Alexander Frolov scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in the second period, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night that kept Wayne Gretzky winless as an NHL coach.
The Coyotes had a man advantage for most of the final minute but didn’t score, dropping Gretzky’s record to 0-2 after a 3-2 loss at Vancouver on Wednesday.
The coaching milestone of the night belonged to the Kings’ Andy Murray, who became the club’s all-time winningest coach with his 179th victory. He broke Bob Pulford’s club record.
Gretzky was still the attraction, though.
The sellout crowd of 18,118 cheered loudly when he was shown on the scoreboard in the second period. He smiled and waved briefly. Gretzky spent eight seasons in Los Angeles, leading the Kings to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993 and popularizing hockey in Southern California.
Slap shots
Toronto captain Mats Sundin could miss four to six weeks after breaking the lower orbital bone when he was hit in the face by a puck in the opener. . . . The Atlanta Thrashers put top goaltending prospect Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve after he hurt his groin in the season opener.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
RESULTS, SYNOPSIS
Montreal 4 at N.Y. Rangers 3
Michael Ryder, who scored winner Wed. vs. Bruins, wristed a shot off Rangers goalie Kevin Weekes 2:10 into OT. He also scored Montreal’s 1st goal. Rangers haven’t made playoffs since ’97.
Detroit 4 at St. Louis 3
Robert Lang had a goal and assist, and Jason Williams had 3 assists as Wings completed home-and-home sweep of Blues. Since 2002-03, Detroit is 11-1-1 against St. Louis.
Phoenix 2 at Los Angeles 3
Jason Labarbera made 27 saves for 2nd NHL victory, and first since the 2003-04 season when he played 4 games with Rangers. David Leneveu stopped 25 shots for Coyotes.
