Kings 4, Coyotes 3, OT

Friday December 27, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Kings let a one-goal lead slip away three times. They won anyway because Phoenix's Brian Boucher let a routine shot slip through in overtime.

Brad Chartrand scored at 3:14 of the extra period and rookie Michael Cammalleri had a goal and an assist as the Kings beat the Coyotes 4-3 Thursday night for their fourth straight home victory.

Boucher, making his eighth straight start and 26th in 29 games because of Sean Burke's sprained ankle, fanned on a fluttering puck off the stick of Chartrand from about 25 feet out for his first goal in 10 games against Phoenix.

``I think I got a pretty opportunistic situation because I had just jumped off the bench. There were guys out there for over 30 seconds and I was fresh,'' Chartrand said. ``I had a head of steam and kind of got them back on their heels a little bit. I think I might have gotten a knuckler away on him.''

Bryan Smolinski got his seventh goal before leaving early in the second period with an eye injury. Mathieu Schneider scored on a power play, and Ziggy Palffy and Lubomir Visnovsky each had two assists.

Mike Johnson, Daniel Briere and rookie Branko Radivojevic scored for the Coyotes, 0-18-3 when allowing more than two goals.

Radivojevic had the puck at a sharp angle in the left circle and shot the puck through three players before it eluded Felix Potvin with 6:01 left in regulation, tying it 3-3. Former Kings enforcer Kelly Buchberger assisted for his 300th NHL point.

Smolinski was working the puck up the boards in the Kings' zone when he was cut near the left eye by the stick blade of rookie left wing Ramzi Abid at 5:38 of the second period. Abid was given a four-minute penalty.

The Kings capitalized with 23 seconds left on the ensuing power play, as Schneider skated in from the left point and took a wrist shot that banked in off Boucher's left arm for a 3-2 lead.

Boucher, benched Sunday at Anaheim after surrendering three goals on the Mighty Ducks' first five shots, fell behind 2-1 when Smolinski scored on the Kings' fifth shot at 8:07 of the first period.

Palffy passed the puck into the slot to Visnovsky, who was in the right circle when he spotted Smolinski cutting toward the crease unchecked. Smolinski played the ensuing pass off his skate and kept his shot along the ice to the far side for his seventh goal.

Briere tied it 2-2 at 13:19 of the first, converting Claude Lemieux's centering pass from the right boards for his seventh goal and first in 13 games.

``It's been frustrating,'' Briere said. ``I've been around the net, and a lot of the pucks have been bouncing around. It feels like this year I can't put the full stick on the puck. But it's going to come. It's time to start making the plays and be accountable.''

The Kings opened the scoring less than two minutes in as Mikko Eloranta's centering pass deflected in off Cammalleri's left skate. The Coyotes pulled even five minutes later when Johnson threw the puck toward the crease from an impossible angle to the right of the net, and it banked in off Potvin's glove.

``The effort was there, unfortunately the results weren't,'' Phoenix coach Bob Francis said. ``We were better prepared, and our execution was better, for the most part.''< ^Notes:@ Smolinski, who turns 31 on Friday, has yet to miss a game this season. He sat out only two last season. ... Each team was coming off its first shutout loss of the season. ... Phoenix D Todd Simpson fought with Kip Brennan 10 seconds after Cammalleri's goal, giving Simpson 1,000 career penalty minutes. He tacked on six more in the second period. ... Burke, who hasn't played since Oct. 22 because of a sprained ankle, is scheduled to return Monday against Edmonton. The Coyotes, who play Philadelphia on Saturday, are 8-15-6 during his absence. ... The crowd of 18,738 was the largest ever at a California hockey game. It eclipsed Game 6 of last season's second-round playoff series between the Kings and Colorado.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)