Kings 1, Flyers 0 after one at Staples Center

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The first period was played at a decent pace and few stoppages. One of the rare halts came on a terrible goal allowed by Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher, the only score of the first period.

Dustin Brown got the primary assist on the goal, Jarret Stoll’s seventh of the season, and he paid heavily for it. Brown carried the puck from the neutral zone and into the Flyers’ end, where he was hit hard by Flyers defenseman Ryan Parent. Brown went down, but the puck squirted over to the right-wing boards to Stoll, who skated almost down to the goal line before taking a shot that slipped inside the left post at 14:53. It appeared to slither between Boucher’s left leg and the post, but no matter how it got past him, it shouldn’t have.

The Kings gained a two-man advantage at 18:22, when two Flyers were sent off following a scrum around the Philadelphia net. Kimmo Timonen was called for holding and Darroll Powe was penalized for cross-checking, giving the Kings a golden opportunity.

But they couldn’t capitalize, passing too much in search of the perfect shot instead of simply firing the puck at the net as Coach Terry Murray has been trying to drum into their heads. They had only one shot before the period ended, though they will have 22 more seconds’ power play time to start the second period.

The Kings had an 11-6 edge in shots over the first 20 minutes.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

Helene Elliott