Kings tie club record with 8th straight win, beating Ducks 6-4 after blowing 3-goal lead

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Kings tie club record with 8th straight win

LOS ANGELES — Dustin Brown scored the go-ahead goal with 5:32 left after Los Angeles blew a three-goal lead in the third period and the Kings tied a franchise record with their eighth straight victory, beating Anaheim 6-4 on Thursday night.

Anze Kopitar had two goals and two assists, defenseman Jack Johnson had a goal and three assists for his first four-point game in the NHL, and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves to help the Kings beat their Southern California rivals for the fifth straight time. Wayne Simmonds scored Los Angeles’ other goal.

Quick has been in net for all eight wins, breaking the franchise record for the longest winning streak by a goalie. The previous mark was shared by Kelly Hrudey (1991-92) and backup Robb Stauber (1992-93).

Quick, who stopped all 22 shots in a 4-0 win at Staples Center the last time the teams met, is 13-3-0 in his last 16 games. His 33rd victory of the season gave him the league lead by one over New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, and put him within two wins of the club record set in 1980-81 by Mario Lessard.

At 35-19-3, the Kings are off to their best start after 57 games since 1980-81.

Jason Blake, Troy Bodie, Matt Beleskey and Ryan Carter scored for the Ducks, who came in on an 11-4-0 tear that included three straight wins. Ryan Getzlaf had two assists, and Jonas Hiller made 28 saves.

The Kings appeared to be in bad shape after first-line right wing Justin Williams broke his right leg during a 2-1 loss at Phoenix on Dec. 26. They lost their next two games, both by one-goal margins, but are 12-4-0 since.

The Kings have qualified for the postseason four times and the Ducks seven times since the NHL expanded to Anaheim in 1993-94 — but they’ve never done it in the same year. The team that made it in never did worse than a split of the season series, and the Kings have won the first three meetings with three more to play.

Johnson extended the Kings’ margin to 4-1 less than 2 minutes into the third period, using Handzus as a screen and beating Hiller to the glove side. The sellout crowd quickly went into a derisive chant of “Hil-ler! Hil-ler!” But it didn’t last long, as Bodi and Beleskey scored 2:01 apart.

Beleskey’s sixth of the season came with 14:48 to play, leaving Anaheim with plenty of time to get the equalizer. Carter completed the comeback against a Kings squad that came in 21-0-0 when leading after two periods, scoring his second goal of the season on an easy tap-in after Todd Marchant circled the net with the puck and slid it in front.

But all that grit went for naught. Brown put the Kings ahead to stay with his 14th goal, converting a rebound into a gaping net after Hiller made and arm save on Kopitar and couldn’t scramble back in time. Kopitar ended the scoring with 27 seconds to go, while Getzlaf was serving a tripping penalty.

NOTES: The Kings also won eight straight games during the 1972-73 and 1991-92 seasons. … Anaheim D Ryan Whitney was added to Team USA’s roster for the Olympics. He is one of eight Ducks players who will compete in the Winter Games, tying San Jose for the most of any NHL club.