in the first period during their winning streak, the Stars increased the advantage late in the opening session of this one on a goal by Jere Lehtinen.

Stationed behind the net, captain Brenden Morrow passed to Lehtinen, who beat LaBarbera to the stick side from the right hash marks with 3:55 left in the session for a 1-0 edge.

But Los Angeles pulled even midway through the middle period. After Marty Turco stopped Michael Cammalleri's shot from the left faceoff circle, Willsie grabbed the rebound on the doorstep and tucked it around the goaltender for his first tally of the season and a 1-1 tie.

"We lost the momentum," said Dallas' Mike Ribeiro, who had an assist. "We had a power play and could've taken a 2-0 lead, but they scored and it was hard to come back from there. It's a tough loss."

The contest remained deadlocked until early in the third, when Frolov extended his points streak to seven games with his third tally.

"I had some problems with my groin in the beginning of the season and it slowed me down," Frolov said. "I'm getting back now and feel much more comfortable with my linemates now. We've played really good the last couple games."

Derek Armstrong made a backhand pass from the right corner to the Russian, who fired the puck past Turco from low in the right circle at 1:40 for the game-winner.

"My linemates did a great job in the offensive zone," Frolov said. "I'm proud of them."

LaBarbera was strong in net for the third straight game, stopping 19 shots over the final two periods - including 13 in the third. The netminder has allowed just three goals on 92 shots during the Kings' three-game winning streak.

"It was the kind of game you love to win and a good character builder for our club," Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford said. "Jason made a couple of great saves in the third period and the penalty-kills we had late in the game were huge."

"This was our third (win) in a row, and I don't think we did that all last year," Frolov said. "It's all starting to come together now. We were ready and played hard. We deserved this win."

LaBarbera notices a difference in the team from the beginning of the campaign.

"Everyone's excited to come to the rink now," he said. "You can see it on everyone's faces. We didn't have that at the beginning of the season. We do now."

"I think the difference in the team is, we're starting to jell and figure things out," Kings rookie defenseman Jack Johnson added.

Turco made 28 saves for Dallas, which had won two in a row.

"We had a good start and did a lot of things right," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "But then we had a few turnovers and they took the momentum away from us. We had some great chances tonight, but we didn't execute them."