Pakistan halts execution of man convicted as 14-year-old

Pakistani officials said Thursday that they had issued a temporary reprieve to a man who was due to be executed for a crime allegedly committed when he was 14, in a case that has drawn worldwide attention.

Hours before Shafqat Hussain was to be hanged early Thursday morning, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan asked the president of Pakistan for a delay pending a re-examination of the case, including his age and reports that he was severely tortured before he confessed.

There were conflicting reports about the length of the delay. A spokesman for the government in Sindh province, where Hussain is imprisoned, tweeted that the execution was stayed for three days; family members told The Times the delay was indefinite.

The decision followed a passionate advocacy campaign by Hussain's family, lawyers and domestic and international human rights groups, which have criticized Pakistan for lifting a moratorium on capital punishment three months ago. The government has since executed nearly 40 prisoners, including 12 in one day earlier this week.

"I am thankful to lawyers, media, human rights organizations, civil society and the international community for this," Hussain's brother Gul Zaman said in an interview. "I am so happy that the government has decided to halt his execution. We hope to get justice."

His mother, Makhani Begum, 86, said she was unable to sleep after receiving word of the reprieve shortly before midnight Thursday.

"I offered prayers and thanked God all night," she said.

Lawyers for Hussain, who was convicted at age 14 of killing a child in 2004, say his confession was extracted by torture. Police in the port city of Karachi allegedly placed him in solitary confinement, burned him with cigarette butts, removed his fingernails and administered electric shocks to his genitals, according to advocacy groups who have studied his case.

His family hails from the Pakistani portion of Kashmir – the disputed mountain territory that lies along the Indian border – and was too poor to afford a good lawyer in the early stages of his case, family members said. His mother has not been able to visit him since 2006 due to financial constraints.

On Wednesday night, Hussain handed a will to his brother Gul Zaman at Central Jail in Karachi.

"He told me that he was innocent," Zaman said. "He said that his murder would be on the people in power who would be answerable for this on judgment day,"

Days earlier, Khan, the interior minister, said in parliament that Hussain's case should not be politicized, adding that his appeals had been exhausted.

Human rights groups have called the prosection of Hussain extremely flawed, including the decision to try him before the controversial Anti-Terrorism Court when his case was not a national security matter. They have also criticized Pakistan for imposing the death penalty against people who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime, in violation of international laws.

After not carrying out executions for several years, Pakistan lifted a ban on capital punishment in December as part of tough new policies against terrorism following the Pakistani Taliban's massacre of 132 children at an army-run school.

Of the estimated 8,000 inmates on Pakistan's death row, about 800 are believed to be juveniles, according to a recent report by the British-based charity Reprieve and the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Project Pakistan.

"Minister Nisar must at last conduct the full and proper inquiry into Shafqat's case that was initially promised, and stay all other impending executions while he works out how many of those people may have been tortured into 'confessing' to crimes when they were children," Reprieve said in a statement.

Although relieved, Hussain's family was badly shaken by the news of his impending execution. His 84-year-old father Shazullah went missing Wednesday morning and had not been located as of Thursday afternoon, Hussain's brother Manzoor said.

Hussain's mother said she could not travel to Karachi but was hoping for his conviction to be overturned.

"I do not have money to travel to Karachi," she said. "Please, pray that my son will come to me as soon as possible. I cannot wait. I want to talk to him."

Sahi is a special correspondent. Staff writer Bengali reported from Kolkata, India.

For more news from South Asia, follow @SBengali on Twitter

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Pakistan halts execution of man convicted as 14-year-old

Pakistani officials said Thursday that they had issued a temporary reprieve to a man who was due to be executed for a crime allegedly committed when he was 14, in a case that has drawn worldwide attention.

Hours before Shafqat Hussain was to be hanged early Thursday morning, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan asked the president of Pakistan for a delay pending a re-examination of the case, including his age and reports that he was severely tortured before he confessed.

There were conflicting reports about the length of the delay. A spokesman for the government in Sindh province, where Hussain is imprisoned, tweeted that the execution was stayed for three days; family members told The Times the delay was indefinite.

