Kings give up four goals in the third period and lose to St. Louis, 5-3
12:24 AM PDT on Sunday, October 7, 2007
LOS ANGELES - St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray had to do something about the crowd his son was hanging out with.
Trailing by two goals entering the third period, Murray and the Blues emerged from the locker room and rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Kings at Staples Center on Saturday.
Two goals by Dustin Brown and one by Mike Cammalleri had given the Kings a two-goal lead entering the third period, but Keith Tkachuk and David Backes scored within a 3:12 span early in the period to tie the game 3-3.
Rookie Erik Johnson then drilled in a slap shot during a St. Louis power play, and Jamal Mayers added an empty-net goal in the final minute to send the sellout crowd of 18,118 home in disbelief.
"When you're up 3-1, it becomes a simple game plan that should be easy to follow, but it wasn't followed tonight," said LA defenseman Rob Blake. "It was the result of our own play more so than what they did."
Before the late-game meltdown, the Kings had showcased a three-assist effort by star center Anze Kopitar and a generally solid game by 19-year-old goaltender Jonathan Bernier (27 saves).
The Kings' 40th home opener also presented just the fourth occasion in NHL history when a father coached against his son as Murray, a former Kings coach, faced LA rookie center Brady Murray.
"It's a little odd, it's kind of a unique situation. But I'm looking at it more as my first home game as a player in the NHL than anything else," said Brady Murray, who made the Kings after a strong showing in the preseason.
His dad could not have been prouder when Brady played in his first NHL game in London last weekend.
"I was pretty choked up," said Andy Murray, who admitted there were some emotional moments as he watched Brady's NHL debut.
Aside from one game during his coaching tenure at Shattuck St. Mary's prep school in Minnesota, Andy Murray has never actually been Brady's coach. That could have changed when LA drafted Brady with a fifth-round pick in 2003, but the Kings dismissed Andy Murray as their coach in March 2006, preventing the possibility of Brady Murray trying to make the NHL team his dad coached.
"That would be a weird situation. I don't even want to think about that," laughed Brady.
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