Kings ride power-play goals past Senators
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings took advantage of an early major penalty by scoring two of their three power-play goals, and that advantage held up in their 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon against the visiting Ottawa Senators at Staples Center.
About 2 1/2 minutes into the game, Tyler Toffoli was playing the puck along the wall in his zone when he was hit from behind by Ottawa defenseman Mark Borowiecki. He collapsed to the ice as gloves dropped and teammates converged on Borowiecki.
Toffoli, who led the Kings with 31 goals last season and was second entering Saturday's game with 15 points, didn't stay down long before heading straight to the locker room as Borowiecki went off to serve a five-minute boarding penalty.
Los Angeles quickly took advantage of the man advantage, and Ottawa didn't help as defenseman Dion Phaneuf was unable to control Drew Doughty's dump-in pass. Jeff Carter was in position to pounce on the puck and shoot it past Mike Condon 32 seconds into the power play.
As the penalty was winding down, Tanner Pearson passed the back out from deep in the Ottawa zone to defenseman Alec Martinez, who fired a shot that hit Condon, ricocheted above his head, hit his right elbow on the way down and was redirected into the net with 16 seconds left on the penalty.
Shortly after the penalty expired, Borowiecki went back to the penalty box after fighting Kings veteran defenseman Matt Greene. He was soon joined by teammate Chris Neil, who fought Jordan Nolan in his 1,000th career game, all with the Senators.
Toffoli emerged from the dressing room with about five minutes left in the opening period and was back on the ice a minute later. Toffoli soon went to the penalty box for holding the stick of Phaneuf, but the Kings held up behind several fine saves by Peter Budaj, who also earned an assist on the Carter goal.
Ottawa got on the scoreboard two minutes into the middle frame when Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin tried to clear the puck to Greene just inside the blue line. Ottawa center Zack Smith was there to deflect the puck and then bat it out of the air to keep it in the Los Angeles zone.
Tom Pyatt retrieved the puck, drove through the left circle before centering a pass toward the crease, where Muzzin was trying to hold off Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Smith. The puck was redirected into the net and Pageau was originally credited with the goal but it was later awarded to Smith, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Senators dominated the second period, but the Kings managed to get the goal back with 1.8 seconds on the clock. A shot by Derek Forbort ended up on the stick of Trevor Lewis, who pocketed the puck into the open side of the net for a 3-1 lead.
Marian Gaborik added Los Angeles' third power-play goal in the third period, his first of the season in his sixth game.
NOTES: Looking for a spark after a listless performance Thursday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, the Kings moved RW Devin Setoguchi and C Andy Andreoff into the lineup for Saturday's day game against the Ottawa Senators at Staples Center. Setoguchi watched the last three games as a healthy scratch and Andreoff hasn't played since Oct. 30, missing a big chunk of that time with a thumb injury that required surgery. LW Kyle Clifford and C Nic Dowd were healthy scratches for Los Angeles. ... Ottawa G Mike Condon will make his second consecutive start and fourth in the last five games as Craig Anderson remains in New York to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is being treated for a rare form of throat cancer that was diagnosed in late October. ... Senators D Marc Methot returns to the lineup after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury, and D Andreas Englund is scratched after appearing in the last three contests, along with C Phil Varone.