Kings Get a Jolt From Rookie Goaltender

Just when it looked like the Kings were ready to emerge as a legitimate playoff contender, they play a game like they did Tuesday night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning took advantage of the Kings’ power play ineffectiveness to win, 3-0, before 16,458 at the Ice Palace for only their second home victory of the season.

The Kings, who had a 5-1-3 record over their previous nine games, twice failed to score when they had a major power-play advantage--including a five-on-three, first-period power play against struggling Tampa Bay rookie goaltender Corey Schwab.

“We weren’t sharp, it wasn’t just our power play itself,” defenseman Rob Blake said. “The players weren’t moving crisply. We weren’t making the right plays and they were beating us to the puck.”

The Kings (9-8-3) did not do much right against the Lightning (7-9-2), who had lost three in a row before Tuesday. Their only bright spot was the effort of goalie Byron Dafoe, who had a five-game win streak end despite stopping 31 of 34 shots on goal.

“We just got a little scrambly on our own end, especially around the net,” said Dafoe, who dropped to 5-2 on the season. “There were some occasions where we gave it up, but you have to give credit to Tampa in the fact they were forechecking with two guys and put a lot of pressure on our defense.”

The Kings hurt themselves when they were unable to capitalize on a five-on-three advantage eight minutes into the game. During the two-minute power play, the Kings had three solid scoring chances, but came up empty against Schwab, who stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season and improved to 6-7-1.

The Lightning’s confidence in Schwab appeared shaky before the game when they acquired Calgary goaltender Rick Tabaracci for center Aaron Gavey. With normal starter Daren Puppa sidelined because of a back injury, Tampa Bay had been rotating Schwab and Derek Wilkinson the last month without much success.

Against the Kings, however, Schwab played like the next Patrick Roy.

The Lightning broke a scoreless tie 13:26 into the first period when center Daymond Langkow whacked a rebound from the right side of the slot that went through the legs of Dafoe.

Trailing, 1-0, the Kings went to their checking line that included enforcer Matt Johnson. It did not take long before he made his presence felt in a big way when he responded to a takedown and spear by left wing Shawn Burr and slashed him from behind in front of the Kings’ net. Johnson received a major game misconduct.

Tampa Bay had four shots on goal during Johnson’s penalty but was unable to score. But the Kings did not gain any momentum from their penalty killing units as Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead 7:10 into the second period on center John Cullen’s goal.

The back-breaker for the Kings came late in the second period when Cullen was called for a five-minute match penalty for intentionally trying to injure the Kings’ Ian Laperriere.

The Kings had an opportunity to get back into the game, but that didn’t happen because Blake was stripped of the puck in front of the Kings’ net by Tampa Bay left wing Rob Zamuner, who beat Dafoe for his third goal of the season with 1:03 remaining in the period.

“He just stole it and made a good play,” Blake said. “It turned the game around. I shouldn’t have brought [the puck] out from behind the net like that.”

The Kings, who play the Florida Panthers tonight in Miami, never really threatened after Zamuner’s goal. After scoring in 11 consecutive periods, they were shut out by a goalie who had won only once in his last nine starts.

“We lost all the battles,” King Coach Larry Robinson said. “We got outhustled down the ice. We got outhustled in the corners. We got beat all over the ice. It’s as simple as that.”