Dafoe, Kings Now Thirsty for More

Byron Dafoe’s personal drought may not have been as long as the Kings’ winless streak on the road, but it was turning into an increasingly onerous companion for the struggling goaltender.

Fittingly, the twin terrors both disappeared on the same night. Dafoe won his first game in almost a month and the Kings ended a nine-game winless streak on the road, defeating the Sharks, 5-2, Friday night at San Jose Arena.

“It’s a big relief,” Dafoe said. “It may have been only four games [without a win], but when you’re not playing, you dwell on it. Going two periods without giving up a goal really got my confidence going. And we hung on for the win.”

Said King Coach Larry Robinson: “Right now, we’ll take any road victory we can get.”

The Kings (15-16-9) had not won away from the Forum since Nov. 13 at Anaheim, going 0-8-1. And lately, they have been struggling everywhere. This was only their second win in nine games.

San Jose has been a difficult opponent for the Kings, and one of the low points of this season was a 4-3 loss here on Dec. 22.

“It was probably in the back of everybody’s mind,” Gretzky said. “Over the last two years, one of our biggest problems is that we’ve been unable to beat San Jose, Anaheim and Edmonton. When you’re battling for a playoff spot, you can’t lose these games.”

The veterans have been blamed for most of the recent shortcomings, but two of them were mainly responsible for the victory. Gretzky had four points--an empty-net goal from the red line with only 22 seconds remaining and three assists--and Tony Granato scored twice and had one assist.

Dafoe, who had not won since beating Winnipeg on Dec. 6, had his shutout bid end early in the third period. He had stopped 25 shots before the Sharks’ first goal. Left wing Ray Whitney snuck in behind the King defensive pairing of Philippe Boucher and Steve Finn, flicked a shot at Dafoe from the right crease and the puck went in off the goalie’s glove.

The unassisted goal, Whitney’s seventh of the season, came only 27 seconds into the third.

The Kings took a 3-0 first-period lead on a pair of goals by Granato and another by Kevin Todd. Gretzky assisted on all three, giving him seven points in the last two games. Rookie defenseman Aki Berg had two assists.

Granato, who scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season, got the job done by simply driving to the net, an element often missing in the King offensive attack lately. The first goal, at 5:50, came off a creative passing play involving Berg, Gretzky and Granato. From behind the nat, Gretzky got a centering pass out front to Granato, who finished it off.

Todd’s goal made it 3-0 with only 9.3 seconds remaining in the first as he scored from the edge of the right circle, on a two-on-one attack with rookie right wing Vitali Yachmenev.

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King Notes

Defenseman Marty McSorley and forward Pat Conacher made the trip here on Thursday but both returned to Los Angeles on Friday. McSorley has been suffering from a pulled groin and a sore back, both of which have been getting progressively worse. McSorley is questionable for tonight’s game against the Sharks at the Forum. Conacher (strained back) was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least three more games. . . . Center Daniel Rydmark, the Kings’ sixth-round draft choice in 1989, has severed his ties with organization, leaving Phoenix to return to Sweden. . . . Defenseman Rob Cowie took a forearm to the face from Shark defenseman Jayson More in the second period and had to be helped off the ice by King trainer Pete Demers.