NHL: Kings rule in London, beat Ducks

LONDON – With a touch of an English accent, the NHL opened its season in unfamiliar territory Saturday – and the Kings ruled.

The Los Angeles Kings got two power-play goals from Mike Cammalleri and one from Rob Blake in a 4-1 victory over the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks – the first time the NHL played a regular-season game in Europe.

The game at O2 Arena did not get off to the smoothest of starts. After the U.S. and British national anthems, the lights failed to come back on. The players skated around, but were told to go to the locker rooms. The lights slowly returned, and the players did as well after 10 minutes.

Cammalleri scored with a one-timer from the slot at 8:35 of the first period as the Kings had a two-man advantage. He added another at 1:10 of the third, tipping in a slap shot from Tom Preissing.

Blake, who played 12 seasons for the Kings before returning to the team last season, made it 2-0 at 10:15 of the second by tapping in a loose puck. Michal Handzus scored short-handed into an empty net at 19:34 of the third.

Bobby Ryan scored for the Ducks on a power play at 13:09 of the final period, knocking in a rebound to beat 19-year-old Kings rookie goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Bernier made 26 saves.

The Kings killed a two-man power play early in the first period, but then converted when they had the same advantage. With his teammates attacking the net, Cammalleri was left alone in the slot and his shot beat Ducks goalie Ilja Bryzgalov. The Ducks, who won their first Stanley Cup last year, were playing without usual starting goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere, checking forward Samuel Pahlsson and defenseman Mathieu Schneider because of injuries.