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Before the opening faceoff Thursday night, it seemed fairly clear that Slava Voynov would be playing his last game in the NHL for a while. Now, who knows?

Voynov was called up last week when Drew Doughty suffered an upper-body injury. Given that Doughty is expected to return to the lineup for the Los Angeles Kings' game Saturday at Saturday, Voynov had to know his time was limited.

So, what did Voynov do? In his fifth NHL game, Voynov scored his first two NHL goals, including a third-period game winner in a 5-3 win over Dallas.

Voynov is a 21-year-old NHL rookie, a former AHL All-Star known for his puck-moving skills and his shooting. That was on display in the third period, when he ripped a one-time shot past Kari Lehtonen from the right circle.

"I think he has played pretty well defensively, for a guy who is really young," said Willie Mitchell," Voynov's defensive partner, "and it's nice to see him get rewarded with some offensive stuff, because I know that's a big part of his game. We've seen that he moves the puck well, and he gets a couple nice shots at net (Thursday). It's nice for him to get rewarded on that, because he did the things that you have to when you're a young defenseman in the league.

"You come in and not try to do too much early on, just settle in and make sure you're responsible for your partner, your teammates. I think he's done that very well. He's played great. I said in the preseason, after his first game, I think he's ready to play."

DALLAS (AP)- Rookie defenseman Slava Voynov is making his case for staying with the Kings.

Voynov scored his first two NHL goals, including the go-ahead tally with 6:52 remaining, and the Kings handed the Dallas Stars their first home loss of the season 5-3 Thursday night.

With the score tied at 3, Voynov took a shot from the right point that got past screened goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

Voynov, who added a power-play goal in the second period, was called up from Manchester of the American Hockey League on Oct. 18 when top Kings defenseman Drew Doughty went on injured reserve with a right shoulder problem.

Doughty has missed five straight games but is set to be activated this weekend, forcing Kings management to either keep Voynov or move another defenseman.

"Voynov's got a big shot, a nice skill you don't coach," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "He's got incredible composure, he sees the ice well and makes plays. So there are some decisions to be made."

Jonathan Quick's shutout streak ended at 202 minutes, 11 seconds for the Kings.

Scott Parse and Justin Williams also scored for the Kings, who improved to 3-0-1 on the road this season.

Michael Ryder and Eric Nystrom notched third-period goals as Dallas rallied from a 3-1 deficit.

Ryder set up in front of the net and swept a loose puck by Quick for Ryder's third goal of the season at 3:03 of the final period.

Nystrom's

shot from the low slot went through Quick's pads at 7:20 of the third to draw Dallas even at 3, Nystrom's first goal since he was acquired from Minnesota in a trade Oct. 12.

With less than two minutes left, Dallas pulled Lehtonen for a sixth attacker to try and tie the score, but Dustin Brown had an empty-netter with 26.3 seconds left and added two assists for the Kings.

"We battled back in the third, showed some character, but in the end, another seeing-eye single (Voynov's goal from the blue line) that goes through found its way to the back of the net," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said.

Trevor Daley's first-period power-play goal ended Quick's shutout streak.

The Kings managed only three goals in their previous three games and were coming off a 3-0 home loss to New Jersey on Tuesday.

"We knew if we kept generating chances, the floodgates would eventually open," said Kings center Anze Kopitar, who added two assists. "We came through at the right time and needed it. That's a step in the right direction."

Mike Richards had three assists for the Kings.

Daley knocked in a rebound at 14:01 of the opening period for his first goal of the season.

The Kings failed to capitalize on 1 minute and 23 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage late in the opening period, but they got on the board at 3:47 of the second when Williams lifted a rebound past Lehtonen for his third goal of the season.

Richards backhanded a pass through the crease to Parse for a tap-in - Parse's first goal of the season - that gave the Kings a 2-1 edge at 11:27 of the second period.

Voynov capitalized on a power play when he fired a loose puck past Lehtonen from the right circle at 15:21 of the second period for a two-goal lead.

Also ...

Dallas had won its first four at home. ... The crowd was announced at 8,443, but there were only about half that number in the seats. Local interest in the Texas Rangers' World Series Game 6 at St. Louis helped keep attendance lower. ... The Kings opened a three-game trip. ... The Kings beat the Stars 1-0 last Saturday night in Los Angeles in the only other meeting between the teams this season

PLAYER NOTES

--D Drew Doughty was activated from the injured-reserve list on Saturday and rejoined the Kings' lineup after a five-game absence due to an undisclosed "upper-body injury." Doughty, a Norris Trophy finalist two seasons ago and regularly the Kings' leader in average ice time, returned to his regular pairing with veteran D Willie Mitchell. Doughty missed 14 days, longer than the initial 7-to-10-day estimate, but he made it through three consecutive days of full-contract practice and was deemed ready to play Saturday.

