LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Chicago Blackhawks picked up their first road win of the season by displaying tremendous resiliency.
Rookie Pavel Vorobiev and Steve Sullivan each collected a goal and an assist and Jocelyn Thibault made a season-high 44 saves as the Blackhawks skated to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Chicago fell behind just 39 seconds into the game as Derek Armstrong scored after beating defenseman Jon Klemm to a loose puck. But the Blackhawks battled back to knot the contest when defenseman Nathan Dempsey scored a power-play goal nearly seven minutes into the contest.
Sullivan, who had two assists in Thursday's 3-3 tie at San Jose, put Chicago ahead for good with 2:51 left in the first and Vorobiev extended the lead 8:18 into the second with his first NHL goal.
Thibault faced his biggest challenge of the season and made 20 saves in the final period. After defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky drew the Kings within a goal early in the third, Thibault preserved the win with several key stops.
"We need that win," Thibault said. "We got a big point at San Jose and we were picking up some confidence. Tonight, even though we gave up a quick goal, we were able to keep some confidence. It was just a big win."
"We were ready, it was a good hard game," Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter added. "We had a lot of guys who weren't feeling good and they sucked it up pretty good. When those things happen and the young guys are starting to step up, it makes you feel better about what they are doing."
Chicago, which had been 0-3-1 in its first four road contests, scored three straight goals for the second time in as many games. But unlike Thursday, the Blackhawks were able to hold the lead.
The Blackhawks beat the Kings for the fourth time in six meetings, despite getting outshot, 37-8, in the final 40 minutes. It also was their first game since general manager Mike Smith was fired and replaced by Bob Pulford on an interim basis.
"It's a sad thing. I like Mike Smith," Thibault said. "But I don't think it had any effect on our game tonight. We are professionals and we have to show up at the rink and play as hard as we can. I think we did a good job of that tonight."
Chicago, which had converted just 4-of-32 power plays before the game, went 2-for-4 against the Kings, who have surrendered 12 goals with the man advantage.
The Blackhawks cashed in on their second power play of the night as Dempsey netted his eighth career goal. With rookie Tim Gleason serving a slashing penalty, Dempsey used a screen set by Kings defenseman Joe Corvo and beat goaltender Roman Cechmanek to the stick side with a long one-timer that glanced off Ian Laperriere's pad.
"It hit me, just a little bit on the (hip) pad and went up into the air," Laperriere said. "I wasn't trying to do that. We just have to defend against those one-timers on the PK (penalty kill)."
Nearly 10 minutes later, Sullivan extended his points streak to five games with his second goal of the season. He thwarted off a check by Gleason, emerged unchecked from behind the net and stuffed the puck through Cechmanek's pads.
Chicago took a two-goal lead on the road for the first time this season when Vorobiev converted Kyle Calder's cross-ice feed into a vacated net.
Coming off a disappointing 5-1 loss to Buffalo on Thursday, the Kings started quickly in this one. Armstrong, who also scored against the Sabres, got the puck from Luc Robitaille just inside the Chicago blue line, skated past Klemm and tapped in his own rebound past Cechmanek.
But with the exception of Visnovsky's tally, it was a frustrating night for the Kings, who fell to 2-3-0 on a season-high seven-game homestand.
"There's no such thing as a moral victory at all in the business," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "It's all about bottom line results and we didn't get the win tonight. I'm very disappointed. I think the way we played in the first 40 minutes, to me make the first period seem worse."
