End of first: 1-1
Wojtek Wolski gave the Avalanche the lead in Las Vegas with 8:53 left in the first period. His attempted pass in front of the net got deflected back to him, and he beat Jonathan Quick, who had slid over to play the pass.
The Kings tied it with 1:22 remaining. Jack Johnson took a quick shot from the left point and Alexander Frolov, skating in front, tipped it in. Wayne Simmonds picked up an assist as well.
Nick and Daryl's commentary had the Kings playing an aggressive game and getting the better of the chances, with both goalies well tested at various times.

Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at 

Nice to see all that "shot from the point, tip-in" work pay off. They were practicing that drill for quite a while on Friday.
2-1 Avs and then Simmonds drops the gloves with Matt Hendricks from Colorado. Simmonds dropped him with what Nick Nickson described as a "cinder block left" that appeared to have maybe broken Hendricks nose. Simmonds apparently went after Hendricks because he hit Jack Johnson high on a check in the corner.
Avs just scored again. 3-1 Avs....