The decision followed a passionate advocacy campaign by Hussain's family, lawyers and domestic and international human rights groups, which have criticized Pakistan for lifting a moratorium on capital punishment three months ago. The government has since executed nearly 40 prisoners, including 12 in one day earlier this week.

"I am thankful to lawyers, media, human rights organizations, civil society and the international community for this," Hussain's brother Gul Zaman said in an interview. "I am so happy that the government has decided to halt his execution. We hope to get justice."

His mother, Makhani Begum, 86, said she was unable to sleep after receiving word of the reprieve shortly before midnight Thursday.

"I offered prayers and thanked God all night," she said.

Lawyers for Hussain, who was convicted at age 14 of killing a child in 2004, say his confession was extracted by torture. Police in the port city of Karachi allegedly placed him in solitary confinement, burned him with cigarette butts, removed his fingernails and administered electric shocks to his genitals, according to advocacy groups who have studied his case.

His family hails from the Pakistani portion of Kashmir – the disputed mountain territory that lies along the Indian border – and was too poor to afford a good lawyer in the early stages of his case, family members said. His mother has not been able to visit him since 2006 due to financial constraints.

On Wednesday night, Hussain handed a will to his brother Gul Zaman at Central Jail in Karachi.

"He told me that he was innocent," Zaman said. "He said that his murder would be on the people in power who would be answerable for this on judgment day,"

Days earlier, Khan, the interior minister, said in parliament that Hussain's case should not be politicized, adding that his appeals had been exhausted.

Human rights groups have called the prosection of Hussain extremely flawed, including the decision to try him before the controversial Anti-Terrorism Court when his case was not a national security matter. They have also criticized Pakistan for imposing the death penalty against people who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime, in violation of international laws.

After not carrying out executions for several years, Pakistan lifted a ban on capital punishment in December as part of tough new policies against terrorism following the Pakistani Taliban's massacre of 132 children at an army-run school.

Of the estimated 8,000 inmates on Pakistan's death row, about 800 are believed to be juveniles, according to a recent report by the British-based charity Reprieve and the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Project Pakistan.

"Minister Nisar must at last conduct the full and proper inquiry into Shafqat's case that was initially promised, and stay all other impending executions while he works out how many of those people may have been tortured into 'confessing' to crimes when they were children," Reprieve said in a statement.

Although relieved, Hussain's family was badly shaken by the news of his impending execution. His 84-year-old father Shazullah went missing Wednesday morning and had not been located as of Thursday afternoon, Hussain's brother Manzoor said.

Hussain's mother said she could not travel to Karachi but was hoping for his conviction to be overturned.

"I do not have money to travel to Karachi," she said. "Please, pray that my son will come to me as soon as possible. I cannot wait. I want to talk to him."

Sahi is a special correspondent. Staff writer Bengali reported from Kolkata, India.

For more news from South Asia, follow @SBengali on Twitter

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Pakistan halts execution of man convicted as 14-year-old

Pakistani officials said Thursday that they had issued a temporary reprieve to a man who was due to be executed for a crime allegedly committed when he was 14, in a case that has drawn worldwide attention.

Hours before Shafqat Hussain was to be hanged early Thursday morning, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan asked the president of Pakistan for a delay pending a re-examination of the case, including his age and reports that he was severely tortured before he confessed.

There were conflicting reports about the length of the delay. A spokesman for the government in Sindh province, where Hussain is imprisoned, tweeted that the execution was stayed for three days; family members told The Times the delay was indefinite.

The decision followed a passionate advocacy campaign by Hussain's family, lawyers and domestic and international human rights groups, which have criticized Pakistan for lifting a moratorium on capital punishment three months ago. The government has since executed nearly 40 prisoners, including 12 in one day earlier this week.

"I am thankful to lawyers, media, human rights organizations, civil society and the international community for this," Hussain's brother Gul Zaman said in an interview. "I am so happy that the government has decided to halt his execution. We hope to get justice."

His mother, Makhani Begum, 86, said she was unable to sleep after receiving word of the reprieve shortly before midnight Thursday.

"I offered prayers and thanked God all night," she said.

