• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kings top Oilers to win third straight game

Jan 16, 2008 - 6:30 AM By Chris O'Leary PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- A flat start and some unlucky plays brought the Edmonton Oilers' winning streak to an abrupt halt as the Los Angeles Kings skated out of Rexall Place with a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

Winners of their last four entering this contest, the Oilers sat back and let the Kings go to work in the first 20 minutes of the game.

After losing a number of battles for the puck in their corners, the Oilers paid the price at 5:45 of the opening session. Defenseman Rob Blake found All-Star Anze Kopitar skating to the net before feeding Patrick O'Sullivan, who scored his 12th goal of the season.

The Kings kept the pressure on throughout the first period, outshooting the Oilers, 13-3.

"Right from the start, we were sluggish and we just couldn't find a way to get into the game," Oilers center Jarret Stoll said. "Before we knew it, it was 3-0."

Kings coach Marc Crawford saw things differently.

"I thought we had solid goaltending from Jason LaBarbera - the kind that the Oilers have been getting from Mathieu Garon lately," he said. "I thought the other two elements were huge in our game: our ability to hang on to the puck in the offensive zone and our strong backcheck all night."

A clearing pass by Oilers blue-liner Joni Pitkanen hit Robert Nilsson's skate and ended up on the stick of O'Sullivan. The Kings' 22-year-old center set up Dustin Brown, who tucked away a one-timer past Garon at 3:54 of the second period.

"(It was) bad timing on the second goal," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "We had lots of pressure on (them) in the second period, lots of jump. It wasn't the best-executed play and it ends up in the back of the net."

The Oilers had a chance to get back in it when defenseman Denis Grebeshkov beat LaBarbera in the second period. The puck, however, bounced off the inside of the post and came back out.

O'Sullivan brushed it off as the breaks of the game.

"You make your own luck," he said. "Stuff like that happens in hockey; that's why you play the game. If everything was on paper, you wouldn't have to play the game. A bounce here, a bounce there (for them), maybe (the score) is closer. A bounce here and there for us, and maybe it's 6-1.

"You can talk about the bounces all you want. At the end of the day, I think we executed our game plan and it worked."

Edmonton's misfortunes continued in the third after a power-play goal from Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky gave the Kings a three-goal cushion at 6:30 of the third period.

Dustin Penner spoiled LaBarbera's bid for a shutout by scoring 10:49 into the third period.

LaBarbera finished with 31 saves for the Kings, who won their third straight game. Garon made 33 shots against his former team.