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Armstrong buoys Kings past Ducks

Jan 25, 2008 - 7:10 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Derek Armstrong had a goal and an assist and Jason LaBarbera made 31 saves as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 3-1, on Thursday.

All-Star Anze Kopitar and Alexander Frolov also scored for the Kings, who have won five of their last seven contests.

"We're playing much better and I think everyone sees that," Kopitar said. "We aren't giving up a lot of goals. We are limiting the chances we give up and we're creating offense better than we did before."

Rob Niedermayer scored with 3:12 remaining for the Ducks, who have lost three in a row.

"Obviously the break is something that's on the schedule, so whatever time it comes, hopefully it has a positive effect on your group once you come out of it," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

"We haven't had the level of execution that's required to have success in the last three games, so we can utilize this time to reflect and do some evaluation and set out a plan to go forward after the break because we've got a difficult schedule coming."

Kopitar opened the scoring with 3:44 remaining in the first period.

After accepting a feed from Dustin Brown, Kopitar blasted a shot which hit an Anaheim defender in front of the net before hopping over Jean-Sebastien Giguere's left shoulder and into the net.

The 20-year-old Kopitar has two goals and three assists in six games against the Ducks this season.

Armstrong's goal 4:21 into the second period stood up as the game-winner.

Rookie Ted Purcell fed Armstrong in the slot and the Kings center wristed the puck under Giguere's left pad for his sixth goal of the season. Purcell's assist was his first career NHL point.

"We've learned to do the little things right," Armstrong said. "We played a better third period all around and I think we benefited from that. We're just playing better as a team right now."

Frolov scored 5 1/2 minutes later to give Los Angeles a three-goal bulge.

Racing up the left wing, Frolov accepted a feed from Armstrong in the slot and beat Giguere for his 11th goal of the season.

The tally ended the night for Giguere, who made 15 saves.

"We haven't played as good as we could have the last three games," Giguere said. "At this time of the year, it's unacceptable. We need to be a little bit more desperate in these games."

Rookie Jonas Hiller entered the game and stopped all 13 shots he faced.

Niedermayer ended LaBarbera's bid for a shutout late in the third period.

Skating down the right wing, Niedermayer blasted a shot around defenseman Lubimir Visnovsky and past LaBarbera.

"I think you probably look at this game, and there were a few opportunities where maybe it could have played out differently," Niedermayer said. "We didn't play smart, and we really didn't earn those things to turn it our way.

"Quite often, that's the way it is. If you're out there earning those type of things, they do go your way. Tonight, I don't think we earned them and that's why we didn't get them."

All-Star Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf saw his 15-game scoring streak come to an end.