Avalanche 4, Kings 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) -A quick two-goal lead enabled the Colorado Avalanche to concentrate on defense the rest of the game.

Ryan Smyth and Jaroslav Hlinka scored 62 seconds apart early in the first period against Jason LaBarbera in the goalie's first game off the injured list, and the Avalanche went on to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Monday night for their third straight victory.

The Kings Anze Kopitar attempts to slide one past Peter Budaj, but the shot gets deflected by the Avalanche's netminder during the second period on Monday night in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Peter Budaj helped send the Kings to their fourth straight loss, making 19 saves after stopping 61 of 63 shots in Colorado's home-and-home sweep of Nashville.

"The guys played great defensively," Budaj said. "I mean, we only allowed 21 shots against a very skilled team. We're thinking defense first. And when that happens, we're going to create chances for ourselves and not allow many. Guys were blocking shots and playing on top of their game. It's nice to see that the team is playing so well in front of me."

Paul Stastny also had a goal and defenseman Brett Clark had two assists, the first one coming on Smyth's power-play goal. The Avalanche entered the game with only five goals in 65 power plays on the road, the worst percentage in the league.

"We came out really strong in the first period and we kind of rode that through the game," defenseman Scott Hannan said. "It's always good to get two early goals because it's tough for the other team to come back from those kind of deficits."

Dustin Brown scored for the Kings on a power play and Michal Handzus added a short-handed goal. LaBarbera made 36 saves after missing eight games because of a rib injury.

"It's frustrating," said LaBarbera, who blamed himself for the first three goals. "You can't get behind 3-0 against a team like that because you're not going to come back on them. We did a pretty good job trying to - but what's the point, you know?"

The Kings got on the board just 36 seconds into the third period while Hannan was off for hooking Anze Kopitar. Brown got his stick on Rob Blake's one-timer from 40 feet out in the slot and redirected it between Budaj's legs.

"We played a pretty good game, except maybe for that little lapse on the Brown goal, when we let them come to us for a couple of minutes," Ian Laperriere said. "But you've got to expect that. We're in their building, they've got so much pride on the other team and they took it to us a little bit. But we responded really well. When you put 40 shots on net in the other team's building, it means you did a lot of good things."

The Kings John Zeiler (73) checks the Avalanche's Kyle Cumiskey to the ice during the second period. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Handzus sliced the deficit to 3-2 with 15:14 to play, beating Budaj with a 20-foot wrist shot from the right circle while teammate Michael Cammalleri was serving a tripping penalty. It was the first short-handed goal Colorado has given up this season, leaving Ottawa as the only team in the league that hasn't allowed one.

"I don't want to take anything away from him, but I think he fanned on it because the puck didn't come down flat," Budaj said. "I thought he was going low-blocker because I know Michael pretty well and that's his go-to shot. But he went 5-hole."

Ben Guite's empty-net goal wrapped it up with 1:07 remaining, enabling the Avalanche to take over first place in the Northwest Division from idle Minnesota and Vancouver.

"We stuck with what we had to do and got rewarded. First place was on the line, and that's the reward," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We've been playing better as a team, and we're harder to play against. We're more diligent with our positioning and playing the kind of road game that can frustrate the opposition and lead to turnovers."

Smyth, who had two goals against the Kings in a 5-2 win on Dec. 1 at Staples Center, opened the scoring in the rematch during a power play at the 2:37 mark. He converted a rebound on his backhand from the edge of the crease for his 11th goal, while Brown was off for holding Clark.

Colorado made it 2-0 with Hlinka's fifth goal. He beat Lubomir Visnovsky to a lose puck above the right circle, tapped it between the defenseman's legs and went in alone on LaBarbera, who committed too early and flopped to the ice as the Avalanche center held onto the puck an extra second before flipping it over him.

At that point, Kings coach Marc Crawford burned the team's only timeout to settle his team down. But the Avalanche kept buzzing around the Los Angeles net, and Stastny was credited with his 15th goal at 14:12 of the first when Blake inadvertently tapped the puck across the goal line as it lay in the crease behind LaBarbera.

Notes: Quenneville recorded his 413th regular-season victory as an NHL head coach, tying Jack Adams for 18th place all-time. ... Quenneville won the Jack Adams award as Coach of the Year in 1999-00 with St. Louis, and one more victory will make him the 12th winner of that award to accumulate more wins than the man the trophy was named after - including Crawford. ... Budaj and Handzus were both born in the same town in Slovakia - Banska Bystrica. ... The Smyth-Stastny-Milan Hejduk line has combined for 38 points over the last nine games. ... D John-Michael Liles had two assists for Colorado. Avalanche defensemen have recorded 34 points over the last 14 games.

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KINGS HEAD COACH MARC CRAWFORD:
(Re: game recap) “Dustin Brown and Rob Blake were very physical players tonight. The game was lost on the number of turnovers we had and the number of lost puck battles down low in our end. Those were the things that ended up being the difference makers.”

(Re: game recap) “When you struggle you get out of your game and out of your element. I thought we got out of our element a little bit tonight.”

KINGS GOALTENDER JASON LABARBERA:
(Re: game recap) “It’s frustrating. You can’t get behind 3-0 against a team like that. We did a good job trying [to come back].”

(Re: game recap) “For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem like we can get 60 minutes together. It’s costing us games and putting us further down the standings.”

AVALANCHE HEAD COACH JOEL QUENNEVILLE:
(Re: game recap) “We did a lot of good things. I thought we had a really good game, a lot of energy all night. Everybody was contributing and we got off to a great start like we were hoping to do… I really liked how we stepped up what we had to do, and got rewarded.”

(Re: Recent road success) “I think we’re playing better as a team. We’re harder to play against, being more diligent, more in position defensively. We’re being aware of simple plays and trying to play that type of road game that can lead to turnovers and frustrate the opposition. It helps when you score early in the game too.”

AVALANCHE GOALTENDER PETER BUDAJ:
(Re: game recap) “I think our guys were playing really well defensively. We were thinking defense first and that’s what happened. When the team is playing defense first we’re going to create a lot of chances and not allow many. Guys were blocking shots, playing on top of their game and it’s nice to see them play so well in front of me.”

AVALANCHE FORWARD RYAN SMYTH:
(Re: Strong 1st Period) “We thought it was important to get off to a good start since we were on the road and they had the advantage with their fans, but we quieted them down right away and took the early lead. We’ve got to learn to play with the lead though and play with confidence. That’s important for the latter part of the season.”

KINGS NOTES:

• Dustin Brown scored his 15th goal of the season, tying Anze Kopitar for the team lead…
• Kopitar earned an assist for his team-leading 33rd point. He is now six points away from 100 in the NHL and as a King…
• Michal Handzus scored his third short-handed goal, his fifth overall this season…
• Rob Blake also earned an assist on Brown’s goal. He’s now only four points away from passing Jim Fox for seventh all-time in Kings history…
• Patrick O’Sullivan extended his season-high point streak to five games (1-4=5). His longest point streak was seven games, set March 11 – 23 last season…
• Jason LaBarbera, who missed the last eight games with a rib injury, stopped 36 shots…
• The Kings have now scored a power-play goal in seven of the last nine games…

Post Game Quotes Compiled By: Andre Delsol and Michael Becker