Last June, Steven Stamkos went one pick ahead of Drew Doughty to begin the NHL Entry Draft. On Monday night, Stamkos got one up on Doughty in their first meeting since being drafted.

Stamkos assisted on the game's opening goal and his Tampa Bay Lightning went on to a 3-1 win over Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. It was only the fifth time the No. 1 and 2 picks faced off against one another in the season after they were drafted, and the first since Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury tended goal against Eric Staal and Carolina on Oct. 22, 2003.

''I didn't get a chance to talk to him before the game,'' Stamkos said. ''I would have liked to, but it seemed like when we were practicing they weren't. So we never got a chance to meet up. But we talked to each other, said hello out on the ice.''

Evgeny Artyukhin, Mark Recchi and Vincent Lecavalier scored goals and Mike Smith finished with 29 saves as the Lightning improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip and 11-1-2 all-time in Los Angeles.

Peter Harrold had the Kings' lone goal. Eric Ersberg was pulled early in the second after allowing all three Tampa goals on just seven shots. Jonathan Quick stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief.

Doughty ended up finishing a minus-2 and left the game midway through the second period with a thigh contusion after absorbing a big hit into the boards by Artyukhin. Doughty's defense partner, Sean O'Donnell, challenged Artyukhin after the hit, drawing a cross-checking penalty, and again in the third period, but couldn't convince him to drop the gloves.

"I thought it was pretty clean -- maybe it was a little bit late -- but I didn't realize Drew was hurt at all," O'Donnell said. "It was more, I think the score was 3-0 and he's a bigger guy, you know, he hit Drew and I was a little surprised. I didn't do anything crazy as far as jump him, I tried to go at him straight up, and he didn't seem to want to, but I didn't know Drew wouldn't be coming back for the third period."

Stamkos and Doughty were teammates a year ago when Canada won its fourth title in what is currently a five-year run at the World Junior Championships. Stamkos is the League's rookie leader in shots with 84, while Doughty's 53 blocked shots are tops among first-year players.

''The beginning of the game, it was pretty fun playing against him,'' Stamkos said. ''I played with him my whole junior career, so it was definitely special for us. But then Evgeny threw a big hit and unfortunately Drew got injured, so I didn't see him the rest of the game. But I'll see him in Montreal at the YoungStars game.''

The teams were scoreless into the final minutes of the first period before a two-goal burst in 41 seconds put the Lightning in control. Stamkos tipped a Vladimir Mihalik clearing pass ahead to Artyukhin, starting a 3-on-1, and the big winger ripped a shot that beat Ersberg stick side.

''Stamkos has got some great offensive skills. You saw that on the power play, and a couple of times when he attacked 5-on-5,'' Kings coach Terry Murray said. ''That's the first time I've ever seen him, and he's got a very instinctive game.''

Recchi quickly made it a 2-0 game when he went glove side on Ersberg with a 12-foot backhander after the goalie had stopped Lecavalier's shot. The goal was the 532nd of Recchi's career and his 10th this season for the Lightning.

Lecavalier ended Ersberg's night when he scored during a 4-on-4 situation 5:48 into the second. Using O'Donnell as a screen, Lecavalier one-timed a feed from Martin St. Louis from the middle of the left circle.

Harrold got the Kings on the board with 1:58 left in the second, one-timing Anze Kopitar's feed over Smith's glove.

Los Angeles, which also fell behind 3-0 in its previous game, a 5-1 loss Saturday against New Jersey, must figure things out before taking on defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit on Thursday.

"We're playing just well enough to lose, it seems like," O'Donnell said. "We're not getting blown out, but we're making those one or two mistakes late in a period, or taking a penalty that maybe we shouldn't and they're scoring. We get behind the eight ball and I think we're getting away from our game a little bit because we're down by a goal or two, and it just seems to snowball after that."

Tampa, meanwhile, concludes its road trip Tuesday in San Jose before returning home Thursday to play Philadelphia.

Material from wire services and team broadcast media was used in this report.