(Sports Network) - Dustin Brown and Michal Handzus each had a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat Washington, 5-2, handing the Capitals (web|news) their first regular loss since November 1. Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan also lit the lamp for the Kings, who won for the fifth time in seven games. Erik Ersberg stopped 19 shots in the victory.

"We got a good effort tonight from everybody, from the top right through the bottom," said Kings coach Terry Murray. "I thought the team dug in...the puck movement and the play away from the puck was tremendous."

Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich scored for the Capitals, who were 5-0-2 in their previous seven games. This was their first regulation defeat since being blanked at Buffalo. Brent Johnson stopped 28 shots in the loss.

"I thought he played great," said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. "He deserved a better fate. I thought that second goal was a little soft and it was a tough goal, but he kept us in with the point blank shots. We needed at least three of four tonight to win anyway."

The Caps were without their top offensive weapon in Alexander Semin, who was out with an upper body injury. Defenseman Mike Green was also sidelined.

Brown's power play goal with 6:06 remaining boosted the Kings to a 3-1 lead.

It was a bit of revenge for Brown, as the Kings were put on the power play when Alexander Ovechkin slammed into the LA forward and was called for interference.

"I was coming back to the net and I'm not sure what he was thinking," said Brown. "We were battling all night. I haven't seen it yet but, he kind of came in and caught me when I wasn't looking without the puck and then we ended up capitalizing and that was the game."

Ovechkin thought differently of the hit.

"I didn't hit him, he hit my ear," said Ovechkin. "Just a guess, and I'll watch the replay, but I think he didn't see me, I went to the net and turned around and was hit."

The Kings scored a short time later. Kyle Quincey skated with the puck from his own end to the Washington zone up the right side before sending a pass to the crease, where Brown backhanded the disc over the right pad of Johnson.

Laich scored nearly 1 1/2 minutes later from in front, but Handzus and Kopitar added empty-net tallies in the last minute.

Doughty scored the lone first-period goal at 13:58 when his shot from near the blue line deflected off Ovechkin's stick and rose past Johnson.

Backstrom tied it at 4:48 of the second from in close off a cross-ice pass from Viktor Kozlov.

O'Sullivan gave LA a 2-1 edge with 1:35 left in the middle stanza on a shot from the right circle.

Game Notes

The Kings are one of three teams Ovechkin has never scored against. San Jose and Minnesota are the others...Kopitar's goal in the last second represented LA's first shorthanded tally of the season...The Caps had won the previous two meetings.







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