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Kopitar helps Kings edge Oilers

Nov 27, 2008 - 7:16 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Anze Kopitar netted what stood as the game-winning goal midway through the second period and added an assist as the Los Angeles Kings snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

Patrick O'Sullivan also recorded a goal and an assist, while Jason LaBarbera turned aside 22 shots in his first start since November 1 for the Kings, who had also dropped four of their previous five contests.

Ales Hemsky netted his sixth goal of the season but the Oilers failed to notch their first home win since October 18.

"I think the confidence level of the team offensively is down, and we need a game where we try to get a firm handle on our confidence offensively and let the offense flow a little easier," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said.

Edmonton has played 14 of its 21 contests on the road and is 7-7-0. However, the Oilers have not capitalized at Rexall Place, where they are trudging through a five-game losing streak.

"If you look at our record, a lot of those losses have come after returning from a long road trip," Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson said. "No excuses made, but look over history at how awful a team usually plays when they come back from a road trip. All year it's been go on the road, come home for a game, go on the road, come home for a game. It's tough when you come back because it is like you relax too much."

Their last victory at home came in a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames, but the Oilers have since lost there to the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche and most recently, the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

"We need to be better at home," Edmonton's Andrew Cogliano said. "Since we had all those road games, we have to make up the games we lost on the road here at home. We can't use the excuse that our record is because of all those road games because we are losing our home games now."

Kopitar accepted a centering pass from Sullivan and lifted a wrister from the doorstep over Roloson with 6:06 left in the second.

"It's tough. I thought the guys played well," Roloson said. "I don't know what the answer is to create more offense right now. I'm just worrying about what I have to do to help our team win."

Los Angeles coach Terry Murray was especially happy his team claimed the first lead of the game.

"We came out with that kind of an attitude that we had some kind of redemption," Murray said. "We had to go out and show ourselves that we were going to dig in and play hard. I thought in the first period we responded right away from the start.

"We played pretty good from dots to boards in the first period, and that's an area that I was looking at because that's an area of the game that we've been lacking. I think you get a good read on your hockey club whenever you start digging in those areas."

Roloson made 27 saves, but was exposed 5:58 into the first. Kopitar fired a shot from the point, but Sullivan tapped in his rebound from the slot. Kopitar's assist extended his points streak to a season-best four games.

The second overall pick in June's draft, defenseman Drew Doughty was also credited with an assist.

"From that bench and seeing those guys that you battled with for five years, it's definitely nice to get the win, that's for sure," said Los Angeles center Jarret Stoll, who was traded by Edmonton over the summer.

"We played a simple, solid game, full 60 (minutes); it was one of our better games of the year. We've played games like that, we just had troubles doing it consistently and tonight was a good effort by everybody."

Edmonton knotted the score just under five minutes later when Dustin Penner put a slick move on the Kings' defense to get in front of the net. The third-year veteran then found Hemsky at the left side, where he beat LaBarbera.

"It was a lack of offense is what it was," MacTavish said. "We're having trouble scoring goals, it's obvious. We didn't have a lot going offensively. I think our undoing was the second period where we had three power plays and they outchecked us significantly in our offensive zone; they won a lot of battles. We couldn't make a pass through a stick."