Winless Kings Just Keep Tying

It’s understandable why King goaltender Frederic Chabot was a little nervous before starting Tuesday night’s 3-3 tie against the Carolina Hurricanes.

After all, it had been four years since he began an NHL game in goal and had played in only nine games total since he made his professional debut with the Montreal Canadiens in 1990. Most of his pro experience had been at the minor league level where he played in 326 games over the same time period.

For half of the first period, Chabot’s nervousness showed as he gave up two quick goals to the Hurricanes. But he settled down and the Kings recovered to finish with another tie as they moved to 0-1-3 on their current five-game trip.

“At the beginning, I was not making any decisions right away,” said Chabot, who signed as a free agent before the season and is 0-2-3 in his NHL career. “But after the second goal, I wasn’t nervous any more.”

The game between two winless teams was treated that way by Carolina fans, who have not yet caught on with the “Coolest Game on Earth.” After having a crowd of 18,661 watch their inaugural home game on Friday against Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes (0-3-1) had only 6,083 Tuesday in the 21,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum, their home for at least the next two seasons before moving a 90-minute drive away to Raleigh, N.C.

The low turnout was even expected by the former Hartford Whalers, who originally were to play the Kings in their home opener but asked the NHL for a change, preferring to open against a marquee team on weekend night.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Kings fell behind, this time on goals by Carolina’s Robert Kron and Glen Wesley in the first 8:57 of the game.

And, much as they did in their first three games, the Kings rallied to tie it. Winger Brad Smyth got the Kings’ first scoring play going with an up-ice pass to streaking center Jozef Stumpel, who beat Carolina goalie Sean Burke from the slot to make the score 2-1 at 10:21 of the first period.

Enforcer Matt Johnson, who played sparingly in his first game back from a four-game league suspension at New York on Sunday, got the Kings even at 2-2 late in the second period when he deflected in a shot from in front of the crease at 17:27.

It was Johnson’s third goal in 69 games with the Kings.

The Kings then took a 3-2 lead 3:39 into the third period when rookie Donald MacLean scored his second goal by deflecting in a shot from the center point by Garry Galley.

But, like they did against the Rangers where they blew a one-goal lead going into the third period, the Kings became somewhat passive defensively and it cost them. By stepping up the action in the Kings’ zone, the Hurricane tied the score, 3-3, when Gary Roberts scored after a scramble in front of the net at the 10:47 mark.

The Kings never really threatened after Roberts’ score, but Chabot had to make a couple of solid saves to assure a tie. Chabot finished with 26 saves.

“Freddie looked very, very nervous out there,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, who decided to rest regular starter Stephane Fiset. “But, he stayed in there and made a couple of good stops.”