Kings Tie North Stars as Stauber Goes Home

His Minnesota homecoming Saturday night was almost a microcosm of goaltender Robb Stauber’s peculiar NHL career with the Kings.

A horrendous beginning.

Flashes of brilliance.

Signs of future promise.

That’s the way it has been for Stauber since he signed a five-year, $1-million deal with the Kings in June of 1989 at the NHL Entry Draft here at the Met Center.

And that’s the way it was Saturday during the Kings’ 5-5 tie against Minnesota North Stars before a sellout crowd of 15,174. The Kings (5-3-1) battled from behind the entire way before Tomas Sandstrom’s goal with 1:04 remaining sent it into overtime.

Less than a minute and a half earlier, the North Stars had taken the lead when Mike Craig scored after working the two-on-one down low with Mike Modano against defenseman Darryl Sydor.

Stauber, the Duluth, Minn., native who was a virtual state hero when he won the Hobey Baker Award at the University of Minnesota, faced 50 shots. In overtime, Minnesota had eight shots against him to the Kings’ one. And left wing Mike McPhee was especially dangerous, with three quality chances.

“We just can’t keep giving them that many scoring chances,” said King left wing Mike Donnelly, whose two third-period goals led the second of three King comebacks.

“He (Stauber) came up very large. He was the key to the 5-5 tie.”

Stauber claimed he wasn’t nervous despite playing in front of his family and friends. Falling behind by a goal only 16 seconds into the game and by three within the first seven minutes didn’t deter him, either.

“I never got down during the game,” said Stauber, who is unbeaten in three starts (2-0-1). “I never thought, ‘Oh boy, we’re going to lose this one.’

“It’s been awhile since I’ve come back here. And I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. I think that helps you adjust as a person and hockey player as well. When they came down and scored right away, you say, ‘That’s OK, I’ll get the next one.’ ”

Actually, the North Stars’ first goal really wasn’t a goal. Former King Todd Elik, after the opening faceoff, skated down the left wing and looked as if he beat Stauber on the short side with a shot from the circle at 16 seconds.

Stauber looked shocked and glanced behind him. On the bench, King Coach Barry Melrose asked assistant Cap Raeder to review the replay after the first period. He wanted Raeder to see what kind of angle Stauber had on the goal.

On another angle of the replay, Melrose and Raeder spotted what the goal judge failed to see--the puck had gone through the side of the net.

“We found it by accident,” Melrose said. “There’s a case where instant replay didn’t help.”

The King coaches got referee Denis Morel to review the replay after the game. Morel agreed that the puck went through the side of the net, Melrose said.

But it was a moot point. The North Stars, after the Elik goal, kept the pressure on and went ahead by 3-0 on power-play goals by Tommy Sjodin and Modano. In all, Minnesota scored three power-play goals on eight opportunities. The Kings were one for six with the man advantage.

Stauber blamed himself for Sjodin’s goal, a slap shot from the right point. Donnelly said that the team deserved some blame for the shaky first period.

“In the first period, we let him down,” he said of Stauber. “Stauber played unbelievably. He battled all night.”

Stauber’s task got easier once the Kings’ offense got going, namely the line of Donnelly-Corey Millen-Sandstrom. Millen, playing for the first time in five games after suffering a strained lower back, had one assist. Sandstrom, in addition to scoring the game-tying goal, added two assists and Donnelly scored twice. Donnelly hadn’t scored in the first eight games.

His first goal, which was at 3:41 of the third period, came on a breakaway and pulled the Kings within one. About three minutes later, he made the score 4-4 when Minnesota’s Russ Courtnall turned the puck over in the neutral zone and gave him the opportunity to go in alone on goaltender Jon Casey.

“I think you have to give high marks to Los Angeles,” Minnesota Coach Bob Gainey said. “They were down 3-0, pulled together, took advantage of our mistakes and they turned it into a great game. . . . If we had a little stronger goaltending, it might have made a difference.”