Claustrophobia No Problem for Kings, 4-2

The tighter the game, the more the Kings seem to enjoy themselves.

Despite having so many young players whose nerves might be expected to fray under pressure, the Kings withstood a 46-shot Boston attack and recorded their third consecutive victory, pulling away in the third period for a 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins before an announced Forum crowd of 9,806.

“These are the fun ones,” said King winger Barry Potomski, who showed a surprising bit of finesse in scoring the third goal, redirecting a pass from Ian Laperriere past Boston goaltender Scott Bailey at 8:34 of the third period. Yanic Perreault scored into an empty net with 33.4 seconds to play, his second goal of the night, to clinch the victory for the Kings (4-3-0).

“Guys realize this is the kind of game we’re going to be in all year,” Potomski added. “We talked about it between periods. We’re not going to get six goals a game and we can’t play wide-open hockey.”

The Bruins (2-2-1) had cut the Kings’ lead to 3-2 with 6:03 left in the third period when Ted Donato jabbed the puck under Stephane Fiset’s left arm during a power play. It was only the second power-play goal scored against the Kings in 33 opportunities this season.

Fiset made 44 saves as the Kings ended a four-game winless streak against the Bruins. Their last victory over the Bruins was on Oct. 17, 1992.

“Sometimes the goalie is going to make the team win, and other nights the team is going to make the goalie win,” said Fiset, who stopped 19 of 20 shots in the second period. “I think we got some leaders on this team to give us confidence in tight games like this. We’ve got to learn because this is the kind of game you have to play in the playoffs.”

Unlike their last few games, the Kings didn’t fall behind in the first period. They took the lead 6:56 into the game thanks to the diligence of Dimitri Khristich, who escaped the clutches of Bruin defenseman Kyle McLaren and made a nice move to get past McLaren and throw the puck toward the net. Bruin defenseman Ray Bourque threw himself across the crease but couldn’t keep Perreault from tapping the puck in from the left of the net.

The Bruins dominated the second period, outshooting the Kings, 20-7, but the Kings didn’t cave in. Coach Larry Robinson was pleased at that, but he otherwise wanted to forget the period. “I couldn’t pick out anything we did well,” he said. “I’d say this was probably the ugliest win you could get.”

It may not have been a gem, but when was the last time a King coach could afford to be fussy about artistic merit?

The Bruins pulled even at 8:44 on a goal scored by defenseman Kyle McLaren off a faceoff in the Kings’ end, but the Kings came back with a short-handed goal at 18:36. That chance developed when Bourque, a 12-time all-star, lost the puck at the blue line under pressure while the Bruins made a defensive change. Olczyk used his body to get position on Bourque and keep Bourque from playing the puck, leaving it free for Khristich to pick up. Khristich threw it toward the net, but Bourque had recovered and tried to block it. He got his stick on the puck and deflected it to the corner, where Khristich regained possession. He threw it in front of the net to Olczyk, who jammed it in for his second goal of the season.

Potomski extended the lead to 3-1 when he played the puck along the boards and passed to Laperriere, who was behind the goal line. As Potomski went to the net, Laperriere flicked it back to him and he redirected it past Bailey for his second goal of the season. Dan Bylsma was credited with the second assist, his first NHL point.

“Kurri and Gretzky,” Laperriere said, laughingly comparing himself and Potomski to Jari Kurri and Wayne Gretzky. “I was in my office [Gretzky’s favorite playmaking spot behind the goal line]. Hello, I don’t think so.”

The Kings played most of the game without defenseman Doug Zmolek, who suffered a concussion when he checked Steve Heinze near center ice about six minutes into the game and got the worst of the collision. His status is day to day.