Defending-champion Kings shut out Arizona Coyotes: By the Numbers

The Arizona Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings in overtime of the second game of the season, but the defending champs exacted revenge on their division rival Thursday at Gila River Arena.

Arizona had trouble getting any shots on Kings goaltender Martin Jones, and the visitors chipped away at the Coyotes’ Mike Smith, eventually prompting Dave Tippett to replace the starting netminder late in the second period.

Los Angeles was able to put the puck in the net in each of the three periods in Glendale, while the Coyotes weren’t able to get a single shot past Jones.

The Kings shut out Arizona by a final of 4-0, handing the Coyotes their second loss in a row and their fifth in the last six contests.

The visitors improved to 14-7-5, which puts them fourth in the Pacific division. Arizona dropped to 10-14-3, which is second-to-last in the division.

Here’s a look a Thursday’s shutout, by the numbers:

2

Kings right wing Dustin Brown had his first multi-goal game of the season, as he put in the first two tallies of the night. He also added an assist on Jarret Stoll’s goal late in the second period. Brown didn’t record a helper in his first 19 appearances of the season, but he has since assisted on four goals in his past seven games.

2-3

The Kings were pretty efficient on the power play Thursday, recording two goals in three opportunities. The Coyotes, meanwhile, went 0-for-2 with had a man advantage.

4-3

Despite the loss, Arizona has still won four of its last seven meetings — over the last two seasons — with the 2013-14 champs. The two clubs will face each other twice more this season, including a meeting in Los Angeles in less than two weeks.

5

Arizona was shut out for the fifth time this season, including the second time in the past four games.

7-1

The Coyotes didn’t do themselves any favors by giving the puck away seven times, while L.A. only gave it away once.

41-28

One bright spot in the loss was the Coyotes’ success on faceoffs. They dominated the category by a 41-28 margin.

42-26

Although the two teams both managed a measly eight shots on goal apiece in the first period, the Kings dominated the category from there, finishing with a whopping 42 shots on goal to the Coyotes’ 26.

.850

Smith gave up three goals in 20 shots — an .850 save percentage — that came his way in 35 minutes and 41 seconds on the ice. Devan Dubnyk came in and faced 22 shots in just over 24 minutes of action — and he saved all but one of them. Jones, meanwhile, stopped all of the Coyotes’ 26 shots on goal Thursday. It was the 24-year-old goalie’s second wire-to-wire shutout of the season.