Willie Desjardins was uncertain how much impact he really had on the Los Angeles Kings in his first game behind their bench. The interim coach didn’t alter the lineup from their last game under John Stevens Washington Capitals Hats Authentic , and he hasn’t yet implemented any major strategic changes.Whatever or whoever was behind it, the Kings showed more than enough spark to rout their closest rivals.Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, and the Kings opened Desjardins’ tenure with a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.Jack Campbell made 30 saves and picked up his first career assist as the Kings comfortably won the first Freeway Faceoff of the season for these two struggling Southern California rivals.Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford scored first-period goals for the Kings as they picked right back up from Saturday’s win over Columbus to earn their first back-to-back victories of the season.Desjardins has run just one practice since getting his new job Sunday after the Kings fired Stevens early in his second season in charge. Los Angeles had slumped to the bottom of the overall NHL standings, but the Kings welcomed the new boss with a big win.“It was good to get back,” Desjardins said. “I thought the guys played hard. I thought we didn’t maintain the game as well as we wanted, but the first period was a good start, and we’ll build on that.”The former Vancouver coach’s new players responded with plenty of the passion they often lacked under Stevens, who took the fall along with assistant coach Don Nachbaur for the Kings’ 4-8-1 start. Tyler Toffoli’s empty-net goal clinched LA’s third win in four games following a six-game skid.“It was a wakeup call for everybody,” said Kovalchuk, who has nine points in the last four games. “We’re taking responsibility for what happened, and we’re responding to it. We looked in the mirror Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys , and we all know we can do a better job.”Ryan Kesler scored and John Gibson stopped 23 shots for the injury-wracked Ducks, who have lost eight of nine and earned points in just three games during that span. While the Kings appear to be turning a corner, Anaheim is stuck.“They pushed us, and we had no response,” Kesler said. “Very disappointed in that. We got down 3-0, we had a pretty good second period, and in the third period, we really didn’t muster very much.”Brown got the Kings’ first goal of Desjardins’ tenure when he swatted Kovalchuk’s centering pass out of midair just 6½ minutes in. The goal was Brown’s third in four games since spending the first 10 games of the season sidelined by a broken finger.Clifford scored his second goal of the season later in the opening period, getting alone in front of Gibson for a backhand. Kovalchuk made it 3-0 early in the second, getting his fifth goal on a breakaway set up by a long pass from Campbell.Kesler got the Ducks going with a deflection of Marcus Pettersson’s shot later in the second, but Anaheim didn’t score again.“I didn’t think we had the intensity that was required early in the hockey game www.officialhockeyjetsshop.com ,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. “It took us kind of halfway through the game before we got ourselves awake. Even though we didn’t play to the level we’re capable of, I think it’s a good start for our group.”NOTES: Campbell was Desjardins’ goalie with the AHL’s Texas Stars from 2012-14. … The clubs met for the 138th time. The Kings improved to 61-51-26 in the Freeway Faceoff. … Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf returned to the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury, but Anaheim is still without forwards Corey Perry, Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie. … Ducks forward Brian Gibbons got hurt in a collision with teammate Andrew Cogliano at the moment Kesler’s goal entered LA’s net. Gibbons bled onto the ice from his face before heading to the dressing room. He returned for the third period.UP NEXTDucks: Host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.Kings: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jeff Skinner’s second effort extended the NHL’s longest win streak.Skinner scored 3:06 into overtime after getting the tying goal late in regulation, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Friday for their eighth straight win.It’s the longest streak for Buffalo since winning 10 games in a row to start the 2006-07 season. That also was the last season the Sabres (15-6-2) had this many victories after 23 games.Buffalo didn’t get its 15th win last season until February and finished in last place.The Sabres have come from behind to win six times during their streak.“Guys don’t give up and sort of have that belief that you can come back,” Skinner said.Casey Mittelstadt also scored, and Carter Hutton made 31 saves in his seventh straight victory.Brendan Gallagher and Andrew Shaw scored for the Canadiens, who have lost three straight. Phillip Danault had two assists, and Antti Niemi stopped 37 shots.“We lost a big point,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “We minimized the scoring chances against a team that’s doing well. We were in a good spot until the final few minutes.”Skinner scored both of his goals on rebound chances near the front of the net. The top-line winger acquired in an offseason trade with Carolina has 17 goals Winnipeg Jets T-Shirts Authentic , tied with David Pastrnak for the league lead.“He has a dog-on-a-bone mentality,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “Any loose puck or retrieval, he was going to get on it.”Skinner got the winning goal late in a 4-on-3 power play after he drew a slashing penalty on Montreal’s Max Domi. Skinner knocked in a rebound while falling down between the faceoff circles following Niemi’s saves on shots by Jack Eichel and Rasmus Ristolainen.Skinner tied the game with 2:26 left in regulation. Gathering the rebound of Zach Bogosian’s shot in the right circle, Skinner flung a backhand by a sliding Niemi.Buffalo’s Jake McCabe then hit the post on a slap shot with 29 seconds left in regulation.Shaw’s power-play goal gave Montreal a 2-1 lead 8:18 into the third period. Danault won a faceoff in the Sabres’ zone and Shaw deflected David Schlemko’s slap shot past Hutton five seconds after Jason Pominville went to penalty box for holding.The Canadiens had tied the game late in the second when Danault set up Gallagher on a 2-on-1 for his 11th of the season on a wrist shot from the right circle.Gallagher had a goal disallowed about five minutes earlier when video replays confirmed he kicked the puck into the net.Having allowed 10 goals in their previous two losses, the Canadiens were pleased with their improvement on defense.“The positive point from tonight is we had a great defensive game,” Danault said. “Nemo was solid in net and our D was playing well, too.”Mittelstadt scored off a rebound with 7:21 remaining in the opening period. Conor Sheary deflected McCabe’s shot from the point off the right post and Mittelstadt reached in from the right edge of the crease to sweep the puck across the goal line.NOTES: Domi had a 12-game point streak snapped. It was the longest by a Canadiens player since Pierre Turgeon had a 13-game streak in April 1995. … Sabres D Marco Scandella returned after missing one game with a lower-body injury. … Canadiens F Matthew Peca moved back into the lineup, replacing Charles Hudon at left wing on the third line. Peca centered Montreal’s fourth line before being scratched for Wednesday’s 5-2 loss in New Jersey. … D Brett Kulak made his Canadiens debut after being called up from the minors on Thursday. Kulak and D Karl Alzner entered the lineup in place of Mike Reilly and Xavier Ouellet.UP NEXTCanadiens: Home against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.Sabres: At Detroit on Saturday