Lawyers for Hussain, who was convicted at age 14 of killing a child in 2004, say his confession was extracted by torture. Police in the port city of Karachi allegedly placed him in solitary confinement, burned him with cigarette butts, removed his fingernails and administered electric shocks to his genitals, according to advocacy groups who have studied his case.

His family hails from the Pakistani portion of Kashmir – the disputed mountain territory that lies along the Indian border – and was too poor to afford a good lawyer in the early stages of his case, family members said. His mother has not been able to visit him since 2006 due to financial constraints.

On Wednesday night, Hussain handed a will to his brother Gul Zaman at Central Jail in Karachi.

"He told me that he was innocent," Zaman said. "He said that his murder would be on the people in power who would be answerable for this on judgment day,"

Days earlier, Khan, the interior minister, said in parliament that Hussain's case should not be politicized, adding that his appeals had been exhausted.

Human rights groups have called the prosection of Hussain extremely flawed, including the decision to try him before the controversial Anti-Terrorism Court when his case was not a national security matter. They have also criticized Pakistan for imposing the death penalty against people who were younger than 18 at the time of the crime, in violation of international laws.

After not carrying out executions for several years, Pakistan lifted a ban on capital punishment in December as part of tough new policies against terrorism following the Pakistani Taliban's massacre of 132 children at an army-run school.

Of the estimated 8,000 inmates on Pakistan's death row, about 800 are believed to be juveniles, according to a recent report by the British-based charity Reprieve and the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Project Pakistan.

"Minister Nisar must at last conduct the full and proper inquiry into Shafqat's case that was initially promised, and stay all other impending executions while he works out how many of those people may have been tortured into 'confessing' to crimes when they were children," Reprieve said in a statement.

Although relieved, Hussain's family was badly shaken by the news of his impending execution. His 84-year-old father Shazullah went missing Wednesday morning and had not been located as of Thursday afternoon, Hussain's brother Manzoor said.

Hussain's mother said she could not travel to Karachi but was hoping for his conviction to be overturned.

"I do not have money to travel to Karachi," she said. "Please, pray that my son will come to me as soon as possible. I cannot wait. I want to talk to him."

Sahi is a special correspondent. Staff writer Bengali reported from Kolkata, India.

For more news from South Asia, follow @SBengali on Twitter

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Palestinians denounce Netanyahu, vow to keep up statehood push

Palestinians signaled on Wednesday that if a right-wing new government takes command in Israel, they will enlist the help of the international community in pursuing their statehood bid and pressing war-crimes action against Israel.

With nearly all the ballots counted by Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party outpolled the center-left Zionist Union by a substantial margin, positioning Netanyahu to assemble a governing coalition.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in earlier peace talks with Israel, said it appeared Netanyahu would remain in place as prime minister. On the eve of the election, the Israeli leader declared that there would be no Palestinian statehood while he remained in office.

"It has become clear that Netanyahu, who just said that he is against a Palestinian state and that he plans to increase (Jewish) settlements if elected, will form the next government," Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio. "It is very clear that there is no partner in Israel for the peace process."

The last round of peace talks broke down nearly a year ago, and while Netanyahu's main opponent, Isaac Herzog, had pledged to try to re-engage the Palestinians, Netanyahu has made no such promise. He reiterated plans to press ahead with Jewish building in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Erekat said the election outcome "proves the correctness" of the Palestinian decision last year to join the International Criminal Court and sign onto other international treaties and organizations. Israel has denounced those moves as unilateral and punished the Palestinian Authority by withholding millions of dollars in tax revenues.

Erekat and others predicted that Netanyahu's election-eve repudiation of a 2009 speech in which had had accepted in principle a two-state solution would galvanize international support for the Palestinian cause.

"The entire world is going to be with us," Erekat said.

Netanyahu said in interviews and campaign appearances on Monday, in advance of Tuesday's general elections, that his 2009 stance had become irrelevant because "realities on the ground" had changed.

