Another Bad Second Period Proves Costly

In their last game, the Los Angeles Kings disappeared in the second period and allowed four goals to the Chicago Blackhawks in a game the Kings ended up losing in overtime, 6-5.

On Thursday night, the Kings certainly must have felt some deja vu as they did exactly the same thing, allowing four goals in the second period in a 5-4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in front of 16,839 fans at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Oilers center Andrew Cogliano and Kings center Anze Kopitar traded first period goals before Kings left wing Patrick O’Sullivan scored early in the second period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

But then the Kings got careless and gave up goals to Edmonton forwards Ales Hemsky and Robert Nillson, giving the Oilers a 3-2 lead.

Right wing Dustin Brown tied the game at the 10:00 mark, but then, mistakes by the Kings gave the Oilers two more goals, one by Hemsky and another by Fernando Pisani at the 18:00 mark, giving the Oilers a 5-3 lead.

Brown scored the only goal of the third period, a shorthanded marker at the 11:13 mark.

Edmonton goalie Mathieu Garon and Kings goaltender Dan Cloutier each made 22 saves in the game.

Defenseman Rob Blake returned to the Kings lineup in this game after missing the last eleven games due to a non-displaced fracture in his left ankle. He skated 27 shifts, good for 20:56 of ice time.

With a goal and an assist, Kopitar has surpassed his point total (20 goals, 41 assists for 61 points) from last season, setting a new career-high of 62 points on 28 goals and 34 assists.

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