Kings Fizzled Out in Hurry in This One

Five years of waiting, and it was almost all over in the first five minutes.

The Kings’ first venture into playoff competition since 1993 was an ugly spectacle from their nervous start to their chippy, frustrated finish. They did none of the things essential to giving themselves any semblance of a chance against St. Louis--they didn’t blunt the Blues’ speed in the neutral zone, keep the shots-against down or avoid needless penalties--and nothing that was an asset for them this season was a strength in their 8-3 loss Thursday night at the Kiel Center.

The Kings climbed from oblivion to fifth in the Western Conference because they played a rugged game, got decent defense and outstanding goaltending. And when the first two factors were missing, the third usually made up for their sins.

Not Thursday. And goaltending is now officially a problem for the Kings.

They could say all they want about Game 2 being a new day and utter the obligatory cliches about how all they really came here for was a split, not a sweep of the first two games. But they cannot bottle up the confidence that flowed in the Blues’ locker room after the Blues strafed the Kings’ defense for 40 shots and put five of 27 shots past a flailing Stephane Fiset. And they can’t erase the replays of Blues forwards coming at him three, four and sometimes even five strong.

“I guess it was a bad game for us. Everybody knows that,” said Fiset, who had previously played six playoff games, most recently one minute of one game during the Colorado Avalanche’s 1996 Stanley Cup run. “The good thing about it is it’s over now. They have to win three more and we have to win four more.”

Winning one would be a good start for the Kings, who have a five-game playoff losing streak going back to Game 2 of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals, the game they lost by the half-inch or so that was excessive in the curve of Marty McSorley’s stick.

“I’m not disappointed with Steph. Maybe concerned, but this is not time to panic,” said Don Edwards, the Kings’ goaltending coach. “It’s too easy to jump to quick conclusions. This isn’t the time for that.”

One obvious conclusion: Thursday’s loss was not entirely Fiset’s fault. The Blues’ speed, transition game and ability to one-time shots unsettled the Kings’ defense and gave Fiset less time to set up for shots. He didn’t help himself by leaving rebounds, but his defense didn’t rescue him either.

“He didn’t get a lot of help,” said his St. Louis counterpart, Grant Fuhr. “I’ve been there myself more than once or twice. You’ve got to feel bad for him.

“He’s a good goalie, no doubt about it. He carried them most of the year.”

But what good is it for Fiset to have carried them this far, when there is so much further to go?

A big save early might have turned the tide, but he was unable to make the biggest save of all, the one that would have allowed the Kings to stay in a defensive posture. The longer they could keep the score down, the better their chances of making the Blues frustrated enough to open up offensively; instead, they were trailing, 2-0, before the game was five minutes old.

“It helps when you get the first goal,” Blues defenseman Steve Duchesne said. “It gets you going and the crowd gets into it. Everyone was hyper and jumping up and down on the bench.”

All of which only made the already jittery Kings more nervous. They managed to cut their deficit to 2-1 before the first period ended, but Fiset’s inability to control a rebound contributed to the Blues’ third goal, another momentum-breaker. The fourth and fifth were a blur.

“Fizz has been better,” King Coach Larry Robinson said, delicately, “but this is his first time [in the playoffs] too.”

Fiset has been better, but he hasn’t been better against the Blues. In four games against them this season, he had a 4.71 goals-against average and .839 save percentage. If that’s not worrisome enough, look at his last 10 games of the season, when his goals-against average was 3.62 and his save percentage a feeble .880.

Edwards attributed Fiset’s late-season slump to the Kings’ being virtually locked into the fifth seed for the last month of the season, which gave them little incentive to play the tight defense they had previously played in front of Fiset. They had all the incentive they needed to correct that Thursday, but did not. Nor did Fiset.

“We’ve got to learn by our mistakes tonight,” Edwards said. “As a team, you might lose one of the battles, but we’re here to win a war.”

The real battle now is within Fiset’s mind. If he wins it, he becomes the confident, feisty goaltender he was for much of the season and the Kings have a chance to compete honorably, if not to defeat the Blues. If he loses, the Kings lose miserably. Whether he gets another chance, though is unclear.

“I expect, myself, to be in the game,” he said of Saturday’s game. “I did the job all year.”

Said Robinson: “His psyche has been a little shaky the last week or so just because the team has played real [poorly] in front of him. He’s a real intense individual. If I feel good about anybody, it’s Stephane. That’s not to say I wouldn’t start [Game 2] with Jamie [Storr].”

Edwards said he and Robinson “would probably have some discussions” about their options for Game 2. But by not confirming Fiset will return, Edwards left room for doubt, the one factor there’s no place for at this time of year.

Which left the Kings with only one good thing to say about Thursday’s game: None of them was caught with an illegal stick.