Kariya helps Blues beat Kings 5-4 in shootout
APNews
Dec 05, 2009
Paul Kariya scored two goals in the third period and the St. Louis Blues got goals from Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes in the first two rounds of a shootout to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Saturday.
Boyes and Keith Tkachuk had second-period goals for the Blues and Chris Mason recorded six of his 36 saves in overtime before thwarting Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson in the shootout.
Kariya's second goal of the game and eighth of the season came during a power play with 2:20 remaining, giving him four in five games following a 14-game drought.
Kariya gave the Blues a 4-3 lead, using teammate David Backes as a screen to beat Jonathan Quick to the glove side after Kings defenseman Matt Green was sent off for slashing. It was only the third power-play goal by the Blues in 37 chances spanning 11 games.
Alexander Frolov scored the tying goal for the Kings with 34 seconds left in regulation, beating Mason from short range after Drew Doughty's one-timer from the high shot was blocked by Backes.
The Kings also got a short-handed goal from Brad Richardson, who has scored in three consecutive games following a 64-game drought dating to February 2008.
Rookie Scott Parse and Jarret Stoll each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have been getting some much-needed scoring lately from unexpected sources with Alexander Frolov and captain Dustin Brown having trouble generating offense. Wayne Simmonds had two assists, extending his career-best points streak to six games.
Stoll gave the Kings a 3-2 lead with 11:29 left in regulation, beating Mason through the pads with a wrist shot from the slot after Parse fed him the puck from the left boards. But Kariya got the equalizer just 27 seconds later, scoring his seventh goal of the season with Quick out of position after a previous shot by the Blues hit a player in front.
St. Louis took a 2-1 lead at 11:54 of the second period when B.J. Crombeen shook off a check behind the net and set up Boyes's short wrist shot. It was the seventh goal for Boyes, who scored 76 over the previous two seasons.
The Blues' lead lasted exactly one minute. Mason stopped a sharp-angle shot by Michal Handzus from the left circle, but Parse pounced on the rebound and took a quick shot that hopped out of Mason's glove, fluttered over his left shoulder and tricked across the goal line before defenseman Darryl Sydor could swat it away.
Richardson opened the scoring with 5:24 left in the first period with his fourth career short-handed goal.