KINGS BECOMING ROYAL PAIN

LOS ANGELES -- Luc Robitaille scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, Alexander Frolov had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Saturday night for their fifth straight home victory.

Pavol Demitra also scored and Mathieu Garon made 25 saves, helping the Kings beat Chicago for the fourth straight time. Mark Bell and Kyle Calder scored for the Blackhawks.

Kings left wing Ryan Flinn, just called up from Manchester of the American Hockey League, was carried off a stretcher and taken to Los Angeles County Hospital for observation after his head struck the ice during a fight with defenseman Jim Vandermeer at 9:08 of the first period.

The game was delayed 8 minutes while the Kings' medical staff attended to Flinn, who got in the most punches during the brawl and at one point knocked Vandermeer's helmet off. Flinn's helmet came off a split-second before the combatants fell to the ice simultaneously. Flinn, cut in the fall, never lost consciousness.

Robitaille, playing his third game and first one at home after missing the previous nine with a fracture in his right leg, put Los Angeles ahead to stay at 17:24 of the second period. He got a lead pass from Jeremy Roenick while crossing the blue line and beat Nikolai Khabibulin between the pads from the edge of the crease for his 658th career goal and fifth this season. It was his 547th with the Kings, three shy of Marcel Dionne's franchise record.

Calder put Chicago ahead 2-1 just 20 seconds into the second period, converting a rebound just 2 seconds after the Kings killed off a hooking penalty against Sean Avery. The Kings pulled even at 8:51 of the period when Demitra got a pass at the right of the net from Craig Conroy and slipped his 12th goal under Khabibulin's outstretched left leg.

Frolov opened the scoring at 15:45 with the Kings' fifth short-handed goal, taking a pass off the left boards from Eric Belanger and beating Khabibulin between the pads on a breakaway while Los Angeles defenseman Tim Gleason was serving a boarding penalty.

But the Blackhawks tied it 62 seconds later, as Bell's wrist shot from the left circle beat Garon high to the glove side with 44 seconds still left on Gleason's penalty. It extended Bell's goal streak to five games, putting him halfway toward the franchise record set by Bobby Hull in 1968-69.

The Blackhawks killed off all nine Los Angeles power plays. But they have been short-handed a league-worst 181 times, including 32 times during 5-on-3 situations. This was the 11th time in 22 games this season that the Blackhawks have been short-handed at least nine times. They are 6-5 in those games.

Chicago also leads the NHL in penalty minutes per game. That's prompted general manager Dale Tallon to schedule a meeting in Chicago next week with Stephen Walkom, the NHL's director of officiating, to meet with the team and clarify the new rules that were designed to make the referees more vigilant about calling penalties for hooking and holding.

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