Struggling Kings name Sutter as new coach

(Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings named Darryl Sutter as their new head coach in hopes he can help the struggling team get their National Hockey League (NHL) season back on track, the club said on Tuesday.

Sutter, who will make his debut Thursday when the Kings host the Anaheim Ducks, last coached in the NHL with the Calgary Flames but stepped down from that role in 2006 to focus on being the team's general manager, a position he vacated a year ago.

The 53-year-old Sutter, who has also coached the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks, is ranked seventh among active coaches with 409 wins, the Kings said in a statement.

Sutter, whose teams have made the postseason in 10 of his 11 seasons as a coach, replaces interim coach John Stevens, who stepped in after Terry Murray was fired earlier this month.

The Kings (15-14-4) entered the 2011-12 NHL season with high expectations after key acquisitions during the offseason but are sitting 10th in the 15-team Western Conference and there points out of the final playoff spot.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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Kings give new coach Sutter a nervy winning start

By Mark Lamport-Stokes
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Kings gave new coach Darryl Sutter a few early scares before delivering him a triumphant welcome with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

In Sutter's first game in charge, the Kings came from a goal down to lead 2-1 and then, after conceding an equalizer late in the third period, inflicted a fourth successive loss on their struggling division rivals.
Kings captain Dustin Brown scored the decisive goal in the shootout to improve his team's record to 16-14-4, but still below the cutoff line for the playoffs in the 15-team Western Conference with the season approaching its midway point.

"Hard-fought game," Sutter told reporters just two days after replacing interim Kings coach John Stevens. "I thought we had a good start, we did a lot of good things.

"I liked the way our forwards played, really good in all three zones. That's what we're trying to do. I think we moved the puck pretty good."

Sutter last coached in the NHL with the Calgary Flames but stepped down from that role in 2006 to focus on being the team's general manager, a position he vacated a year ago.

Asked how it felt to be back in charge as a coach, he replied: "I've been pretty focused all day, didn't really think about it. I was thinking more about how you use your players.

"Nothing like game day, I've always said that. Even when I was sitting upstairs, game day was still the best."
The Ducks opened the scoring against the run of play when left wing Niklas Hagman tipped in a shot by Lubomir Visnovsky at 13.55 of the second period.

KINGS REPLY

The Kings responded soon after when center Mike Richards, back in action after missing eight games because of a head injury, deflected a long-range blast by Drew Doughty at 16.17 to record a team-high 12th goal of the season.

Roared on by a sellout crowd of 18,118 at the Staples Center, the Kings went 2-1 up midway through the third when Brown scored with a wrist shot off an assist from center Anze Kopitar.

The home team twice came close to adding a third before Visnovsky made it 2-2 when he fired a wrist shot past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick with three minutes left in regulation.

Neither side could break the deadlock after five minutes of overtime but center Jarret Stoll, whose goal was canceled out by Ducks veteran Teemu Selanne, and Brown each scored in the shootout to earn the Kings a nerve-jangling win.

"Right now it's about getting points," Brown said. "That's the most important. Secondly, we're starting to push good games together. You look at the stats like 'O' (offense) zone time, you're starting to see guys hold on to the puck more.

"That's two-fold. When you're spending more time in their zone it wears them down a little over the course of the game."

The Ducks, who have continued to struggle since hiring Bruce Boudreau as their new coach last month, remain one spot off the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

"The shootout is a crapshoot, anything can happen with it," Boudreau said. "Overall, I hate to keep saying it, but I thought we played pretty solid.

"The difference between winning and losing is sometimes just the attitude and believing that you are going to win or believing you are going to lose."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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