--D Slava Voynov was assigned to Manchester of the American Hockey League before Saturday's game, but certainly not because of any displeasure from the coaching staff toward Voynov's effort. After D Drew Doughty went on injured reserve, the Kings called up Voynov, a 21-year-old rookie, and he performed well in five games with Doughty out of the lineup. The highlight for Voynov came Thursday in Dallas, when he had two goals and one assist, but with Doughty healthy and ready to return Saturday, Voynov went back to the AHL. The Kings would certainly not hesitate to bring back Voynov soon if they were in need of another defenseman.

--LW Scott Parse earned a chance to stay in the lineup, as he once again played Saturday in a second-line role alongside C Mike Richards and RW Dustin Brown. Parse was penciled into a third-line role at the start of training camp, but quickly fell out of favor with the coaching staff after a subpar training camp and preseason. The Kings' desire for more offense led them to put Parse back in the lineup Thursday, and he scored a goal against Dallas, so Parse stayed in that spot for Saturday's game.

MEDICAL WATCH

--LW Simon Gagne (undisclosed injury) missed Saturday's game and his status is considered day-to-day.

GOALTENDERS

--Jonathan Quick

--Jonathan Bernier

DEFENSE PAIRINGS

--Willie Mitchell, Drew Doughty

--Rob Scuderi, Jack Johnson

--Alec Martinez, Matt Greene

FIRST LINE

--LW Dustin Penner, C Anze Kopitar, RW Justin Williams

SECOND LINE

--LW Scott Parse, C Mike Richards, RW Dustin Brown

THIRD LINE

--LW Brad Richardson, C Jarret Stoll, RW Trent Hunter

FOURTH LINE

--LW Kyle Clifford, C Trevor Lewis, RW Ethan Moreau

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Andrei Loktionov from the minors to fill in for injured forward Dustin Penner.

The Kings recalled Loktionov from their AHL affiliate in Manchester on Monday to replace Penner, who went on injured reserve Sunday.

Loktionov has 14 points in 17 games with Manchester. The Russian forward has scored seven points in 20 games with the Kings in previous seasons.

Penner has just two assists in 14 games this season, his second straight disappointing campaign with the Kings, who acquired him from Edmonton last season. Penner hurt his hand in last Thursday's victory over Vancouver.

Penner is a four-time 20-goal scorer, but has managed just two goals and six assists in 33 games with the Kings, who rank 23rd in the NHL with just 2.41 goals per game.

PLAYER NOTES

--D Drew Doughty received a $2,500 fine, but avoided a suspension, for the hit he delivered to St. Louis RW T.J. Oshie late in the third period of Tuesday's game. Oshie went to play the puck near the corner and was hit by Doughty, who received a two-minute cross-checking penalty on the play, which took place with 1.5 seconds remaining in the third period. The $2,500 fine is the maximum allowed under the collective-bargaining agreement for such hits, but Doughty remained in the lineup for Wednesday's game at Dallas.

--RW Kevin Westgarth scored his first NHL goal in the second period. Westgarth, the Kings' heavyweight "enforcer," was playing his 73rd NHL game and was the only non-goalie on the Kings' active roster without an NHL goal.

--RW Trent Hunter, a frequent healthy scratch this season, remained in the lineup Wednesday, largely because the Kings are desperate to get some third-line scoring. Hunter, signed in training camp after coming in as a tryout player, is a former two-time 20-goal scorer with the New York Islanders and, at age 31, should still have some scoring potential. But Hunter has zero goals and two assists in 10 games this season, and his leash might not be very long. Hunter got the call instead of RW Brad Richardson and RW Trevor Lewis, two other players who have struggled to score this season and were made healthy scratches.

--G Jonathan Quick got the start, as expected, one night after backup G Jonathan Bernier turned in a strong effort in a victory over St. Louis. The Kings haven't been shy about giving work to Quick this season. Wednesday's start was his 18th of the season, in the Kings' 22nd game. That would put him on pace for roughly 70 starts this season. Two seasons ago, Quick started 72 games and seemed to wear down at the end of the season, leading coach Terry Murray to limit Quick's starts last season. He dipped to 60 starts and turned in one of the best seasons in Kings franchise history.

