| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) Luc Robitaille scored twice and John Tripp had a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the defending Western Conference champion Anaheim Mighty Ducks 4-2 Thursday night in the exhibition opener for both teams.
Alexei Smirnov and Chris Armstrong scored power-play goals for the Ducks, who came within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup last June after missing the playoffs the year before. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and signed a four-year, $19.5 million contract on Sept. 10, did not dress.
Rookie Duston Brown also scored for the Kings, who finished 14 points out of a playoff spot last year. The Kings and Ducks don't meet during the regular season until Jan. 7 at the Anaheim Pond.
Robitaille, beginning his third stint with the Kings after scoring a career-worst 11 goals with Detroit, scored the winner from his knees as he swatted a rebound of defenseman Tim Gleason's shot past Martin Gerber for a 3-2 lead with 6:56 left in the third period.
Six-time All-Star Sergei Fedorov, who signed a five-year, $40 million deal with Anaheim as a free agent in July after 13 seasons and three Stanley Cup titles in Detroit, committed a turnover that set up the game's first goal.
Roman Cechmanek, making his Kings debut after getting traded from Philadelphia, stopped eight of nine shots and was replaced by Cristobal Huet after Smirnov's goal.