Kings See Stars, but Hrudey Stays Awake : Hockey: He makes 42 saves, including one big one, to preserve a 2-2 tie against Dallas.

Whether it is Kelly Hrudey or Byron Dafoe, goaltending has been the main thing keeping the Kings afloat against the Dallas Stars.

Saturday night, Hrudey made 42 saves and managed to salvage a 2-2 overtime tie for the Kings at the Forum. A little less than a month ago, Dafoe performed similar heroics in the net as he faced 55 shots in a 3-3 tie against the Stars in Dallas.

The Kings (11-10-6) have won only once in their last seven games, going 1-5-1, but without Hrudey’s performance, it might been another loss. This time, Hrudey did not have to face 50-something shots, but he came up big in the third period when the game was on the line. His toughest moment--a sliding pad save--came at 9:25 when he stopped right wing Jere Lehtinen, who was in front all alone. Lehtinen’s point-blank shot came off a pass from Greg Adams, who was behind the net.

By then, the teams were locked in a 2-2 tie after defenseman Rob Cowie helped keep Kings from losing for the sixth time in seven games. Cowie’s third-period goal, at 8:46, came on something of a quick flip shot from above the right circle about 40 feet out and it seemed to surprise Star goaltender Andy Moog. It was Cowie’s third goal and second in the last five games.

As it turned out, the Stars’ offensive damage did not come from the usual suspects--Mike Modano and Dave Gagner were held pointless. Instead, the goals came from former King center Corey Millen and enforcer Shane Churla.

Churla, playing in his 400th career NHL game, is more known for his fists than his finesse. He has 2,037 career penalty minutes and only 22 goals, until Saturday.

His 23rd career goal and first point of the season put Dallas ahead, 2-1, at 2:06 of the third. Guy Carbonneau set him up after being pulled wide on the right wing by King defenseman Sean O’Donnell. Churla looked like a veteran goal scorer as he deftly one-timed the shot past Hrudey on the stick side.

Millen may have started the season in the minors, but he was dangerous all night as he scored by flicking a backhander past Hrudey after Star defenseman Kevin Hatcher’s shot rebounded off the end boards.

It was Millen’s third of the season, coming at 12:57 in the first period.

One period later, King forward Tony Granato tied it with his 10th goal of the season, scoring as he was falling down after taking a centering pass from forward Robert Lang. Lang, who had been out for six games because of a strained back, has six assists in 20 games.

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King Notes

The announced crowd was 13,864 but there remained a significant amount of no-shows in the prime seating areas, which are mostly made up of Senate Seat holders. It was the Kings’ 13th home game and they have had only two sellouts at the Forum, and seven games in which the announced crowd was less than 14,000.

After the game, inconsistent defenseman Denis Tsygurov was assigned to the Kings’ minor league team in Phoenix. After falling into disfavor with Coach Larry Robinson during the last trip, Tsygurov was scratched for four consecutive games. He had six points in 18 games. It was not announced how long the assignment would last. “I have no idea,” General Manager Sam McMaster said. “It’s not confidence, it’s consistency. He played great for awhile and then not so great. That’s when coaches get mad at you.” . . . Rookie defenseman Aki Berg, who has also struggled to gain consistency, was scratched from the lineup. Berg has two assists in 24 games and has a minus-five defensive rating.