At Last, Kurri Reaches His Goal

Former King Jari Kurri might have needed more games than he had hoped for to get his 600th goal, but the crafty forward is glad he finally reached the mark Tuesday in Colorado’s 5-1 victory over the Kings.

Kurri started the play on his historic goal by keeping the puck in the King zone and finished it by deflecting a pass from Alexei Gusarov into the net at 3:21 of the first period.

“It’s a great relief to get it over with,” said Kurri, who needed 35 games this season to score four goals. “I don’t think I was able to play relaxed because every time I went to shoot it, I was nervous. I wasn’t able to play with a lot of confidence. I’m going to look at this puck for a while.”

Coach Larry Robinson said Kurri, who played for the Kings from 1991 to 1996, deserves the honor.

“He’s a good hockey player, who is a very classy individual,” Robinson said. “Getting 600 goals is a great achievement.”

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Before Claude Lemieux scored a power-play goal for Colorado in the second period, the Kings had killed 21 consecutive short-handed situations during their three-game winning streak before Tuesday.

“Sooner or later it was going to catch up with us,” Robinson said of the Kings’ tendency to get called for penalties.

“[Colorado] wanted to get us into a rush game and open the ice up. They have great skilled players and the [Peter] Forsberg line is eating up everyone in the league. You have to play them tight and in their face.”

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The Kings are 6-9-5 on the road and 4-3 in the Pacific Division.