LOS ANGELES _ Nate Thompson blocked a shot with his knee. A prone Derek Forbort punched the puck out of harm's way with his glove after he lost his stick.
The element that had been missing in the Kings' game _ desire, desperation _ came alive during a first-period penalty kill Tuesday.
Other parts unfolded well. They got goals by three of their four lines, namely Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford and Ilya Kovalchuk, against probably the best goalie in the NHL this season in the Ducks' John Gibson. It wasn't a season-defining performance, but a 4-1 win at Staples Center properly kicked off the tenure of new Kings coach Willie Desjardins.
Desjardins jumped into a rivalry game that he predicted would give him a "really good look at our team and what we have on our team," and for the most part, his new students passed the test.
The Kings won two games in a row for the first time this season while the Ducks took their eighth loss in nine games. Jake Muzzin stamped the win with a leveling of the Ducks' Kiefer Sherwood in the third period.
The day didn't begin as authoritatively for Desjardins, whose first game day began with his team tied for last in the NHL with nine points. The Kings' minus-17 goal differential was worst in the league, and the firing of John Stevens spilled over into the morning, when Drew Doughty weighed in on the change.
"He taught me a lot when he was our D coach," Doughty said. "He helped a lot. So I had a long relationship with him, so it was tough. We're just looking forward. We've got Willie in here. He's supposed to be a great coach. He just cares about passion and competing. That's what we're lacking."
The Kings lacked a successful track record against Gibson, who had won nine of 12 against them, with a 1.79 goals-against average. It was counterpart Jack Campbell who helped post the third Kings' goal, though, with a long stretch pass that led to Kovalchuk's team-leading fifth goal for a 3-0 lead.
Clifford finished a rush that was helped when Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm lost an edge as he chased the action. Alec Martinez laid out a centering pass that Clifford smoothly backhanded past Gibson.
Moments earlier Gibson was shaken up by a Tanner Pearson shot that struck him in the chest. Gibson went down and had to be attended to by the trainer.
The Kings are 3-1 since Brown made his season debut. Their power play has looked more organized with him in front, and that's where he batted in a puck that Kovalchuk backhanded into the crease 6:25 into the game. It gave Brown three goals in his first four games, and elevated the Kings power play to five for 14 over the last four games.
The Ducks got Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler in the lineup after both were deemed game-time decisions by coach Randy Carlyle. But Kesler got their only goal in a game in which they showed spurts of effectiveness but couldn't get much closer after 3-1.
Kesler ended Campbell's shutout bid at 13:21 with a deflection of Marcus Pettersson's point shot. Ducks center Brian Gibbons left the game bleeding from an accidental hit from teammate Andrew Cogliano but returned for the third period.
