Kings 6, Blues 4
LOS ANGELES -- First came fight night. Then came fright night. And finally a frantic finish.
The result was a rollercoaster ride fit for nearby Six Flags Magic Mountain as the Los Angeles Kings traded punches, goals and momentum with the St. Louis Blues.
When the ride finally ended the Kings had a wild 6-4 victory at Staples Center.
The Kings came roaring back from a 4-1 second-period deficit with a six-goal onslaught, drawing even less than three minutes into the third period on goals by Mike Richards and Jake Muzzin.
The game-winner went to red-hot Jeff Carter, who beat Jaroslav Halak with a wrist shot with 13:51 left in the game to give the Kings and 5-4 lead and chase Halak in favor of Brian Elliott.
One night after getting the hat trick against the Nashville Predators, Carter got the clincher against the Blues to add to his torrid recent play. Carter now has 11 goals in his last 11 games
Anze Kopitar put it away with 5:06 remaining, beating Elliott over his left shoulder to make it 6-4.
The Kings have won six straight at home and nine of their last 11 overall.
Meanwhile, the Blues haven't won in Southern California since 2011.
It looked for a while like they'd finally snap their losing streak against the Kings and Anaheim Ducks after taking a 4-1 lead in the second period on goals by Jake Muzzin and Chris Stewart.
But the Kings' Slava Voynov scored late in the period to make it 4-2, at the time a seemingly innocent goal but in reality the catalyst for a 5-goal Kings rush to turn the game around.
The game was marred early on by three fights, the two Western Conference powers adamantly staking their positions and conceding nothing while accumulating a combined 40 minutes in penalties in the opening period.
The Kings' Colin Fraser squared up against Barret Jackman, followed by the Blues Roman Polak fighting Kyle Clifford, and finally L.A.'s Dwight King mixed it up with Ryan Reaves -- each resulting in five-minute major penalties.
No big surprise, considering the two teams entered the game tied with 24 points in a conference logjam in which five teams are tied for the sixth through 10th spots in the standings.
It figured to be a physical game and that's exactly what it was.
NOTES: In winning eight of their last 10 games the Kings are piling up the individual numbers. Anze Kopitar has 18 points over his last 17 games, 13 in the last 11 and nine in the last six. ... Jeff Carter has 14 goals and 16 points in over the last 18 and 10 goals in the last 10. ... The Kings will play nine of their next 11 at home, where they are 6-1-1. ... The Kings have allowed just two third-period goals in their last eight games, one of which was an empty netter. ... St. Louis defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk's 17 points and Alex Pietrangelo's 12 are tied for second and 15th respectively among NHL defensemen. ... Pietrangelo's 12 points give him 63 since 2011-12, tied for third among all defensemen. ... Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak has a 6-2-0 career record against the Kings with a 1.70 GAA. He is 4-1-0 with a 1.93 GAA in five starts at Staples Center.
