At the Last Minute, Kings Barely Hold Red Wings Off, 5-4

The long-standing notion that no King lead is safe, regardless of the circumstances, was put up for debate again in the final two minutes of Tuesday night’s National Hockey League game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Having withstood a two-man disadvantage for more than a minute late in the third period, the Kings probably figured they could exhale, relax and coast with what looked to be an insurmountable three-goal lead with just two minutes to play.

Turns out, it was potentially surmountable.

The Red Wings broke out of a protracted period of sloth in time to score two goals in a 13-second span in those final two minutes to cut the Kings’ lead to 5-4. And the scary part for the Kings was that, after the second of the two goals, there was still more than a minute to play--66 seconds to be exact.

There were also more than a few anxious moments as the Red Wings pulled goaltender Greg Stefan with 53 seconds remaining and pressured the Kings unmercifully. Somehow, the Kings protected the puck and skated out of the clock for that harrowing 5-4 win before a Forum crowd of 7,257, many of whom knew better than to leave early.

The Kings had to be thankful that the game had not lasted a minute longer.

“It’s a pretty sad deal when you give up those (goals) at the end as we did,” said King winger Bryan Erickson, who was on the ice for both of the goals. “But that’s the nature of the game.”

No, that’s the nature of the Kings.

It’s as if the Kings figure they might receive more points for degree of difficulty. Three unanswered goals--by Dave (Tiger) Williams, Jimmy Carson and Bryan Erickson--in the first 12:08 of the third period staked the Kings to a 5-2 lead. All they had to do for the remaining eight minutes of regulation was segue into a prevent defense to protect the lead.

“We got greedy, instead,” said defenseman Garry Galley, who had a career-high three assists.

Suddenly awakening from their slumber and taking advantage of a few King blunders, the Red Wings began their comeback.

Detroit center Steve Yzerman intercepted Erickson’s clearing pass, intended for Mark Hardy, in the Kings’ zone and passed to Gerard Gallant for an easy goal at 18:41.

That made it 5-3 Kings, with 1:29 to play. Still no time for panic, but maybe concern.

Yzerman won the ensuing faceoff and gave the puck to Gallant, who began an unmolested rush toward King goalie Darren Eliot. Gallant moved the puck to Doug Shedden on the break, and Shedden knocked it past a sprawling Eliot at 18:54.

That made it 5-4 Kings, and a time to panic.

This time, the Red Wings threw all they had at the Kings, who bunched around Eliot in the slot and managed to limit Detroit to only a series of near misses.

Detroit outshot the Kings, 22-21,

and Eliot earned his second straight win despite giving up 10 goals in the two games. The defense--or lack of it--has had a lot to do with it.

“It’s getting ridiculous now,” veteran defenseman Jay Wells said. “We’re all mad and disgusted at those goals. . . . They didn’t have to work too hard for any of those goals.”

Although it may have been a classic Kings game for all the wrong reasons, they still managed to pull out the win, which was all that was important to them. The Kings are 10-14-2 and, with 22 points, remain in fourth place in the Smythe Division.

“We were very fortunate we got away with what happened,” Galley said. “At the end, you just want to finish up strong. The L.A. Kings can’t afford to play like that at the end. One little mistake and (the puck) winds up in the net. But we got the two points (for the win), and that’s all that really matters.”

The Kings had little trouble putting the puck in Detroit’s net, which is an achievement since the Red Wings, who are 9-13-2, entered the game ranked third in the league in goals-against with 73.

After Detroit took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Adam Oates and Doug Kocur (the Kings got one by Morris Lukowich), the teams played perhaps the most lackadaisical second period of the season, combining for just nine shots on goal.

One of those wound up in the net, though, when Wells fired a slap shot from the left point that deflected off Jim Fox and past a surprised Stefan at 17:12, tying the score.

The first 12 minutes of the third period was when the Kings played their best hockey of the night.

They took the offensive almost from the start of the period, Williams scoring on a deflection just 2:24 into the period. Galley, on the right point, took a pass from Fox and cranked up a slap shot toward Stefan. For one of the few times in the game, there was not a crowd in front of the net, but Williams skated through the slot in time to deflect it into the net.

At 10:09, Carson drilled a shot past Stefan after a two-on-one break with Lukowich, giving the Kings a 4-2 lead.

If that didn’t figure to be cushion enough, the Kings added a power-play goal 1:59 later when Marcel Dionne dug the puck out of the corner and found Erickson open in the slot.

King Coach Pat Quinn was pleased by his team’s offensive output and not too surprised by the defensive lapses.

“When you throw caution to the wind to score goals, you gamble,” Quinn said. “Tonight, we did that.”

Fortunately for the Kings, they also lived to tell about it.

King Notes

Left wing Luc Robitaille did not play because of a sprained right knee, and defenseman Grant Ledyard was out with a strained left shoulder. Other King scratches were defenseman Craig Redmond, right wing Paul Guay and goalie Bob Janecyk. . . . The Kings continue their second-longest home stand of the season Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. . . . Last Saturday night’s goal-fest--a 9-6 win over New Jersey--accounted for several season highs for the Kings. Their nine goals were the most they had scored since last Feb. 1, when they scored nine against Winnipeg. Their five second-period goals were their high for the season in one period. Also, the combined total of 15 was only one short of the King-game record of 16, which has been reached four times.