The Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings each earned a victory Wednesday night in there preseason split-squad games, as the Kings downed the Coyotes 3-2 in Phoenix and the Coyotes were victorious in Los Angeles defeating the Kings 2-1 in a shootout.
At Jobing.com Arena the Kings got off to a quick start on an early first period tally from newcomer Ethan Moreau. Moreau beat Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith off a rebound in close. The Coyotes bounced back later in the period on a goal from star defenseman Keith Yandle. On the rush heading into the Kings zone, Yandle drove to the net through the slot and redirected a nice feed from Lauri Korpikoski to beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier.
The score would remain even at 1-1, until midway through the third period when Coyotes Captain Shane Doan ripped a shot from near the slot beating Kings goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. By this point the game had opened up a bit and a little under 4 minutes later the Kings tied the score at 2 on a power play goal by youngster Tyler Toffoli. The Kings weren't done as with just under 1 minute remaining in the third period, left wing Dustin Penner scored the game winning goal for Los Angeles beating Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbera.
Kings center Trevor Lewis led the way offensively as he recorded 3 points (all assists) and right wing Tyler Toffoli was also a multi-point producer with an assist to go along with his third period power play goal.
The other half of the split-squad played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Wednesday night. This game was also a close one as the Coyotes won in a shootout on a goal by young defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Goaltenders Justin Pogge and Louis Domingue combined to stop 39 of 40 shots for the Coyotes.