LOS ANGELES -- Center Derek Ryan and left winger Brock McGinn rehearsed their act before, but they never previously staged it in an NHL game.

Ryan scored a pair of goals, one of them the result of a nifty exchange with McGinn, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Staples Center.

McGinn added a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who won for the first time at Staples since Dec. 8, 2005. Carolina (11-10-6) was 0-4-1 in its previous five visits.

However, the short-handed goal by Ryan on an assist from McGinn was the highlight of the night for the Hurricanes.

"It was a really nice play. Brock and I have some chemistry from playing together in the minor leagues, short-handed in particular, so we've done that a couple of times I think in Charlotte," said Ryan, referring to the Checkers of the American Hockey League. "But yeah, I felt some pressure from (Kings defenseman Drew) Doughty there and tried to get it over to (McGinn) behind my back.

"I was expecting him to shoot it, but he ended up putting it right on my tape for a wide-open net."

McGinn was even more stoked than Ryan about the play.

"It is awesome to see," McGinn said. "Such a good guy in the dressing room and off the ice, to see him get those goals is big for our team, and it's awesome to see."

Ryan's eye-opening tally occurred at 13:13 of the second period with the Hurricanes leading 1-0 courtesy of an early goal by Ryan. On a rush, Ryan delivered a behind-the-back pass to McGinn. McGinn returned the puck to Ryan, who beat Kings goalie Jeff Zatkoff to his left side. Ryan has three goals this season.

Goalie Cam Ward stopped 21 of 22 shots as the Hurricanes bounced back from a 6-5 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Ward is 5-2-2 in nine career games against Los Angeles.

"We had a tough one there in Anaheim the other night. We kind of let that one slip away," McGinn said. "To come out here in L.A. and get a big win for us, that's big."

Zatkoff started in goal for the Kings (13-11-2) after Peter Budaj started the previous 23 consecutive games. Zatkoff made 15 saves.

"We just didn't play nearly as good enough as we needed to, especially at home," Kings center Anze Kopitar said. "Obviously, we've given up easy first two goals off a rush and an odd-man rush again in the second. You just can't afford those. In the third, we know we have to throw everything at them, but again, it's a turnover in our zone and it ends up in the back of our net."

Ryan put the Hurricanes on the board, cashing in a pass from center Andrej Nestrasil and backhanding it into the net with 2:09 remaining in the first period.

McGinn scored at 3:20 of the third to boost Carolina to a three-goal advantage. It was his first tally of the season.

Doughty ruined Ward's shutout bid with a score at 12:50 of the third period. It was the fifth goal of the season for Doughty, but not enough to overcome the Hurricanes.

"Bad start for us," Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin said. "There's no excuses really. We just have to do a better job getting prepared, getting ourselves psyched up. We have games in hand, and the only way we're getting into a playoff spot or up in the standings is if we win, and we didn't come out prepared tonight."

The Hurricanes extended their streak of penalty kills to 17 in a row. They stopped all three power plays by the Kings, including the one Ryan scored on.

Carolina entered the contest as the NHL's top penalty-killing unit at 91.7 percent. The Hurricanes have allowed just six goals in 75 short-handed situations. On the road, they have given up just three power-play goals while being short-handed 49 times.

The two teams didn't commit a penalty until Carolina defenseman Noah Hanifin was whistled for hooking at 3:48 of the second period. The Kings weren't called for any infractions in the game.

Still, it was a minor consolation for the Kings.

"We had a few days off, guys are well rested," Muzzin said. "Mentally, you just have to get involved emotionally more and realize the importance of each night. Two points are huge every night, especially at home, so (the loss is) unacceptable."

NOTES: Hurricanes D Noah Hanifin finished a plus-1, recording an even or better rating in a 15th consecutive game, the longest stretch of his career. ... Carolina scratched D Klas Dahlbeck, D Ryan Murphy and C Elias Lindholm. RW Devin Setoguchi, D Tom Gilbert and C Andy Andreoff were unavailable for Los Angeles. ... Nine of the previous 12 contests between the team were decided by a goal. ... The clubs meet again Jan. 26 at Carolina. ... The Kings lead the all-time series 35-29-10, including 22-12-3 at home. ... Both clubs resume play Saturday. The Hurricanes cap their three-game swing at the San Jose Sharks, while the Kings host the Ottawa Senators.