LOS ANGELES _ Brian Boucher's second start of the season didn't start out well last night.

  With 5:07 left in the first period, Jarret Stoll's shot from near the right sideboards somehow got between Boucher's skate and the right post, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 1-0 lead.

    "I don't know what  happened on the first goal....I thought it was stuck on the outside of the net, but when I heard the crowd cheer, I said, 'You have got to be kidding me,' " Boucher said. "I've had a couple weird ones this year, but I was determined that that wasn't going to be a factor in the game, and the boys rallied around and had a great second period."

   Boucher recovered nicely and made 37 saves to lead the Flyers past the Kings, 3-2, at the Staples Center.

     He also got a little lucky.

    With about 10 seconds left and the Kings' goalie pulled for an extra attacker, a shot by Anze Kopitar went through Boucher's legs and trickled ever so slowly toward the open net....but went wide by a few inches.

    "I didn't see it. I knew it was coming to the net, but I wasn't sure how hard the shot was," Boucher said. "There were a lot of bodies. For the one that went in on the (first-period) shot, I certainly got the luck there. I'll take the tradeoff."

   Boucher's only other appearance was against San Jose, a 4-1 loss on Oct. 25.

    The long wait between games had weighed on him.

   "It feels good. I'm not going to lie to you. I mean, I wanted to get the first one," he said. "It would have been nice if it came at home against San Jose, my old team, but it came in my second start and hopefully I can build off this and give quality starts to my team."

    "He hadn't played a game in a while, and he faced a lot of shots and made a lot of big saves," defenseman Ryan Parent said.

     The Kings (13-8-2) fired 21 of their 39 shots in the final period.

    "He only played one game in two months, and it's tough to do," defenseman Chris Pronger said. "It makes it tough to stay sharp. It wasn't the best of starts for him, but he certainly rallied and battled hard and made some great stops in the third period to keep the lead for us and, ultimately, to get the win.,"

   Mika Pyorala, Mike Richards and James van Riemsdyk (power play) scored for the Flyers (12-5-1), who were outshot, 39-20. Pyorala's goal was the first of his NHL career.

    The Finn scored on a rebound, tying the score at 1-1 in the second period.

    "That goal was huge for us; it kind of got us going, and it was interesting to see how excited the guys were for him," coach John Stevens said. "I think he's really fit in well here, and he's had a lot of good games and a lot of good chances, but the puck just hasn't gone in for him. Hopefully this will get him going."

   It was the Flyers' seventh win in their last eight games _ and only the second time all season they had won after trailing in a game.

   "I didn't think we had our A game by any means," Stevens said. "but good teams find a way to grind it out and get a win."