Special correspondent Maher Abukhater reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and staff writer King from Tel Aviv.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Palestinians denounce Netanyahu, vow to keep up statehood push

Palestinians signaled on Wednesday that if a right-wing new government takes command in Israel, they will enlist the help of the international community in pursuing their statehood bid and pressing war-crimes action against Israel.

With nearly all the ballots counted by Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party outpolled the center-left Zionist Union by a substantial margin, positioning Netanyahu to assemble a governing coalition.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in earlier peace talks with Israel, said it appeared Netanyahu would remain in place as prime minister. On the eve of the election, the Israeli leader declared that there would be no Palestinian statehood while he remained in office.

"It has become clear that Netanyahu, who just said that he is against a Palestinian state and that he plans to increase (Jewish) settlements if elected, will form the next government," Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio. "It is very clear that there is no partner in Israel for the peace process."

The last round of peace talks broke down nearly a year ago, and while Netanyahu's main opponent, Isaac Herzog, had pledged to try to re-engage the Palestinians, Netanyahu has made no such promise. He reiterated plans to press ahead with Jewish building in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Erekat said the election outcome "proves the correctness" of the Palestinian decision last year to join the International Criminal Court and sign onto other international treaties and organizations. Israel has denounced those moves as unilateral and punished the Palestinian Authority by withholding millions of dollars in tax revenues.

Erekat and others predicted that Netanyahu's election-eve repudiation of a 2009 speech in which had had accepted in principle a two-state solution would galvanize international support for the Palestinian cause.

"The entire world is going to be with us," Erekat said.

Netanyahu said in interviews and campaign appearances on Monday, in advance of Tuesday's general elections, that his 2009 stance had become irrelevant because "realities on the ground" had changed.

Special correspondent Maher Abukhater reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and staff writer King from Tel Aviv.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Palestinians denounce Netanyahu, vow to keep up statehood push

Palestinians signaled on Wednesday that if a right-wing new government takes command in Israel, they will enlist the help of the international community in pursuing their statehood bid and pressing war-crimes action against Israel.

With nearly all the ballots counted by Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud party outpolled the center-left Zionist Union by a substantial margin, positioning Netanyahu to assemble a governing coalition.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in earlier peace talks with Israel, said it appeared Netanyahu would remain in place as prime minister. On the eve of the election, the Israeli leader declared that there would be no Palestinian statehood while he remained in office.

"It has become clear that Netanyahu, who just said that he is against a Palestinian state and that he plans to increase (Jewish) settlements if elected, will form the next government," Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio. "It is very clear that there is no partner in Israel for the peace process."

The last round of peace talks broke down nearly a year ago, and while Netanyahu's main opponent, Isaac Herzog, had pledged to try to re-engage the Palestinians, Netanyahu has made no such promise. He reiterated plans to press ahead with Jewish building in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Erekat said the election outcome "proves the correctness" of the Palestinian decision last year to join the International Criminal Court and sign onto other international treaties and organizations. Israel has denounced those moves as unilateral and punished the Palestinian Authority by withholding millions of dollars in tax revenues.

Erekat and others predicted that Netanyahu's election-eve repudiation of a 2009 speech in which had had accepted in principle a two-state solution would galvanize international support for the Palestinian cause.

"The entire world is going to be with us," Erekat said.

Netanyahu said in interviews and campaign appearances on Monday, in advance of Tuesday's general elections, that his 2009 stance had become irrelevant because "realities on the ground" had changed.

Special correspondent Maher Abukhater reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and staff writer King from Tel Aviv.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Chemical Safety Board chair Rafael Moure-Eraso on the Torrance explosion and calls for his resignation

Rafael Moure-Eraso's tenure as chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board ends in June, but he's spending his final days awash in controversy and hustling to finish projects.

This week, he flew to Torrance, where CSB investigators launched a probe into a Feb. 18 explosion at Exxon Mobil Corp.'s refinery. The incident caused minor injuries and contributed to a sharp increase in California's gas prices.

The blast prompted U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) to send a formal request last week for a CSB investigation. But currently, many government officials wish someone besides Moure-Eraso, 68, was leading it.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) -- chairman of Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works -- and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) last week so far as to demand Moure-Eraso's resignation.

