Vancouver Canucks' Alexandre Burrows (R) elbows Los Angeles Kings' Matt Greene in the face as the teams scuffle after Greene scored a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles December 31, 2011. REUTERS/Danny MoloshokReuters
Justin Williams recorded a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings kicked off their six-game homestand with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Brad Richardson, defenceman Matt Greene and Anze Kopitar also scored while Andrei Loktionov and blue-liner Slava Voynov had two assists apiece for Los Angeles, which improved to 4-0-2 under new coach Darryl Sutter.
Richardson buried his own rebound from the doorstep midway through the first period to forge a 1-1 tie and Greene put the Kings ahead for good with a blast from the right point less than 8 1/2 minutes into the second.
Kopitar made it 3-1 less than five minutes later as he received a pass from Williams in the left faceoff circle, cut across the bottom of the slot and backhanded the puck over a sprawled Roberto Luongo for his 11th goal of the season.
Williams provided the final margin with a power-play tally midway through the third.
Defenceman Kevin Bieksa extended his points streak to six games with a goal for Vancouver, which lost in regulation for just the second time in 11 contests (8-2-1).
Play was suspended several times as the teams incurred a total of 42 penalty minutes in a fight-filled game.