Behind LaBarbera, L.A. beats Ducks to improve to 7-2-0 LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Jason LaBarber... Kings continue to shine on ice..
LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Jason LaBarbera made 29 saves, and Mike Cammalleri, Luc Robitaille and Craig Conroy scored goals in the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Tuesday night.
The Kings won the first of eight meetings this season between the Southern California rivals without Jeremy Roenick, sidelined by groin and hamstring injures. Their 7-2-0 start is their best since 1990-91, when they finished 46-24-10 and won a division title before losing in the second round of the playoffs.
LaBarbera improved to 5-0, matching the best start by a goalie in Kings history. Daniel Berthiaume won his first five decisions in 1990-91 as Kelly Hrudey's backup. LaBarbera has yet to allow more than two goals in any start, and has stopped 126 of 132 shots.
LaBarbera's bid for his first NHL shutout was spoiled by Andy McDonald with 12:26 to play. McDonald beat LaBarbera through the pads with a 25-foot wrist shot from the left circle after Todd Fedoruk threaded a perfect backhand pass through three Kings.
Anaheim's Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves in his third straight start, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere remained sidelined by a groin injury. Sergei Fedorov, who has 29 goals and 49 points in 50 career games against the Kings, missed his sixth straight game because of a groin strain.
The Kings had a goal nullified when Eric Belanger redirected Aaron Miller's long slap into the net with a high stick at 9:02 of the first period. But they opened the scoring just 10 seconds before intermission, as Cammalleri converted a rebound of defenseman Lubomir Visovsky's one-timer during a 5-on-3 power play. Ducks defenseman Ruslan Salei was the second man sent to the penalty box, getting a delay-of-game infraction for clearing the puck over the glass 28 seconds after a hooking call against teammate Joe DiPenta.
The Ducks got bogged down by penalties again in the second period, as Kip Brennan got four minutes for cutting Tim Gleason in the face with a high stick as the Kings' defenseman carried the puck over the red line. Bryzgalov robbed Robitaille at the end of a 2-on-1 rush with Frolov on the ensuing power play, which became a two-man advantage for 67 seconds when Anaheim's Joffrey Lupul was sent off for hooking.
Bryzgalov came up big again, stopping Dustin Brown after he intercepted Keith Carney's clearing pass in the neutral zone and swooped in alone on the Ducks' goalie. But Robitaile made it 2-0 at 16:59 of the second, deflecting Joe Corvo's one-timer over Bryzgalov's left shoulder for his 657th career goal and 546th with the Kings. Robitaile is four shy of Marcel Dionne's club record.
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