In the letter Thursday to President Obama, the senators say there is "no doubt" the Colombia native has "lost the confidence" of his employees and legislators.

The agency has become "a dysfunctional mess" in his five years as chairman, marked by a "pattern of hostility toward career staff and whistleblowers," the senators wrote. Moure-Eraso, they allege, also violated the Federal Records Act by using a private email account to conduct official business.

Earlier this month, Obama nominated Vanessa Allen Sutherland, chief counsel for the U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, as Moure-Eraso's successor.

During Moure-Eraso's brief Torrance visit, he sat down to chat with The Times. Here is an edited version of that conversation:

How is the investigation proceeding so far in Torrance? Why did you decide to send a team to this particular site?

We have ten people – seven investigators, who are mostly conducting interviews with witnesses, as well as two consultants dealing with blasts and a specialist in engineering and structural issues.

We are looking at the events that led to the explosion. What are the particular safety management regulations that were applied there that didn't work to prevent this from happening?

When it's an issue of national interest, elected officials call on us. Congressman Lieu and Congresswoman Waters seem to think refineries are a national priority, and we agree with them. And this is a key issue in California, especially after Richmond (where a fire broke out in 2012 due to a diesel leak at the Chevron refinery). We have a state government that is engaged very seriously in modernizing the regulations that will apply to refineries based on our recommendations from various investigations around the state. Having another big incident in a refinery makes the point that there are reasons to have concerns about the refinery sector in California and the nation.

Exxon says the explosion was caused by excess pressure in its electrostatic precipitator machinery. Your take?

This is all very preliminary. The immediate cause was over-pressurization, but we're looking at what decisions were made, the safety culture, that created the situation that allowed the explosion to happen. We would like to go through the entire chain of events and look for the root problem. We interview people to corroborate facts, look at all computer records of control rooms – pressure levels, temperatures.

A chemical that we have a special interest in is hydrogen fluoride (a highly corrosive compound), which was kept immediately adjacent to the electrostatic precipitator that exploded. Even though there is not any evidence that there were any leaks, the potential that it might have happened is reason for us to look at how this type of work is being done so, in the future, we eliminate as much risk as possible.

We get a range of responses usually from companies. Exxon has been very cooperative and wide open.

How long would you anticipate an investigation like this taking?

Every investigation is different – it's very difficult to predict. Usually, 60 days from deployment, we hold an internal meeting to decide the direction of the investigation. Sometimes we require outside analysis of data and samples. We like to call on the community to discuss preliminary results. It will be a matter of months before there's any kind of public meeting.

The Chemical Safety Board has been criticized for taking too long on investigations and not doing enough of them. What's your response?

We are modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigations they do don't take weeks or months. And ours are based on a lot of very carefully conducted interviews, sometimes with dozens of witnesses, lots of data and analysis. All of that takes time. This is a slow, painstaking process.

Before my tenure began, the past regime had deployed teams in some places and didn't follow up. I had 22 unattended investigations, which was a really difficult way to start. So there were remnants from the past and also new investigations. We have to prioritize – we have three working investigation teams. We don't have the resources for additional teams, though we've been asking for the past five years. Sometimes we have to withdraw a team in one location and move it to another. It's like musical chairs.

Some Congress members have called for your resignation, even though your term ends in June. Are they justified?

A lot of it is political. The mission of the organization is to produce good reports that make a difference for safety. We are doing that. I can show that we are producing the best reports ever produced in the agency. I stand by that. All of this other talk is peripheral.

I have 14 weeks left. We're on the verge of releasing the report on Deepwater (Horizon, the drilling rig that exploded in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and resulting in the worst oil spill in U.S. history). Just this week, the (New Orleans-based) Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in our favor after one of the companies involved challenged our jurisdiction. I am very much committed to getting that report out – we have the last draft. Also, we have two other investigations that I'm looking forward to completing and I am moving as fast as I can to finish those. We've completed eight reports in the past eight months – the most productive rate in the agency's history.

Some people in your agency complain about low morale, accuse you of retaliating against employees who raise complaints and allege that you used personal email to hide information from others in the organization. Do such feelings affect your ability to preserve safety?