MEDICAL WATCH

--Scott Parse (lower body) was put on injured reserve on Nov. 9. There is no timetable for his return.

--Dustin Penner (hand) is on injured reserve and is considered day-to-day.

--Alec Martinez (upper-body) went on injured reserve on Nov. 12 and is considered day-to-day.

GOALTENDERS

--Jonathan Quick

--Jonathan Bernier

DEFENSE PAIRINGS

--Rob Scuderi, Drew Doughty

--Willie Mitchell, Jack Johnson

--Slava Voynov, Matt Greene

FIRST LINE

--LW Simon Gagne, C Anze Kopitar, RW Justin Williams

SECOND LINE

--LW Andrei Loktionov, C Mike Richards, RW Dustin Brown

THIRD LINE

--LW Kyle Clifford, C Jarret Stoll, RW Trent Hunter

FOURTH LINE

--LW Ethan Moreau, C Colin Fraser, RW Kevin Westgarth

The Kings have improved their power play this season, but for the most part, their special teams have taken a dip. The Kings were fourth in the NHL last season in penalty-kill efficiency but have fallen to 14th this season, an area of concern for coach Terry Murray. "When you go back over the last three or four games," Murray said, "the goals that have been scored by the opponent, on our penalty kill, have been the result of us having the puck and not clearing it at the right time, or jumping on a loose puck or a rebound. We're just not real alert, and you get into a little bit of a lull for a few games."

--In the past couple seasons, the Kings have prided themselves on being a strong faceoff team, and they have reached new heights this season, as they came into Wednesday's game tied for fifth in the NHL with a 52.1-percent success rate. The Kings' top two faceoff centers, Anze Kopitar and Jarret Stoll, have both won more than 54 percent of their draws this season, and on Tuesday, Mike Richards reached new heights, as he won 15 of 16 draws. The only faceoff Richards lost came in the final two seconds of the third period, with the Kings holding a one-goal lead, and in that case Richards essentially tried to fall on the puck in order to kill the remaining time.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We were passing up a lot of those opportunities to get pucks to the net. And it doesn't have to be that big wind-up slap shot. It's great to get a wrist shot through that first layer and now create some chaos in front of the net. I think that the over-passing attitude is something that's still prevalent with our hockey club." -- Kings coach Terry Murray, on the need to create offense.

Every so often -- two or three times per season, it seems -- temptation overcomes the Los Angeles Kings and they attempt to put their two most talented defensemen, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson, together.

It has yet to work, and on Wednesday, coach Terry Murray officially put an end to the latest attempt.

Doughty and Johnson are both excellent puck-movers and offensive threats, but they have yet to show that they can thrive together in an even-strength pairing, even though they have found success together on the power play over the past three seasons. It's something that seems to confound Murray a bit.

"It wasn't working with Jack and (Drew). That's the bottom line," Murray said. "That's why we go away from it again. I thought there was a point now, where, they've been together in the past and we could bring them back together again.

"It should work. They were very excited about playing together, when we talked to them. Right now, the maturity level is not where it needs to be in order to get the job done. So we'll have to wait a little longer. Maybe we'll eventually get to it again, but that's the reason we go away from it."

The Kings made a switch Tuesday, and stayed with it in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss at Dallas. Doughty paired with Rob Scuderi while Johnson paired with Willie Mitchell. Rookie defenseman Slava Voynov paired with veteran stay-at-home defenseman Matt Greene.

-D Davis Drewiske got into the lineup for just the second time this season, as he played in place of veteran D Willie Mitchell. Drewiske is in his fourth season with the Kings but has become accustomed to being a healthy scratch, a seventh defenseman. This season has included an enormous amount of sitting and waiting for Drewiske, who had been a healthy scratch in 24 of the Kings' first 25 games. Drewiske paired with D Matt Greene on Saturday. In 9 minutes, 57 seconds, of action -- all at even strength -- Drewiske recorded one shot on goal, blocked two shots and took a kneeing penalty.

--G Jonathan Bernier fell to 0-2 in his career against his hometown team, Montreal. Bernier, who grew up in Laval, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, stopped 25 of 27 shots, but he took the loss Saturday against the Canadiens. He made only his fifth start of the season. Bernier had won two consecutive starts and had looked good in those games. Bernier also got a start last November when the Kings played in Montreal, but Los Angeles lost 4-1.

