Kings Happy to Salvage Tie

Defenseman Steve Duchesne, exhaustion draining him, wearily counted wave after wave of attackers over the last 25 minutes.

Wing Bob Kudelski sat in the penalty box in the last minute and sweated out what he called “the longest 47 seconds of my career.”

Goalie Daniel Berthiaume hunched over in the net and counted down the last 12 seconds.

And when the last second had finally ticked away, the Kings were more than satisfied to skate out of Memorial Auditorium Friday night as survivors rather than winners, a 4-4 tie on the scoreboard and a point in hand.

On the Buffalo side, there were smiles of joy. On the Kings’ side, smiles of relief.

These were two clubs that had entered this game on opposite sides of that element called momentum.

The Kings were undefeated heading into the third game of a four-game trip, had a three-game winning streak, were on top of the Smythe Division and seemingly on top of their game.

The Sabres, on the other hand, had lost six straight, within one of the club record. Coach Rick Dudley was said to be in trouble and half the team seemed to be mentioned in trade rumors.

For two periods, the clubs played true to recent form. The Kings, on goals by Kudelski, his 19th of the season, Duchesne (16th), Tomas Sandstrom (29th) and John McIntyre (fifth), had a 4-2 lead.

Although he was held without a shot for the second straight game, Wayne Gretzky had contributed the night’s most impressive assist on Duchesne’s goal.

Heading for his customary spot behind the opposing net, Gretzky instead stopped just short of there.

The defense was already leaning in that direction. So was goalie Daren Puppa.

Gretzky whipped the puck back to Duchesne, coming in from the left side.

Everybody was surprised. Including Duchesne.

“The goalie was still looking at Wayne,” said Duchesne, describing the open net he found before him. “I was still looking at him, too. It was an awesome pass. With Wayne, you’ve got to be ready all the time.”

Duchesne whipped the puck in before Puppa could get back.

Buffalo’s first two goals were scored by Alexander Mogilny (21st) and Dave Andreychuk (20th).

Then, in the third period, it all changed.

The Sabres found their offense and the Kings lost theirs.

Christian Ruuttu scored his 11th goal with 5:54 gone in the period.

Halfway through that period, King defenseman Rob Blake, trying to stop a charge by Mogilny, tripped him up with his stick, sending the Sabre wing from the Soviet Union, crashing into the boards.

Mogilny left with a separated shoulder. But that further inspired the Sabres and the crowd of 16,325.

Buffalo seemed to keep the puck in the Kings’ zone for the entire period.

With 13:17 gone in that period, defenseman Grant Ledyard got the tying goal, scoring his second of the season on a 35-footer from the slot.

In all, the Sabres outshot the Kings 17-3 in the third period and 5-2 in the overtime, giving them a 22-5 edge.

“They were all over us,” Duchesne said. “It was tough to do anything offensively.”

The Kings didn’t get a shot in the last 11 minutes of regulation play.

But they still had one big opportunity to pull out the victory in the overtime.

A missed shot by Luc Robitaille was rebounded by Brad Jones, whose subsequent shot went by the Buffalo goalie, but bounced off the leg of Todd Elik and stopped dead, short of the goal line. Elik took a swipe at the puck, but couldn’t get it across.

Goalie Darcy Wakaluk, who had relieved Puppa at the start of the third period, swiftly covered up the puck.

“I was too tight in there,” Elik said. “I should have backed out before shooting.”

With 47 seconds to play, the Sabres had one last chance after Kudelski, checked into the boards by Mike Ramsey, was called for cross-checking the Buffalo defenseman.

“I gave him a shove, but I didn’t think it was hard enough to be called,” Kudelski said. “I was sitting in that penalty box sweating and praying that they would not score.”

They didn’t, despite calling a timeout with 12 seconds left to plot one final assault.

“It was time this one was finished,” Berthiaume said. “They just seemed to get stronger and stronger. We’re glad to get out of here with a point.”

In all, Buffalo outshot the Kings 41-22.

The Kings are now 31-18-6 and their division lead is five points over the Calgary Flames.

Buffalo is 21-23-11.

“It’s really not complete,” Ledyard said of the losing streak, “because we didn’t win. For all the chances we had, my God, I thought we’d win.”