Roenick hit hard with concussion

LOS ANGELES - Alexander Frolov's second power-play goal gave Los
Angeles the lead, and the Kings used a five-goal third period to beat
the Phoenix Coyotes 7-4 on Sunday night.

The Kings, who lost newly acquired all-star forward Jeremy Roenick due
to a concussion at 2:25 of the second period, also got goals from Eric
Belanger, Dustin Brown, Tom Kostopoulos and Steve Avery.

Oleg Saprykin scored twice on power plays for Phoenix, and Mike Comrie
and Tyson Nash had a goal apiece.

Trailing 4-2 after two periods, the Kings scored five unanswered goals
- including Frolov's second of the game, which put them ahead 5-4 with
Phoenix centre Mike Ruff serving a holding penalty.

Los Angeles left wing Noah Clarke was off for hooking when Saprykin
beat rookie goalie Mathieu Garon from short range at 14:12 of the
second period to put Phoenix ahead 3-2. Nash's gave the Coyotes a
two-goal margin less than 3½ minutes later.
Roenick was injured after carrying the puck up ice along the right
boards up ice and taking a hard but clean shoulder check from Phoenix
defenceman Denis Gauthier at the red-line.

''I think it indicates the state of our game, the lack of respect -
especially in pre-season,'' Roenick said. ''It is uncalled for. It is
ridiculous - one of the reasons our game isn't as good as it once was.
There is no respect for people in this league. It was not a cheap hit,
it was a good solid hit. But you don't do that in pre-season.''

Kings coach Andy Murray also took issue with Gauthier. Murray is
sensitive on the subject of concussions, having lost Adam Deadmarsh
and Jason Allison for more than a season. Deadmarsh never did play
again, announcing his retirement last Thursday at age 30 because of
post-concussion syndrome after 10 NHL seasons. His last game with the
Kings was on Dec. 15, 2002.

''Our track record hasn't been great with these types of injuries, but
we're hoping he's back right away,'' Murray said. ''I would say it was
not a dirty hit, but it was probably uncalled for in a game like this.
We know that Jeremy had (Gauthier) lined up in Phoenix and backed off
on him on a similar-type situation where he could have hurt him. I
wouldn't say this was even a penalty, but there are some things that
don't have to happen in a game like this.''

Just eight seconds after Roenick was led into the dressing room,
Kostopoulos instigated a fight with Gauthier. Belanger also received a
fighting major during the incident, giving Phoenix a five-minute power
play that was shortened by David Tanabe's high-sticking penalty.

Both goalies player the entire game. Garon has 24 saves and Curtis
Joseph had 13.

-thanks to www.tsn.ca for report