First Round Goes to Kings

King goaltender Jason LaBarbera might be fine rotating with Mathieu Garon for now, but the rookie keeps making a stronger case for a more permanent spot in the net.

LaBarbera added the Mighty Ducks to his growing list of victims as he won his fifth consecutive start with another strong performance in a 3-1 victory Tuesday night in the first meeting of the season between the Southland rivals in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

The Kings needed LaBarbera on top of his game as the Ducks’ Ilya Bryzgalov was also sharp in his third consecutive start in place of the injured Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Goals by Michael Cammalleri and Luc Robitaille provided the difference as the Kings won without forward Jeremy Roenick, who was scratched because of a groin injury.

LaBarbera, a 25-year-old who had only five games of NHL experience before the season, made 29 saves as he improved to 5-0 in helping the Kings bounce back from a home loss to Calgary.

“Everyone had to step up,” he said. “We didn’t want to lose two at home.”

Only Duck forward Andy McDonald managed to get one by as he scored on a low shot off a nice pass from forward Todd Fedoruk at 7:34 of the third period.

“The chances are coming,” Duck forward Rob Niedermayer said. “We’ve got to find a way to bury them.”

Michael Cammalleri gave the Kings a lead they would not relinquish late in the first period. With the Ducks’ Ruslan Salei called for delay of game at 18:28, Cammalleri took advantage as he banged in a rebound off a shot from the point from Pavol Demitra.

LaBarbera made the slim lead stand up with several key saves. He stopped Teemu Selanne and Petr Sykora twice on one blitz early in the second period and later robbed Sykora and Niedermayer.

In the third, the goalie again came up big when he made a glove save of a point-blank shot from Scott Niedermayer in the slot. His heroics only added to the Ducks’ problems in finding the net as they continue to struggle without injured center Sergei Fedorov.

“When the goalie is hot, he’s hot,” Selanne said. “Pretty much nothing you can do about it. Hopefully he’s going to cool down next time.”

The teams played through a relatively tame first period, but early in the second, Duck enforcer Kip Brennan slammed Tim Gleason into the boards, to which the Kings’ Tom Kostopoulos responded with an open-ice hit on Jonathan Hedstrom on the next rush.

Brennan got the penalty, however, picking up a double minor for high-sticking Gleason, putting the Ducks’ league-worst penalty-killing unit on the ice for four minutes. Forward Joffrey Lupul put them at a further disadvantage by taking a hooking penalty, giving the Kings a five-on-three advantage for 1 minute, 7 seconds.

Bryzgalov, who made 30 saves, held up under a constant barrage as the Kings swarmed around the net. Robitaille was foiled twice as he was stopped on a 2-on-1 break and on a one-timer in the slot.

“I thought both goalies were good tonight,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “Their goalie was miraculous. It was an intense hockey game.”

Robitaille, the highest scoring left wing in the league’s history, put one past Bryzgalov at 16:59 of the second period.

Derek Armstrong got the puck behind the net and passed to Lubomir Visnovsky at the point, where Visnovsky slid it to Joe Corvo. Corvo ripped a shot on target that went off Armstrong and Robitaille, sitting right in front, put his stick out parallel to the ice and deflected it in.

The goal merited a review, but it was soon confirmed, giving Robitaille his fourth goal of the season and 657th of his career. Craig Conroy added the finishing touch with 16 seconds left, giving him eight points in his last eight games.

“Both teams played hard,” Conroy said. “Seven more games against them ... it’s going to be a battle.”