Kings topple Senators in Cameron's Ottawa debut
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Anze Kopitar and Trevor Lewis scored less than two minutes apart early in the third period, helping the Los Angeles Kings spoil Dave Cameron's head coaching debut with a 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
The two goals came almost immediately after Ottawa's Mark Stone scored short- handed to tie the game at 2-2 just 1:44 into the final frame.
Matt Greene, Justin Williams and Tanner Pearson also tallied to help the Kings bounce back after two straight losses. Jake Muzzin posted a career-best three assists, while Jonathan Quick came up with 32 saves for Los Angeles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There were two or three times in the game where we had good responses," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's not easy sailing."
Cameron was elevated from assistant coach on Monday to replace Paul McLean, who was fired after the Senators dropped 13 of their last 17 games. Ottawa was able to overcome a 2-0 deficit on goals by Bobby Ryan and Stone, but gave up three in the third period to fall to 1-4-1 in its last six outings.
Jared Cowen notched a goal and an assist in the loss, with Craig Anderson stopping 31-of-35 shots for Ottawa.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I don't think we can be too upset with the effort," said Cowen. "We just have to bring it for the whole game."
A failed clearing attempt by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty led to Stone's equalizer, but he and his teammates quickly regrouped to give Los Angeles back the lead while still on a 5-on-4 power play.
Kopitar raced to the net with the Kings controlling the puck in the Ottawa zone, and Doughty found him with a pinpoint pass that set up a successful backhander that came just 36 seconds after Stone's goal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles continued to pressure the Senators while back ahead, and Lewis converted a centering pass from Tyler Toffoli while stationed in front of a defenseless Anderson to push the lead to 4-2 with 4:02 elapsed in the third.
Anderson was pulled for an extra attacker with just over a minute to play, and the Senators' plan worked when Cowen sent a shot that deflected off Muzzin's stick and past Quick with 1:21 still to go.
However, Pearson fought off a check shortly after the ensuing faceoff and fired the puck into the vacated net to seal it with 56.6 seconds left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Senators started out very strong in Cameron's debut, peppering Quick with eight shots before the Kings recorded their first. They outshot Los Angeles 14-5 for the first period, but Quick kept it scoreless by making several impressive saves -- including a close-range denial of Alex Chiasson that held up after a review.
Los Angeles then went ahead just 1:47 into the second, when Greene wound up and fired a drive that caromed past a screened Anderson through heavy traffic.
The Kings struck again near the midway mark of the period. Williams beat Sens defender Erik Karlsson for a puck sent down the boards by Muzzin, then fired a wrister through Anderson's pads for a 2-0 advantage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A tremendous individual effort by Ryan enabled Ottawa to close the gap less than five minutes later. The talented wing blew past defenseman Brayden McNabb with a nifty move, then got Quick out of position before depositing home a backhand attempt.
Game Notes
The Kings had scored just eight goals over their previous five games ... Forward Milan Michalek (upper body) and defenseman Marc Methot (back/hip) both missed a second straight game for Ottawa, which also played without forward Clarke MacArthur (illness) ... The Kings improved to 12-0-3 this season when scoring first and 9-2-0 when recording a power-play goal ... Doughty finished with two assists.