--LW Dustin Penner returned to the lineup after a nine-game absence caused by a hand injury, and he scored the Kings' lone goal Saturday, on the power play. It was the first goal of the season for Penner, who also had the start of his season delayed because of a training camp groin injury. Penner filled a top-six role vacated when C Mike Richards had to miss the game due to injury. Penner returned on the Kings' second line, alongside C Jarret Stoll (who moved back to center after two games at right wing) and RW Justin Williams.

MEDICAL WATCH

--LW Scott Parse (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Nov. 9, and he underwent hip surgery Dec. 2. Parse will be out until at least early April, and he might miss the remainder of the season.

--D Alec Martinez (upper body) went on injured reserve on Nov. 12. He is likely to be out until mid-December.

--C Mike Richards (upper body) went on injured reserve Dec. 2.

--D Willie Mitchell (lower body) is considered day-to-day.

GOALTENDERS

--Jonathan Bernier

--Jonathan Quick

DEFENSE PAIRINGS

--Rob Scuderi, Drew Doughty

--Jack Johnson, Slava Voynov

--Davis Drewiske, Matt Greene

FIRST LINE

--LW Simon Gagne, C Anze Kopitar, RW Dustin Brown

SECOND LINE

--LW Dustin Penner, C Jarret Stoll, RW Justin Williams

THIRD LINE

--LW Brad Richardson, C Andrei Loktionov, RW Trent Hunter

FOURTH LINE

--LW Kyle Clifford, C Colin Fraser, RW Ethan Moreau

The Kings have talked in meetings. They've watched video. They're done countless practice drills. They've basically done everything except huff, puff and blow the house down.

Yet the Kings still haven't been putting up the type of offensive numbers they want or need.

Entering Thursday's game against Minnesota, a 4-2 Kings loss, the Kings ranked dead last in the NHL in goals per game and 5-on-5 goals, two categories that they desperately wanted to improve this season.

The problems have been widespread. Top goal scorer Mike Richards is on injured reserve, and No. 1 scorer Anze Kopitar has been inconsistent. Beyond those two, the Kings haven't had a regular scoring threat this season, and the contributions from defensemen have been less than expected as well.

The Kings have scored two or fewer goals in their last seven games.

"We're seeing it with basically every team in the league," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "Everybody is pulling back to the blue line, and it's a very tight structure now in the middle of the ice. It is difficult to have a possession entry.

"On organized attacks, you get organized and there comes a time when you're being fronted and you just have to get pucks in deep and you've got to go recover them. So it's hard, and it's hard for everybody in the league right now."

-Special teams have been nothing but a stalemate for the Kings in recent weeks. The power play has been awful while the penalty kill has been outstanding. Entering Friday, in their previous eight games the Kings were 1-for-26 on the power play and 29-for-31 on the penalty kill. Their power play, ranked in the top 10 in the league early in the season, has been in a steep decline over the last month. The Kings finally got a "win" on special teams Friday as they got a game-tying, second-period power-play goal from Mike Richards, and they also held the high-powered San Jose power play without a goal in five opportunities.

--Friday's game was a bit of a homecoming for new Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who coached in San Jose from 1997 to 2002 before he was fired by then Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi. Ironically, Lombardi is the same GM who hired Sutter this week, in Los Angeles, to replace the fired Terry Murray. The Sharks were a regular playoff team under Sutter, but there was no sentimentality for Sutter on Friday. After leaving the Sharks, Sutter went on to be the coach and general manager of the Calgary Flames, and the Flames had two playoff series against the Sharks in a four-year span.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"The toughest part is that you are new to the group, for the most part. You know a handful of guys. The only advantage you have in it is if you have some experience with the league. You might not know (players) personally, you pretty much know what kind of players they are, so you try to get something to happen right away." -- Kings coach Darryl Sutter, on the challenges of taking over a new team in the middle of the season.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Dustin Brown is making sure the Los Angeles Kings don't get happy after a bit of early playoff success.

Even after eighth-seeded Los Angeles stunned the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks by taking the first two games of the first-round series, the Kings' captain realizes the historic obstacles in the way of a 44-year-old franchise that still has never lifted the Stanley Cup.

Brown also realizes the Canucks will be desperate to save their season in Game 3 on Sunday night, even if they have to do it without superstar Daniel Sedin, who didn't travel to Los Angeles on Saturday.

But if the Kings can get past their home-ice disadvantage, they'll be in position to make history.

Los Angeles has lost five straight playoff games at Staples Center