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O'Sullivan gives Kings first win in seven tries vs. Coyotes

Mar 21, 2008 - 6:54 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Thanks to Patrick O'Sullivan, the Los Angeles Kings avoided another loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

O'Sullivan scored in the fourth round of the shootout as the Kings edged the Coyotes, 6-5, on Thursday for their first win in seven meetings between the teams this season.

Defenseman Tom Preissing tallied twice in regulation and O'Sullivan, Alexander Frolov and defenseman Kevin Dallman each recorded two assists for Los Angeles, which was outscored, 21-7, in the six previous losses to Phoenix.

"We have really struggled against them this season," O'Sullivan said. "They are pretty aggressive. It wasn't pretty, but we needed to get a win against them."

"We haven't scored a lot of goals against this team this season," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "It was an exciting game and we are happy to get the extra point."

Captain Shane Doan notched a goal and two assists and blue-liner Keith Ballard scored a power-play tally late in the third period for the Coyotes (36-33-6), who climbed within six points of the Colorado Avalanche (39-30-6) for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.

"Shootouts are tough ways to lose hockey games," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We still have to just play hard. That's all I tell the guys. It's a great experience for them. It's great to be in this situation, and they have to play hard."

With Phoenix on the man advantage and goaltender Mikael Tellqvist pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute of the third, Doan carried the puck down the right wing and dished to Ballard, who shoveled the puck past rookie netminder Erik Ersberg from the slot with 25 seconds remaining, forging a 5-5 tie.

After a scoreless overtime, neither team was able to convert in the first three rounds of the shootout. But in the fourth, O'Sullivan fired a quick, hard wrist shot that beat Tellqvist to the stick side, giving the Coyotes the edge.

"That is a move I have done three or four times up here," O'Sullivan said. "That is a move that I have down since I was 10 years old, and it has worked at every level. That area of the net is hard to cover."

Representing Phoenix's last chance, Doan appeared to lose control of the puck and was unable to get his shot on net, sealing the win for Los Angeles.

"I wanted to let them make the first move and react to them," Ersberg said of his game plan for his first NHL shootout. "I was going to poke-check (Doan). I guess his only choice was to go back. I was just trying to get my pad down, and it worked."

"I know from practice that he is really great on breakaways, so it wasn't surprising for us to see him stop all four guys in the shootout," O'Sullivan said.

Entering with just three wins in their previous 14 games, the Kings carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission on a pair of goals by Preissing.

"Preissing got us going early," Crawford said.

After defenseman Keith Yandle tied the contest just over six minutes into the second period, Dustin Brown and enforcer Raitis Ivanans scored 79 seconds apart midway through the session to give Los Angeles a 4-2 advantage.

"We are pretty disappointed about the defensive letdowns in the second," Doan said. "We gave them ridiculous opportunities to score. Those are things as a team we can't do because that was a huge point we let get away."

Steven Reinprecht and Doan sandwiched goals around one by Kings defenseman Peter Harrold later in the period to draw the Coyotes within one, and Ballard came through late to earn his team a point.

Ersberg finished with 35 saves for Los Angeles, which has a league-low 64 points but improved to 5-2 in shootouts this season.

"We have to play every game like we are fighting for a playoff spot," the 26-year-old Swede said. "We can't just lay down and quit. For me, it is just fun to play games up here (in the NHL)."