Kings Draw Fast

It is only fitting that the Kings ended up with a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins in their National Hockey League opener Wednesday.

At times, they played superbly. At other times, they played poorly. But overall, they played well enough to gain a point on the road--and they’ll gladly take it.

Before 14,879 at the Civic Arena, the Kings spotted Pittsburgh a two-goal, first-period lead before rallying with power-play goals by off-season additions Garry Galley, who scored twice, and Luc Robitaille.

Only a late second-period power-play goal by Pittsburgh defenseman Kevin Hatcher, who also scored twice, prevented the Kings from skating away with a come-from-behind victory.

“What helped us was that we didn’t change our game when they took the lead,” said Robitaille, who made several nice defensive plays in the third period and overtime against Pittsburgh all-star Jaromir Jagr. “We kept going and going at them. . . . We played well as a team, and that is how we are going to have to play every night. We made some mistakes but if we keep battling it’s going to pay off.”

After dominating their competition in winning six of seven exhibition games, the Kings began the regular season playing flat and looking like the team that missed the playoffs last season for the fourth consecutive time.

With King defenseman Philippe Boucher in the penalty box for holding, Hatcher scored his first goal eight seconds into the Penguins’ power play at 1:33 of the first period. It was Pittsburgh’s first shot on goal.

Instead of regrouping, the Kings continued to struggle. They found themselves down, 2-0, when Jagr bolted on a breakaway, and faked Boucher and King goaltender Stephane Fiset before passing to an open Alexei Morozov outside the right post at 7:20.

The Kings finally got going after a hooking call against Pittsburgh center Martin Straka. On their second power play of the game, Brad Smyth helped create some traffic around the net and Galley took advantage when he rebounded his own shot to get the Kings on the scoreboard at 9:32.

The Kings continued to apply pressure and it paid off late in the period when Galley scored an unassisted power-play goal from the top of the right circle at 18:51.

“Specialty teams can win you hockey games and our power play tonight got us back in a real important game . . . your season opener,” said Galley, who was signed as a free agent from Buffalo to help with the Kings’ power play--which was among the league’s worst last season.

So, after a horrendous start, the Kings found themselves tied, 2-2, after the first period.

“We were able to establish a little more pressure with our system and forced them to take some penalties,” King Coach Larry Robinson said. “We were able to capitalize on them. That’s what we haven’t been able to do before because our power play was so awful.”

In the second period, the Kings grabbed a 3-2 lead with their next power play, thanks to a cross-checking penalty on Pittsburgh’s Darius Kasparaitis against Ray Ferraro.

At 4:04 into the period, Galley ripped a shot from inside the blue line that Robitaille neatly deflected past Hatcher and over the shoulder of Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso. The goal was the Kings’ third in their first four power-play opportunities.

Fiset, who finished with 26 saves, preserved the lead with a kick save on a touch shot from the left post by former King Rob Brown on a power play seven minutes into the period.

On the Kings’ next power play, they failed to take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to take a two-goal lead when they were unable to get off a good shot on a three-on-one. That came back to haunt them later in the period when Pittsburgh tied the score, 3-3, on Hatcher’s second power-play goal.

With the Penguins’ Ron Francis and the Kings’ Mattias Norstrom tied up in front of the net, Hatcher sneaked the puck past Fiset from outside the crease at 14:31.

For the rest of the game, Fiset and Barrasso stood fast. Pittsburgh’s best chance to score was thwarted when Fiset made a solid save on a wrist shot by Jagr from the right circle on the Penguins’ seventh and final power play of the game early in the third period.

“We bungled that three-on-one when we had a chance to go up 4-2,” Ferraro said. “Barrasso made a couple of saves, but honestly, I thought it was a pretty even game. The shots were the same, the saves were the same, the goals were the same.”

The Kings will continue their five-game trip tonight when they play the Bruins at Boston.

Opening Night in NHL

* Kings 3, Pittsburgh 3

* Ottawa 2, Montreal 2

* Philadelphia 3, Florida 1

* Tampa Bay 4, Carolina 2

* Washington 4, Toronto 1

* Buffalo 3, St. Louis 1

* Dallas 2, Colorado 2

* Detroit 3, Calgary 1

* Phoenix 6, Chicago 2

* Edmonton 5, San Jose 3

* KING REPORT: C5

* DUCK REPORT: C5

* NHL ROUNDUP: C5