Smyth’s Scoring Enables Kings to Avoid Capital Gain With Tie

Brad Smyth may be one of the newest King players, but he is quickly becoming the team’s most consistent goal scorer. The Kings may point to Saturday night’s 4-4 tie with the Washington Capitals as the game that he assumed the role.

Smyth had two goals--including a game-tying score with 25.6 seconds left in regulation before an announced 10,354 at the Forum--to provide a better ending to an otherwise disappointing five-game home stand.

The Kings, who trailed by two goals late in third period, had to rally to finish 1-3-1 on the home stand. With 28 points, they remain tied for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference with Calgary and Phoenix.

“This was a big point for us, and we’ll take it,” King Coach Larry Robinson said. “[Smyth] is scoring a lot of goals and he’s always around the net. He’s making a big contribution for us.”

Phillipe Boucher began the comeback with a goal at the 1:29 mark before Smyth evened the score against the Capitals, who had lost their previous five games--including a loss to the Mighty Ducks on Friday night in Anaheim.

In seven games since being acquired in a Thanksgiving Day trade with Florida, Smyth has five goals with the Kings and six this season.

The Kings made two lineup changes Saturday after being defeated by Calgary, 5-1. Veteran center Neal Broten, who was called up from the minors on Friday, played in his first game as a King. He was joined in the lineup by left wing Barry Potomski, who was playing in his first game since October. Neither Broten nor Potomski scored, but both played well and added some spark to a team without Eddie Olczyk (flu), Doug Zmolek (shoulder sprain) and Yanic Perreault (abdominal strain).

For nearly the first 18 minutes, defense and the play of Byron Dafoe dominated. Then, things got crazy as the teams combined for four goals in the final 2:04 of the first period.

Forward Dimitri Khristich scored the first goal with one of the best individual efforts of the season for the Kings. He stole a pass by the Capitals’ Peter Bondra near the Kings’ blue line and then finished his breakaway with a shot past goalie Olaf Kolzig at the 17:56 mark.

Less than 75 seconds later, Washington tied the score with a bizarre unassisted goal by Sergei Gonchar. The Kings disputed the call because the Capitals’ Kelly Miller was laying in the crease and it appeared that Dafoe had stopped the puck with his left leg. The officials thought otherwise and the goal stood.

Smyth then took things into his own hands when he fought off Washington defenseman Joe Reekie behind the Capitals’ goal and from the left corner whacked the puck off Kolzig’s leg to give the Kings a 2-1 lead with eight seconds left in the period.

But before Smyth was finished receiving his congratulatory slaps on the back on the Kings’ bench, Washington tied the score. On a two-on-one, Michal Pivonka passed to Bondra, who squeezed the puck between Dafoe and the right post for his 14th goal with 1.9 seconds remaining.

The Capitals took a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal by Joe Juneau at 12:57 of the second period.