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LOS ANGELES -- It took Erik Johnson just two games to make
an impact in the NHL. Johnson scored his first goal on a power play with 7:17 left in
the third period to give St. Louis the lead for good, and the Blues
beat Los Angeles 5-3 Saturday night to spoil the Kings' home
opener. Johnson connected on a one-timer that deflected off Kings
captain Rob Blake and past Bernier's stick while defenseman
Jaroslav Modry was serving a slashing penalty. The Blues'
19-year-old defenseman, who was picked first overall in the 2006
draft, went pro after totaling four goals and 20 assists in 41
games as a freshman at Minnesota. "Erik does what he does -- he shoots the puck," coach Andy
Murray said. "He was like a young player tonight. I mean, the
first couple of power plays he made some mistakes. Then the guy
that passed the puck to him put it right in his wheelhouse, and he
hammered that puck." Jamal Mayers had two goals, one of them into an empty net with
47 seconds left. Keith Tkachuk and David Backes also scored for the
Blues, who trailed 3-1 after two periods and outshot Los Angeles
15-4 in the third. Manny Legace allowed two goals on 16 shots, and was replaced by
Hannu Toivonen at 12:35 of the second period with a 2-1 deficit
after tweaking his right knee. It was the same knee that kept the
former Kings goalie sidelined for the final 21 games last season. Toivonen faced just eight shots, giving up a power-play goal by
Dustin Brown with 64 seconds left in the second period and 1 second
remaining on a tripping penalty against Matt Walker. However, Mayers triggered St. Louis' comeback with a slap shot
from the top of the right circle that beat rookie Jonathan Bernier
to the stick side at 8:42 of the second period. Tkachuk narrowed
the gap to 3-2 at 2:38 of the third, just 6 seconds after the Kings
killed off a hooking penalty against Brad Stuart. Backes got the tying goal, redirecting a weak slap shot by Jay
McClement past Bernier's right skate. Paul Kariya, who signed a three-year, $18 million free agent
contract with the Blues on July 1, helped set up Johnson's
game-winner by taking the puck away from Kings center Michal
Handzus in the right corner. The addition of Kariya and Johnson
should bolster a power-play unit that was the league's second-worst
last season at 12.1 percent. Brown had two goals and an assist for the Kings, and Anze
Kopitar had three assists. Michael Cammalleri also scored for Los
Angeles. Murray, who guided the Kings for five-plus seasons and holds the
franchise record for wins, returned to Staples Center for the
second time since taking the Blues job last December and improved
his record against his former team to 4-0. "It's gratifying to come in here and win," Murray said. "The
Kings are my second favorite team last year -- and now I've got even
more reasons for them to be my second-favorite team." There was an added element to this homecoming as Murray's son,
Brady, played his second game for the Kings. The 23-year-old left
wing was drafted by them in June 2003, following his dad's fourth
season as their coach. It was only the fourth time in NHL history
that a player competed in a regular-season game against a team his
father was coaching. "I noticed him a couple of times on a couple of faceoffs,"
Andy Murray said. "We put a good line out there after an icing
call against us and he won a big faceoff for them. "He's played against men for a couple of years now (in
Switzerland), and I think that's to his advantage. He's a skilled
offensive player. They've asked him to be their fourth-line center,
because that was the spot that was open on the team this year. I
thought he was pretty solid for them, tonight. We weren't getting
any advantages when his line was on the ice." Game notes
Ruth Murray made the trip from the family home in
Fairbault, Minn., to watch her son play against his father's team.
... The other three father-son combinations on opposing teams were
Bill and Gord Dineen (Feb. 9, 1993), Bob and Mark Johnson (Oct. 21,
1982) and Rich and Landon Wilson (Feb. 26, 2002). ... Cammalleri,
who had 34 goals and a team-high 80 points last season, has four
goals in the first three games.
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