Kings beat Coyotes to win NHL series opener

Dustin Brown scored the game winner in the third period to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in the opening game of their Western Conference playoff series. Rookie forward Dwight King, with two goals, and all-star Anze Kopitar also scored for the eighth seeded Kings, who reached the Western Conference championship series by eliminating the top two seeds, Vancouver and St. Louis. Kopitar said they came out with plenty of spark Sunday despite the long layoff after sweeping the Blues in four straight games. "We had a lot of rest the last six days and so we wanted to come out and make sure we pushed the pace," said Kopitar, who has seven points in the last six games. "We scored the first goal and it is a lot easier when you score first." Mikkel Boedker and defenceman Derek Morris each scored for third seeded Phoenix, who are in the conference finals for first time in franchise history. Captain Brown took a long pass up the middle from defenceman Slava Voynov and beat Phoenix goalie Mike Smith with a high snap shot. Brown has been one of the Kings best offensive weapons in the playoffs and is leading the team in goals with seven. Jonathan Quick was solid in net for the Kings finishing with 21 saves. Quick, who is in the running for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender, was superb in the third period when they needed him the most and is now 9-1 in the post-season. The Kings are in the conference finals for the first time since Wayne Gretzky led the franchise to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993.