After Surging, Lapsing, Kings End Up With a Tie

Some Kings saw their 2-2 tie with the Ottawa Senators Wednesday at the Corel Centre as a case of the hypothetical glass being half full, because they earned a point despite a furious third-period attack by the skillful and suddenly energized Senators.

Other Kings viewed the glass as half empty, because they took a 2-0 lead into the final period of their second game in two and might have had their first consecutive road victories in more than a year if they could have held on after killing a five-on-three Ottawa power play.

As far as glasses go, the only certainty was that the glass behind the net was shattered by a Radek Bonk slap shot with 1:57 left in the opening period, leading to an early intermission. As far as hockey goes, Larry Robinson took the more pessimistic view, pointing to several defensive mistakes in the third period that led to Alexei Yashin’s goal at 4:37 and the tying goal by Daniel Alfredsson at 9:29 and cost the Kings a victory.

King left wing Kevin Stevens, however, saw no shame in tying the Senators, who are 2-0-2 at home but drew only 13,053 fans Wednesday.

“They’re a good team. They’re not the same team they were,” he said of the Senators, who had the NHL’s worst record in each of their previous three seasons. “Yashin is obviously off to a good start, and [Alexandre] Daigle, maybe it’s his year to come back and play well.”

Said King goalie Stephane Fiset: “You always want to win, especially when you have a 2-0 lead, but this is a big point. We’re going to take every point we have this year. I’m just happy we came out with a win and a tie and three points in two nights.”

They appeared poised to go two for two in the first half of this trip, scoring twice in the second period and outplaying the Senators for much of the time.

Brent Grieve, signed to provide depth for the Kings’ Phoenix affiliate--and was assigned to the Roadrunners during training camp before injuries led the Kings to bring him back--scored the game’s first goal, at 6:38 of the second period by being aggressive around the net. Ottawa goalie Damian Rhodes made a leg save on the initial shot, off a rush up the right side by Dan Bylsma, and Ed Olczyk whacked at it before Grieve stepped in.

Craig Johnson extended the lead with his first goal of the season, scored while Janne Laukkanen served a high-sticking penalty. Johnson, who missed the first seven games of the season because of an abdominal strain, whacked at the rebound of a shot by Philippe Boucher and saw it go in after Ottawa defenseman Wade Radden pushed him into Rhodes and pushed the puck over the goal line.

The Senators roared back in the third period. Yashin remained among the league’s goal-scoring leaders when he recorded his ninth, at 4:37, after skating out from behind the net and into the slot. “Yashin had two guys beside him but got the shot anyway,” Robinson said. “We were playing the man in front and not playing the stick as well.”

Alfredsson, the NHL’s rookie of the year last season, brought the Senators even with a power-play goal at 9:29, only the fifth scored against the Kings this season in 65 tries. They had killed off a five-on-three that resulted from a roughing penalty on Rob Blake and a slashing penalty called on Doug Zmolek as he pursued Daigle in the corner, but Alfredsson cruised into the slot to take a pass from Yashin and score on a backhander.

Fiset acknowledged he was hoping for a shutout Wednesday. “For sure, I thought about it,” he said, “but we played a great game tonight. They have a lot of skill players, and when they’re working hard, they’re tough to stop.”

Said Olczyk: “For two periods we just kind of gutted it out, then we have a breakdown and they get that power-play goal. . . . We’ll take the point, but I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get the full slate.”