Storr Slams the Door in Kings’ 1-0 Victory

In his first start of the season, goaltender Jamie Storr gave the Kings the effort they’ve been waiting for since they made him the seventh overall pick of the 1994 draft in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.

Storr, recalled Wednesday, was brilliant in making 32 saves to earn his first NHL shutout before 18,095 at the United Center. Glen Murray scored the only goal as the Kings extended their win streak to three games.

“Jamie played an outstanding game,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, whose team moved above .500 at 15-14-6. “He was solid and he saved our butts a few times, especially late in the game when he stopped some good chances.”

Storr was at his best when the Kings needed him the most in the final minutes of the third period. Chicago, which has been shut out at home four times, outshot the Kings, 10-3, in the period but Storr made it look easy with one save after another.

The Blackhawks, winless in their last nine home games, had their best chance snuffed with 40.8 seconds remaining when Tony Amonte whacked a pass out of the air from the edge of the left circle only to have Storr make a pad save to preserve the victory.

“Jamie did most of it himself, he was ready to play; he wanted to play and he came out and showed us,” King defenseman Doug Zmolek said. “They had a lot of shots and he saved them all.

“Once he saved a couple and got on a roll, it got to be a little bit easier for him. He [now] has the confidence to stay in there. In the last minute he had some unbelievable saves, [especially] that one on Amonte.”

Storr had to wait in the wings his first three seasons with most of his game experience coming in the International Hockey League.

He played sparingly with the Kings in appearing in 15 games and had a 6-5-2 record in the NHL. But the Kings finally opened up a roster position for him when they traded Byron Dafoe to Boston in August.

“We never denied the fact that he has a tremendous amount of talent,” Robinson said. “The thing we had been looking for from him was a good strong work ethic. Not just in games because when a game is on the line, this kid is as good as they come. He battles. But we didn’t like his [practice] work ethic.”

With his chance to finally impress the King coaching staff, Storr looked good early in training camp, but suffered a right groin injury in his last exhibition start.

He began the season on injured reserve and watched as Frederic Chabot, last season’s IHL most valuable player, got his starts. Once Storr recovered, the Kings sent him to Long Beach to get a few IHL games under his belt. He played in 10 games with the Ice Dogs and had a 6-2-1 record with a 3.06 goals-against average before the Kings brought him back last week.

Storr said he was nervous before his first start but no more than usual. He had to make only eight saves in the first period and as the game went on, his dominance grew.

“When I came up, I just wanted to make sure that I was able to contribute in some way to show them that whenever [starter Stephane Fiset] gets tired that I could go in and do the job,” Storr said.

“[I tried to remember] that this is still a hockey game out there, the same game that we always play. It’s just a little bit more different, a little more fans. I just wanted to go out there and work hard.”

With Chicago goaltender Jeff Hackett, who had not given up a goal in over six periods, playing just as strong, the game remained scoreless until 1:33 remained in the second period.

Zmolek, who has assists in his last two games, started the play when he kept the puck in Chicago’s zone along the boards. Murray picked up the puck and passed to Yanic Perreault, who gave it back to Murray. Murray scored from the slot to put the Kings ahead, 1-0.