Kings 4, Yotes 0

Guess who got the shutout…and another boatload of saves… Ersberg is doing a tremendous job to help his cause. Here’s the early AP game story:

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Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists and Erik Ersberg made 38 saves as the Los Angels Kings earned a 4-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night.

Ersberg earned his second career shutout in his 10th NHL start. Ersberg also shut out the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on March 6.

Kopitar assisted on goals by Kevin Dallman and Dustin Brown around his 30th goal of the season as the Kings scored three times during a 6:11 stretch of the second period to take control of the game.

Rob Blake added a goal in the third period. Patrick O’Sullivan had two assists for the Kings.

The Coyotes had won the first six meetings between the Pacific Division rivals this season, but the Kings took the final two games, both with Ersberg in goal. The 26-year-old rookie keyed a 6-5 shootout win in Phoenix on March 20.

Ersberg has won three of his past four starts, with the only defeat being a 2-1 shootout loss at Anaheim on Wednesday in which he made 39 saves. He has stopped 102 of his past 105 shots and held the opposition to two goals or fewer in seven of 10 starts since being recalled from Manchester of the American Hockey League in late February.

Ersberg made a right pad save against Peter Mueller on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless through one period.

Dallman gathered a cross-zone pass from Kopitar and swiped the puck past Phoenix goalie Mikael Tellqvist to give the Kings a 1-0 lead 6:52 into the second.

Just 2:22 later, Kopitar backhanded in a rebound of a Brian Willsie shot to make it 2-0. The Kings completed the scoring run with Brown getting his 32nd goal of the season during a power play 13:03 into the period.

The Coyotes have just one win in their past seven games.

Game notes
Kings goalie Dan Cloutier was forced out of the lineup earlier Thursday with a right groin strain. The team recalled Daniel Taylor from Manchester on an emergency basis to back up Ersberg.

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