Fight overshadows Ducks' 4-1 win vs. Kings in London
30.09.2007 21:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
LONDON — In a country all too familiar with soccer hooligans, the fight on the ice between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on Sunday proved the main attraction .
The Ducks won 4-1 in the second game of the NHL's season-opening series in London, but it was the fisticuffs many fans came to see. GAME REPORT: Ducks 4, Kings 1SATURDAY'S GAME: Ducks prevail in London opener Ducks winger George Parros and Kings forward Scott Thornton provided the entertainment in the second period, dropping their gloves near center ice and pounding each other while the crowd stood and roared. Both received five-minute major penalties. Corey Perry scored twice to help the Ducks split the series at the O2 Arena, which happens to be owned by Kings owner Philip Anschutz. Chris Kunitz and Travis Moen also scored for Anaheim, and Mike Cammalleri got his third goal of the season for the Kings. The NHL is playing regular-season games in Europe for the first time. The Kings won 4-1 in Saturday's opener, which began after a 16-minute delay because of a lighting problem. This is the fourth time the league has opened its season outside North America, the other times in Japan (1997, 1998 and 2000). The Kings helped the Ducks in the first period by spending eight minutes in the penalty box, including twice giving Anaheim a two-man advantage. Los Angeles killed the first one, but Perry scored shortly after Lubomir Visnovsky came back on the ice to make it 5-on-4. Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger got the puck to Andy McDonald, who then sent a shot toward goal that Perry controlled and redirected past Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera. Kunitz made it 2-0 on the power play at 15:29, putting back a rebound with Brady Murray in the box for holding a stick. Perry scored the third goal at 2:53 of the second period, stuffing in a shot from the right, and Moen added the fourth at 4:10 by sending a wrist shot past LaBarbera on the glove side. Cammalleri, who scored two goals in the Kings' opening win, scored at 8:57 of the second with a wrist shot to the glove side. The fans made their allegiance known, wearing the colors of their favorite teams. But besides the jerseys of the Ducks, Kings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, there were plenty of Manchester Phoenix and Belfast Giants shirts — two of the 10 teams in Britain's Elite Ice Hockey League. The Ducks now leave London and head to the United States for three road games — at Detroit on Wednesday, at Columbus on Friday and at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Anaheim's home opener is Oct. 10 against Boston. The Kings warmed up for the London series by winning both games in an exhibition tournament in Austria. They have almost a week off before hosting St. Louis on Saturday. Notes: Kings defenseman Rob Blake tied Butch Goring for fifth on the team's career list with his 736th game. Dave Taylor leads with 1,111 games played. ... The series in London was Anaheim's first of 16 times it will play on consecutive days. ... Despite playing as the designated home team in the second game of the series, the Ducks again wore white shirts while the Kings wore their colors because each team brought only one set of uniforms on the trip. ... Jonas Hiller of the Ducks became the fourth goaltender born in Switzerland to play in the NHL, joining David Aebischer, Martin Gerber and Pauli Jaks. ... Jonathan Bernier, a 19-year-old Kings goalie who made his debut in Saturday's game, was on the bench Sunday.
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