Perreault on Natural High After Hat Trick at Detroit

In the Kings’ last game, they could manage only a paltry 12 shots on goal. Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings, one player alone accounted for three goals.

Yanic Perreault recorded his first career hat trick and the Kings surprised the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings with a 5-1 victory before 19,983 at Joe Louis Arena.

In scoring the final three goals of the game, Perreault posted the Kings’ first natural hat trick since Wayne Gretzky scored three in a row against San Jose at the Forum on Nov. 23, 1991.

“This game was really good for us because it is good for our confidence to win on the road like this,” said Perreault, who took over the team lead with eight goals. All of Perreault’s points this season have come all on goals.

“We were really focused for this game. After the way we played [in a 2-2 tie at Florida on Tuesday], we knew that we had to play well or we would get smashed like we have the last few times here.”

The Kings’ victory ended a nine-game winless streak against the Red Wings, who suffered their worst loss of the season. It was also their first victory at Detroit since March 29, 1993, and King Coach Larry Robinson’s first over Detroit counterpart Scotty Bowman, who coached Robinson at Montreal.

“We followed our game plan very well tonight,” said Robinson, whose team improved to 2-0-1 on its five-game trip. The Kings (5-5-4) also moved to .500 for the first time since a season-opening tie at Pittsburgh.

“Everybody did their job and helped each other. We also did a good job with the puck. When we do that, we’re a pretty good team.”

The Kings came into the game with more confidence than one might think. Although they had lost to Detroit, 4-1, at the Forum eight days before, the Kings played the Red Wings even until a mental error triggered a three-goal third-period.

The Kings have played well on the road all season, but they returned with only three points (0-2-3) after their first five games away from the Forum.

On their second trip, in games at Tampa Bay and Florida, the Kings struggled but still managed three points with a win and a tie. To get rid of any complacency, Robinson worked the team during the two days before Friday’s game tougher than he had since the start of training camp.

Robinson wanted to make sure the Kings were thinking about nothing but hockey when they arrived at Detroit. It worked.

After being held to a franchise-low 12 shots on goal against the Panthers on Tuesday, including a record zero shots in the first period, the Kings opened things up offensively against the Red Wings, who started back-up goalie Kevin Hodson (2-1).

On shift after shift, the Kings kept play primarily in Detroit’s zone. The Kings held an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal, but the Red Wings got on the scoreboard first when Vyacheslav Kozlov shot the puck past King goalie Stephane Fiset at 14:41.

The Kings, however, are used to playing from behind early; they have failed to score first in 11 of 14 games. This time, Philippe Boucher got the Kings back in the fray with his fourth goal of the season at 16:57.

“You can tell we were going to have a big game right from the start,” said Fiset, who made 27 saves and has given up only 11 goals in his last six starts. “I saw that when we had eights shots on goal in the first [10 minutes].”

In the second period, Sandy Moger--who has come close on several occasions--finally got a break when he scored on an assist from Jozef Stumpel at 11:09 for his first goal of the season.

Soon after, Perreault took over. The fourth-year center scored his first goal on a give-and-go breakaway with Vladimir Tsyplakov, who tied a career high with three assists.

Perreault scored his second goal at 16:03 when the Red Wings turned over the puck at center ice and he scored from inside the blue line to give the Kings a 4-1 lead. Perreault capped his performance with a goal on a Tsyplakov assist at 7:03 into the third period.

“The Kings played a really strong game, they really took it to us in the first half of the first period,” Bowman said. “Even though we scored first, I thought that they dominated play. . . . They played really well.”