For Kings, the Hard Way Is Best This Time

Beware the three-goal lead against the Kings.

If and when the Kings manage to take a three-goal lead themselves, that’s when they should really be concerned. For now, they are content to lull teams into a sense of false security, skating up from behind and turning it into a game.

For the second time in three days, the Kings managed to rally from a three-goal deficit. But unlike in Philadelphia, this time they left the arena with two points, defeating the Washington Capitals, 4-3, on Saturday at USAir Arena before 12,297.

By scoring four unanswered goals, the Kings secured their first road victory of the season and it was the first win since the opener on Oct. 4. One former Capital started the Kings’ scoring--left wing Dimitri Khristich--and another former Washington player--defenseman John Slaney--finished the scoring with the game-winning goal at 6:31 of the third period.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t start a game 3-0,” King defenseman Rob Blake said. “It takes us three to get down, and away we go.”

Said Capital enforcer Craig Berube: “We were obviously ready to play--three goals in 10 minutes. Then we just fell asleep.”

That included Washington defenseman Phil Housley, who was sharp early on, scoring at 8:45 of the first to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead. But as everyone knows, he isn’t exactly a defensive defenseman, and was on the ice for three of the Kings’ four goals, giving Slaney plenty of room to launch a long slap shot from inside of the blue line above the left circle.

Slaney, who beat Washington goaltender Jim Carey on the glove side, was surprised the puck went in. It was Slaney’s first goal and second point of the season. Assisting on the game-winner were Eddie Olczyk and Kevin Stevens, who picked up his first point of the season.

“That felt so good,” Slaney said. “At the beginning of the game when we were down 3-0, it was like, ‘Here we go again.’ But we buried our nose and went out and worked hard. When that goal went in, I couldn’t believe it. It just felt good to score a goal.”

It meant a little bit more to score it here, however. Slaney, 24, was a former first-round pick (ninth overall) by the Capitals in the 1990 draft and never really made an impact in Washington. The Capitals essentially gave up on him for a draft choice, sending him to Colorado before last season. Then the Avalanche traded Slaney to the Kings in December for a sixth-round pick in the 1996 draft.

“Winning is more important than scoring the goal,” Slaney said. “A few years back [here], there was always one guy ahead of me and I never got a shot and I finally did and I stayed here. The way Shoney [Washington Coach Jim Schoenfeld] thinks, there’s one way and one way only. That’s just my opinion.”

This season, Slaney received something of a wake-up call when King Coach Larry Robinson scratched him from the lineup in Montreal on Wednesday. Slaney learned a lot from watching.

“Their ‘D’ was hanging on to the puck too much,” Slaney said. “Larry basically said, ‘Stop thinking and just react to the game.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing. It got to me, at the same time, I basically watched what the team was doing and I realized what had to be done.”

Robinson said the same thing about thinking too much once the Kings fell behind, 3-0, in the first 8:45. And it worked. Khristich scored at 14:08 of the first period and the Kings drew within a goal when left wing Barry Potomski scored at 18:33 for his first of the season. Defenseman Mattias Norstrom (first of the season) tied it, 3-3, at 4:03 of the second. Yanic Perreault added two assists.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Blake said. “A young team is going to take awhile. This team will grow in confidence. Wins like this on the road, their confidence will grow.”