LOS ANGELES—Tomas Kopecky scored twice in a 3:20 span in the third period, and Antti Niemi made 17 saves for his fifth career shutout in the Blackhawks 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Kopecky’s second multigoal game of his career helped the Blackhawks avoid losing four consecutive games for the first time this season. Troy Brouwer opened the scoring in the second period. It was only the second time the Kings have been shut out this season. Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots, including a breakaway by Patrick Sharp 41 seconds into the third. Despite losing one of their defensemen to an injury in each of the previous three games, the Blackhawks overcame the absence of Kim Johnsson, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook and outshot the Kings 24-93-8 through the first 35 minutes. Jordan Hendry made a nice play to break up a 2-on-1 rush by the Kings after Wayne Simmonds got a return pass from Michal Handzus a few feet from the crease with about 12 minutes left in the second period. Hendry also started the play that led to Brouwer’s goal at 11:36 of the period, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone by Kings captain Dustin Brown. The puck eventually got to Patrick Kane, who was thwarted at the right of the crease by Quick. But Quick couldn’t control the rebound, and Brouwer jammed it home after Rob Scuderi made a desperate attempt to swipe the puck out of danger as it lay in the crease.Brouwer’s 20th goal gave the Blackhawks at least five players with 20 or more in consecutive seasons since 1990-91, when they accomplished the feat for the third straight year. Kane’s 52nd assist eclipsed the career-high total he had two seasons ago, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. Kopecky made it 2-0 at 2:48 of the third, beating Quick to the glove side with a seemingly harmless wrist shot from outside the left circle.Kopecky added his sixth of the season on a short wrist shot from the slot at 6:08, after defenseman Jack Johnson tried to clear the puck in front of the net and put it right onto Kopecky’s stick.

NOTES—Kings longtime play-by-play man Bob Miller returned to the TV booth for the first time since March 4 after being sidelined by shingles. The Hall of Famer has missed only 21 games in his 37 seasons with the club. … The Blackhawks came with an average of 9.5 more shots on net than its opponents, leading the league with 34.2 per game and allowing a league-low 24.7. They outshot Los Angeles 37-17. … The Kings had just three shots on net in the second period. They had only two against the Blackhawks in the third period Nov. 9 at the United Center…. The Blackhawks, coming off a 4-2 loss at Anaheim on Wednesday night, are 12-1-3 in the second game of back-to-back sets. … Sharp, who had 13 goals in just 15 previous games against Los Angeles, had all four of his shots stopped by Quick. … The Blackhawks won the season series 3-1.