Ryan Smyth's wrist-shot goal from the left faceoff circle with 1:34 left in the third period gave the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at MGM Grand Arena on Saturday.
Smyth's goal was assisted by Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar, who tallied the Kings' first goal with 12:14 left in the first period.
Drew Doughty also scored a goal for the Kings (3-1-1) while David Jones tallied both goals for the Avalanche (2-5-0).
Smyth also assisted on Kopitar's first preseason goal. Kopitar is tied for the team lead in scoring with Johnson and now has a goal and five assists while Johnson has two goals and four assists.
Johnson's first assist occurred on Doughty's power-play goal that broke a 1-1 tie with 19:37 left in the third period, as the Kings had the man advantage going into the period. Doughty tallied off a Johnson pass while perched in the left face-off circle.
The Avalanche made it a 2-2 tie following Jones' power-play goal with 13:38 left in the third period. Jones fired a slap-shot goal after T.J. Galiardi and Kevin Porter assisted on the play.
Jones' first goal, which tied the score at 1-1, occurred after he received a pass from Ryan O'Reilly. Jones scored from the left side while the Kings were still in transition with 17:26 left in the second period. Jones' wrist-shot goal was only the Avalanche's fourth shot of the game at the time.
The annual exhibition series between the host Kings and the Avalanche has been dominated by Los Angeles, 10-2-2 (there were two games played in 1998).
