Michal Handzus and Kyle Quincey scored power-play goals and Erik Ersberg made 24 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings extend their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Jarret Stoll added his sixth goal of the season for the Kings.
Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro had power-play goals for Dallas. The slumping Stars lost for the fifth time in their last six games.
The Kings opened the scoring at 9:53 of the first period when Handzus' power-play deflection got past goalie Marty Turco. Dallas' Sean Avery had been sent to the penalty box for tripping 4 seconds earlier.
Stoll's deflection at 13:11 of the opening period made it 2-0.
Dallas made it 2-1 with 21 seconds left in the first period during a 5-on-3 when Richards' one-timer from the high slot went in off Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell's stick.
Los Angeles stretched its advantage to 3-1 when Quincey's one-timer from the blue line got past a screened Turco at 3:24 of the second period.
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Dallas cut it to 3-2 at 14:43 of the second period on Ribeiro's deflection.
The game was a rematch of Tuesday night's meeting in Los Angeles won by the Kings in a shootout, 3-2.
Tuesday night's game included a fight late in regulation between the captains, Dallas' Brenden Morrow and Los Angeles' Dustin Brown. Brown had checked Ribeiro into the boards while Ribeiro was vulnerable after taking a shot, opening a gash over Ribeiro's eye that required 10 stitches.
Morrow quickly began pummeling Brown with punches. Morrow earned an instigator penalty and a game misconduct while Brown received a major for boarding and a game misconduct.
Notes:
LW Fabian Brunnstrom, the object of an offseason free-agent recruiting battle that involved more than 20 NHL teams, was a healthy scratch for the Stars. Brunnstrom is minus-7 in 13 games. ... The Kings were 1-7 in Dallas over the previous two seasons. ... Stoll played in his 300th game.
