Kings Miss the Point in a 5-5 Tie : Hockey: Donnelly’s shot in overtime stops on goal line, denying them victory against Maple Leafs that would have put them within two points of Flames.

There were the Kings, inching closer to second place in the Smythe Division, and there was Mike Donnelly’s shot, inches away from the goal that would have put the Kings within two points of the Calgary Flames.

Donnelly blew past defenseman Jamie Macoun and raced in on goaltender Felix Potvin and put the puck past him, but it stopped on the goal line.

There it stayed, and Toronto held on for a 5-5 tie against the Kings on Wednesday at the sweltering Maple Leaf Gardens. Potvin swept the puck away and after the game, the replay showed that it never completely crossed the line.

The verdict obviously heartened the sellout crowd of 15,720 and pushed the Maple Leafs’ unbeaten streak at home to 11 games. The third-place Kings (36-32-9) felt it was a hard-earned point against the hottest team in the NHL, as the tie brought them within three points of second-place Calgary in the Smythe Division.

Donnelly nearly made it two with his blazing speed. He wasn’t quite sure, so he threw his arms in the air to celebrate.

“For a split second I thought it was (in),” said Donnelly, who had one assist. “It never hurts to put your arms in the air. I thought it hit the post and hit the back of (Potvin’s) leg. Any time it’s close, my arms are going in the air.”

At the start of this 11-day, six-game trip, the Kings’ goal was to get within two or three points of Calgary by the trip’s end.

Said goaltender Robb Stauber, who has lost only once in his last six starts: “We’re not nearly as disappointed as we were (tying) Winnipeg. Now the worst we can do on this trip is .500.”

King Coach Barry Melrose used more of his bench, relying on all four lines and six defensemen because of the long trip and the unusual heat in the arena. Because of this, the Kings were relatively fresh in the third period and overtime. Leading the Kings was rookie defenseman Alexei Zhitnik with two goals, a career first. Left wing Luc Robitaille had one goal (his 56th) and one assist and Tony Granato added one goal (37th) and one assist. Zhitnik scored his 10th of the season at 9:17 of the second period, finishing off a three-on-one as the trailer when he put the rebound of Granato’s shot past Potvin. That gave the Kings a 3-2 lead.

Rookie defenseman Drake Berehowsky tied it at 3-3 with a power-play goal when his slap shot from the left point beat Stauber with 15 seconds to play in the second period.

After Toronto’s Rob Pearson made it 4-3 at 2:16 of the third, the Kings came back to take the lead on consecutive goals by Zhitnik and Kurri only 2:10 apart. Kurri’s goal, his 27th, came when Maple Leaf center Doug Gilmour accidentally deflected Kurri’s shot past Potvin at 6:13.

Gilmour then set up the tying-goal with a drop pass to Nikolai Borschevsky in the slot. Borschevsky, alone, beat Stauber on the glove side.

The Maple Leafs had five shots in the third period and scored on two to keep their unbeaten streak at seven, going 5-0-2. Nevertheless, Toronto Coach Pat Burns was impressed with the way the Kings are playing.

“This team (the Kings) is the best in the Smythe Division in my opinion,” Burns said. “We can’t take chances with them. We’re lucky, let’s put it that way.”