There have been a lot of accusations, but none of those have ever ended in any findings. The Office of Special Counsel (an independent federal investigative agency) has made no recommendations. Anybody can claim actions against whistleblowers, but there's no evidence of this. To just say it is not enough. What I would like to be judged for is the quality of the product and the fulfillment of our mission. There will always be people complaining. But they are all rumors.

Twitter: @tiffhsulatimes

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Kings' Coyote-ugly win over Arizona a thing of beauty to Andy Andreoff

He smiled after the puck got past Arizona goalie Mike Smith late in the second period.

It lingered. He kept smiling on the bench and was still smiling at the end of second period. You can guess that 23-year-old Andy Andreoff was still smiling on the drive home after the Kings' game against the Coyotes.

There's nothing quite so heartwarming as a hockey player's first NHL goal, the fulfillment of years of hard work and promise. Not only did rookie center Andreoff score his first NHL goal (and first point) but it was the game-winner for the Kings in a 1-0 victory over Arizona on Monday night at Staples Center. For Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, it was his sixth shutout of the season and second in less than a week. He faced 25 shots.

Andreoff called it a "dream come true."

"It's been a long year, so I'm glad I finally got it," said Andreoff, a third-round draft pick in 2011. "Noles [Jordan Nolan] made a great play to me for a tap-in. . . . I'll take one off my shin pad, off my butt. It doesn't matter, as long as it goes in."

Bigger picture: The win lifted the Kings into the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, past idle Winnipeg. The Jets host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, and the Calgary Flames, third in the Pacific Division, are in action, too.

All that helped overshadow the fact that Monday's offering was one of the more, um, methodical games of the season. At least that's the polite way to put it. Arizona went 0 for 2 on the power play and the Kings have killed off 41 of the last 43 penalties against them.

The lottery-bound Coyotes, now 1-14-1 in their last 16 games, are a shadow of the team that lost to the Kings in the Western Conference finals in 2012.

"It's a land of opportunity when you're a team that's not in the playoff race," said Kings Coach Darryl Sutter at Monday's morning skate.

That land of opportunity could apply to the likes of rookie center Nick Shore and Andreoff. Andreoff's place in the lineup — this time — came after center Jarret Stoll was injured Thursday in Vancouver.

This was the first time Andreoff has played in back-to-back games since mid-January. He nearly scored Saturday, hitting the post against Nashville, and finally broke through in his 15th NHL game, beating Smith in close, off a terrific pass from a poised, patient Nolan. Defenseman Brayden McNabb had the second assist.

"I kind of blacked out. I couldn't really hear anything," Andreoff said. "I was just shocked. . . . I was very relieved to finally get it. I saw [Nolan] battling in the corner and he's a good playmaker. He would either put it in or give it to me for a backdoor tap-in."

Said Sutter: "Not many players get a chance of playing in the NHL or scoring goals. Good for him. Hopefully, he's got lots of game-winners left in him."

Earlier, Sutter had gone over his approach regarding less-experienced players, explaining his version of the land of opportunity.

"If they're going to play — even though some of them have been here for awhile — if they're going to play serious minutes for us, then we better win and they better produce. They better have a role that they embrace."

Sutter tweaked the lines at the start, putting Dustin Brown with center Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, and taking Trevor Lewis off the Kopitar line and put him with center Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli.

"We've got guys that haven't scored in 10 or 11 or 12 or 13, 14, 15 games, or whatever it is," Sutter said. ". . . We'll leave Jeff and Tyler together and leave Kopi and Gabby together and let everybody else see where they can play."

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Kings' Coyote-ugly win over Arizona a thing of beauty to Andy Andreoff

He smiled after the puck got past Arizona goalie Mike Smith late in the second period.

It lingered. He kept smiling on the bench and was still smiling at the end of second period. You can guess that 23-year-old Andy Andreoff was still smiling on the drive home after the Kings' game against the Coyotes.

There's nothing quite so heartwarming as a hockey player's first NHL goal, the fulfillment of years of hard work and promise. Not only did rookie center Andreoff score his first NHL goal (and first point) but it was the game-winner for the Kings in a 1-0 victory over Arizona on Monday night at Staples Center. For Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, it was his sixth shutout of the season and second in less than a week. He faced 25 shots.

