Frustrated Kings Baffled After Tie in St. Louis

Poise and precision gave way to outright panic in St. Louis as the Kings squandered a two-goal lead in a 28-second span Tuesday night and were left grasping for answers after a 5-5 tie against the Blues.

Could it be a case of hockey yips infecting an entire team? Or does a simple lack of talent eventually surface even when there is about a minute left in regulation?

Whatever the reason, the Blues rallied with 1:01 remaining on two goals by two checking forwards, no less. Some of the crowd of 18,240 at the Kiel Center had left long before center Guy Carbonneau stuffed in a rebound of a Kevin Miller shot at 18:59. Miller had intercepted the errant clearing pass of Mike Donnelly.

Then, with 33 seconds remaining in regulation, center Esa Tikkanen jammed in a shot between King goaltender Jamie Storr’s legs to tie it, 5-5. King defenseman Darryl Sydor failed to clear out defenseman Doug Lidster behind the net and Lidster threw the puck out front.

Both teams had opportunities to win in overtime. The Kings had one power play and the Blues finished the game on the power play when Storr took a delay-of-game penalty with 1:49 left, smothering a loose puck in the left circle with Brendan Shanahan bearing down on him.

But quite clearly, the tie was a crushing blow for the Kings (2-5-2), still without defenseman Rob Blake. The Blues played without defenseman Al MacInnis, who is out because of a shoulder injury and No. 2 goaltender Jon Casey looked decidedly mediocre.

“This tie is devastating, it’s like a loss,” said Wayne Gretzky, who had one assist.

Said defenseman Marty McSorley: “The bottom line is we have to be upset with ourselves. We didn’t win the hockey game. If we don’t think enough of ourselves to hold a two-goal lead, then we’re in trouble.”

Long forgotten were any positives: Right wing Rick Tocchet had two goals and one assist as the Kings had a season-high five goals. Dan Quinn recorded two assists, his first points as a King. And the special teams excelled with two power-play goals and the penalty-killing unit held the Blues without a power-play goal in five opportunities.

With the Kings only one point ahead of last-place Vancouver in the Western Conference, a tie is not enough.

“We’ve got too many guys that are scared to play when the game is on the line,” King Coach Barry Melrose said. “That’s the difference between winning and losing.

“We’ve just got to get over that hump. Get the guys on the ice who expect good things to happen and don’t accept anything else. They’ve got to make the play at the key time. It’s got to be our best players. They’re going to be on the ice in those situations. When that puck comes around the wall, they’ve got to get it out. Down low, they’ve got to win those battles. “

After nine games, the Kings have shown they can win those battles in the first and second periods. With a couple of exceptions, the third period has been the exception.

“Up, 5-3, with a minute left, that’s just not good enough,” Gretzky said. “We just kind of gave it away in one minute. It’s extremely tough for us.

“You just can’t allow two goals to be scored in a minute. We make two mistakes and, bang, they score two goals. Right now, some guys probably are a little gun shy and we’ve got to get rid of that attitude.”

Veterans are making the mistakes. Rookie aren’t immune, either.

Melrose gave mixed reviews of the rookie Storr, who faced 39 shots.

“He’s got to be stronger too, that’s no excuse,” Melrose said. “He’s got to be out there, on his toes. He’s got to be challenging.

“On both of them (the Blues’ final two goals), the goaltender has to be strong. Jamie made a big save in overtime, but in those (third-period) scrums, he has to be big in the net. That’s what Jamie has to learn to do in those situations.”

Said Gretzky: “Next time we’re up 5-3 with a minute left, we’ll be fine, I’ll make sure of it.”

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King Notes

As expected, the team assigned two defenseman, Chris Snell and Rob Cowie, back to their minor-league squad in Phoenix.