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Demitra solves Kiprusoff, Kings win in shootout

LOS ANGELES -- Pavol Demitra helped give Luc
Robitaille a reason to smile in his home finale.

Demitra snapped a scoreless tie early in the third period and
converted the decisive tally in a shootout as the Los Angeles
Kings posted a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

The Kings' all-time leading scorer with 557 goals and the NHL's
highest-scoring left wing with 668 tallies, the 40-year-old
Robitaille was playing his final home game. He was unsuccessful
on a shootout attempt with the crowd on its feet, but Demitra
and goaltender Jason LaBarbera made it a non-factor.

"I could definitely tell tonight that the guys wanted to win,"
Robitaille said of his teammates' efforts. "It was probably the
best game we've played in three weeks and I'm thankful for that.
I can tell that we gave it a little extra tonight. It was a
lot of fun to be a part of this one."

Although his team got the win, Robitaille hinted a shootout goal
would have been a great way to cap a standout career.

"It was too well written. I thought 'Man, this is Hollywood,
you've got to do it,'" he said. "I tried my best. It certainly
would have been something special to score, but at the end of
the day I'm just glad we won it."

Demitra, who snapped Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff's
scoreless streak at 161 minutes, 11 seconds with the game's
first goal, beat Kiprusoff in the shootout by faking to his
backhand and shooting the puck inside the left goalpost.

LaBarbera stopped all three shootout attempts for Calgary and
finished with 39 saves to win for the first time since January
19.

"I wanted to play well for Luc because it's his night,"
LaBarbera said. "It's been amazing to play with him. I've never
been around a guy who likes to play as much as him, who enjoys
the game as much. He's a lot of fun."

While LaBarbera was one of the stars of the shootout, he was
hoping Robitaille had a little more luck.

"I was just hoping he'd score in the shootout," LaBarbera said
of Robitaille. "I think the roof would've blown off this place."

After posting back-to-back shutouts, Kiprusoff made 24 saves for
the Flames, whose lone goal came with 9:06 remaining on a slap
shot by Jamie Lundmark.

"In tonight's game, Jason LaBarbera played outstanding," Calgary
right wing Jarome Iginla said. "Goaltending is a big part of
winning a game like this, and he was tough to the end."

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