Andreoff called it a "dream come true."

"It's been a long year, so I'm glad I finally got it," said Andreoff, a third-round draft pick in 2011. "Noles [Jordan Nolan] made a great play to me for a tap-in. . . . I'll take one off my shin pad, off my butt. It doesn't matter, as long as it goes in."

Bigger picture: The win lifted the Kings into the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, past idle Winnipeg. The Jets host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, and the Calgary Flames, third in the Pacific Division, are in action, too.

All that helped overshadow the fact that Monday's offering was one of the more, um, methodical games of the season. At least that's the polite way to put it. Arizona went 0 for 2 on the power play and the Kings have killed off 41 of the last 43 penalties against them.

The lottery-bound Coyotes, now 1-14-1 in their last 16 games, are a shadow of the team that lost to the Kings in the Western Conference finals in 2012.

"It's a land of opportunity when you're a team that's not in the playoff race," said Kings Coach Darryl Sutter at Monday's morning skate.

That land of opportunity could apply to the likes of rookie center Nick Shore and Andreoff. Andreoff's place in the lineup — this time — came after center Jarret Stoll was injured Thursday in Vancouver.

This was the first time Andreoff has played in back-to-back games since mid-January. He nearly scored Saturday, hitting the post against Nashville, and finally broke through in his 15th NHL game, beating Smith in close, off a terrific pass from a poised, patient Nolan. Defenseman Brayden McNabb had the second assist.

"I kind of blacked out. I couldn't really hear anything," Andreoff said. "I was just shocked. . . . I was very relieved to finally get it. I saw [Nolan] battling in the corner and he's a good playmaker. He would either put it in or give it to me for a backdoor tap-in."

Said Sutter: "Not many players get a chance of playing in the NHL or scoring goals. Good for him. Hopefully, he's got lots of game-winners left in him."

Earlier, Sutter had gone over his approach regarding less-experienced players, explaining his version of the land of opportunity.

"If they're going to play — even though some of them have been here for awhile — if they're going to play serious minutes for us, then we better win and they better produce. They better have a role that they embrace."

Sutter tweaked the lines at the start, putting Dustin Brown with center Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, and taking Trevor Lewis off the Kopitar line and put him with center Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli.

"We've got guys that haven't scored in 10 or 11 or 12 or 13, 14, 15 games, or whatever it is," Sutter said. ". . . We'll leave Jeff and Tyler together and leave Kopi and Gabby together and let everybody else see where they can play."

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

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Singers Justin Bieber, Miguel and Ludacris bring different parties to Las Vegas

A pop star, R&B singer and a rapper all partied in Las Vegas over the weekend, bringing their menagerie of music with them.

For Justin Bieber, it meant a 21st birthday party at the newly opened Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace on Saturday night. The pop star received a birthday cake shaped like a 1965 Lincoln Continental. He didn't sing a note, but did introduce deejay Martin Garrix to the crowd.

Biebs didn't stick around though. His paid gig sent him over to the nightclub's lounge, Heart of Omnia, where reality star mom Kris Jenner and "Scorpion" stars Katherine McPhee and Elyes Gabel were on hand to celebrate his March 1 birthday.

R&B singer Miguel was sans longtime girlfriend Nazanin Mandi when he sang at 1 OAK Nightclub at the Mirage on Friday night. He dressed the solo part too, wearing a white oversized T-shirt, black boots, dark jeans and a red scarf. Miguel sang four of his hits: "How Many Drinks," "Sure Thing," "Adorn," and "Simple Things." Athletes on hand included NFL players Dwight Freeney, Jason Taylor, Patrick Peterson and Rob Harper as well as NBA player Ray Allen.

At Surrender Nightclub at Encore Las Vegas, rapper Ludacris performed a 45-minute set on Friday night. His new album "Ludaversal" debuts on March 31, and he stars in the new "The Fast and Furious 7" coming out on April 3. His wife Eudoxie is expecting the couple's first child and Luda's third.

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