Kings Get Into the Playoff Mode by Beating Avalanche

It might not have been a playoff game, but Monday night’s matchup between the Kings and Colorado--two teams desperate for a victory--surely had the feel of one before 16,061 at McNichols Sports Arena.

In the end, it was the Kings who snapped a three-game losing streak and completed a dismal six-game trip on a high note with a 3-1 victory over the Avalanche, who have lost five consecutive games.

Craig Johnson broke a 1-1 tie at 13:11 of the third period when he beat Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy with a rebound goal and Russ Courtnall added an empty-net score for the Kings, who finished their 11-day trip with a 2-4 record.

King goaltender Stephane Fiset was a force in making 31 saves against his former team as he ended a personal four-game losing streak.

“This was a big win for us because we had been playing pretty bad on this trip,” said Fiset, who improved to 5-4 against the Avalanche in his career. “To come back tonight with a big game where we played pretty good is something that we can build on for our final games at home.”

After going through a tough practice Sunday that emphasized going to the net hard, the Kings kept pressure on Colorado all game and outshot the Avalanche, 38-32, including a 19-11 edge in the third period.

What helped the Kings’ offense the most was their patience on defense.

“We would have had more wins on this trip if we played like this,” King Coach Larry Robinson said. “We had been trying to be too cute in our zone. Tonight, when the play wasn’t there, we just concentrated on making sure the puck went out of our zone.

“Our defense was just unbelievable. They did a great job of keeping the opposition forwards to the outside where Steph [Fiset] can see the puck. And, when Steph sees the puck, he’s going to make the stop.”

For Colorado, which played without injured forwards Peter Forsberg and Adam Deadmarsh, this is longest losing streak the franchise has suffered since moving from Quebec. The then-Nordiques lost six consecutive games in January, 1994.

“We all know the urgency of this time of the year and we’re all accountable for our poor play,” said forward Keith Jones about Colorado, which has lost to the Kings in three of four games this season and five of six since February 25, 1997.

The Kings, who are still without injured forwards Luc Robitaille, Nathan LaFayette and Sandy Moger, struck first when Colorado’s Joe Sakic--playing in his second games since missing nearly two months because of a knee injury--was called for hooking Glen Murray at 13:48.

Although the Kings failed to score with their man advantage, they had their most complete power play in weeks. Their crisp movement of the puck and determination to keep traffic in front of Roy during the power play actually led to their first goal.

Seconds after Colorado had killed off Sakic’s minor penalty, the Kings scored when Rob Blake, Garry Galley and Vladimir Tsyplakov made sharp passes to set up Jozef Stumpel, who scored on a redirection touch shot from the right circle at 15:55.

“We had the puck in their zone for almost the whole two minutes, and when you get caught out there on a long shift in this building, it’s pretty tough to recover,” Robinson said about the play that led to Stumpel’s 21st goal of the season.

The Kings slowed down the pace of the game in the second period and, despite having to kill off three Avalanche power plays, outshot Colorado, 9-6, over the 20 minutes.

After being blanked by the Kings on their first four man-advantage situations, Colorado tied the score at 1-1 at 1:25 of the third period when Sakic scored a power-play from the left point.

Instead of playing for a tie, the Kings turned the pressure back on Colorado’s zone and it paid off later in the period. Courtnall picked up the puck from behind the Avalanche goal, skated out to the left circle and fired a shot that was blocked by Roy but Johnson beat Colorado defenseman Uwe Krupp to the rebound and scored his 17th goal of the season.

The Kings sealed the game in the final minutes when on a power play, Blake made three solid defensive plays before finding Courtnall, who scored an empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining.