Being Short-Handed Not a Shortcoming for Kings

Maybe the Kings should consider playing every game short-handed.

They combined to score three goals on two Colorado power plays Saturday afternoon en route to defeating the Avalanche, 4-3, before 16,005 at the Great Western Forum.

The three short-handed goals set a franchise record for the Kings, who now need only two points in their final four games or a Phoenix loss to clinch fifth place in the Western Conference.

Yanic Perreault, who had two goals, scored the Kings’ first short-handed goal to give them a 1-0 lead early in the opening period. In the second period, Russ Courtnall and Glen Murray scored goals on the same Colorado power play to give the Kings a commanding 4-1 lead.

“We don’t go out there thinking [short-handed goals],” said Courtnall, who has scored four of his 12 goals this season when the Kings were a man short. “When we go out we are definitely just trying to kill the penalty and get the puck down. But when the opportunity arrises we try to jump on it.”

Goaltender Stephane Fiset made sure that the Kings’ short-handed goals stood with 40 saves as the Kings held off a furious late Avalanche rally to win for the fourth time in five games against Colorado this season.

“Our work ethic was a lot better; at least tonight we were committed to playing the body and getting involved,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, whose team was shut out, 4-0, by Edmonton on Thursday.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but it is only one game. We have to put together a real good five games, a good solid effort every game. At playoff time you can’t afford one good one and two bad ones.”

Although the Kings defeated Colorado for the sixth time in their last seven games, Robinson was not pleased with their play in the third period when they gave up two goals or with their power play unit, which was zero for five.

The Kings, who were outshot by Colorado, 43-18, have scored five short-handed goals in their last seven games but have only two power-play goals over the same span.

“When we are short-handed, we work a little bit harder,” Robinson said. “If our power play worked as hard as our short-handed we might be all right. We want to play a little bit too soft and we don’t bear down.”

Perreault scored the game’s first goal at 2:07 of the first period when he took a pass from Dan Bylsma and scored against Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy on a breakaway, despite having to fight off Joe Sakic and Uwe Krupp along the way.

At 1:02 of the second period, Perreault put the Kings up by two when he took a pass from Murray and scored from the right circle. In scoring his team-high 27th goal, Perreault used teammate Sean O’Donnell as a decoy before beating Roy to his glove side.

The Avalanche made it 2-1 at 12:57 of the second when Sandis Ozolinsh scored from the left circle off an assist from Sakic. It was Colorado’s only power-play goal in seven opportunities.

Courtnall gave the Kings a 3-1 lead at 15:14 of the second when he scored on a short-handed breakaway after Ian Laperriere poked the puck free from Sakic near the Colorado blue line.

Jozef Stumpel created the opportunity for the Kings’ third short-handed score when he made a nice defensive play to send the puck into the neutral zone. He then beat Ozolinsh to the puck and passed to Murray--who had skated around Sakic--to give the Kings a three goal lead.

In the third period, Colorado made the game interesting when Claude Lemieux scored at 9:05 and Keith Jones followed with a goal at 16:28 to cut the Kings’ lead to 4-3. But Colorado’s rally was cut short in the game’s final two minutes when Jones was called for a cross-checking penalty in front of the Kings’ net at 16:28.

“It’s always easier when we take the lead like we did tonight,” Fiset said. “We knew they could come back with the team that they have.”