Kings’ Win Over Coyotes Sealed With a Fist

It’s not the humidity of Inglewood, it’s the heat of the Valley of the Smog, where seldom is heard a discouraging word about the Phoenix Coyotes, and Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick are sore all today.

And where Dallas Drake might be sore a bit longer after the Kings’ 4-2 victory Monday night showed that home ice isn’t necessarily an advantage, that the Pacific Division isn’t so pacific and that invitations sometimes are RSVP’d with a fist.

Luc Robitaille’s second goal broke a 2-2 tie in the third period and Jozef Stumpel--who also scored twice--added a King rarity: a power play goal.

It was a game that was played largely penalty-free until midway through the third period when a series of melees broke out that knocked the Kings’ Doug Bodger out of the game, cost a few players penalty time and sent Drake to the medics with a sore face.

And a possible date with Colin Campbell, the NHL’s sheriff.

“I’m not going to play Colin Campbell, but we’re going to be watching this very closely,” said the Kings’ Ray Ferraro, the first guy in on Drake after he had pounded Bodger from behind a few minutes after Bodger had hammered Roenick with a check that knocked him out of the game with a head injury.

“It was a dirty hit,” Ferraro said of Drake’s rear-ending of Bodger.

Said Bodger, after he had viewed the videotape: “I knew he was coming . . . and I turned. You can’t be hit from behind. If that’s not a suspension, then there’s something very wrong with the league.

“You can hit me from the front, you can fight me, but you can’t hit me from behind. That could have cost me my career.”

Naturally, Coyote Coach Jim Schoenfeld saw things differently.

“I don’t think it would warrant a suspension,” he said. “I think from Drake’s perspective, it happened very quickly. Doug stopped, and Drake already had his line of attack.”

And of Bodger’s hit on Roenick: “During the play, I didn’t see anything unusual.”

The Kings were 0-3 against Phoenix at the Great Western Forum and 0-7 against the Pacific Division in stumbling to what before Monday was the Western Conference’s worst record.

“This was a huge win,” said Coach Larry Robinson. “The guys played really hard, and [goalie] Jamie [Storr] made some big stops. And the big guns [Robitaille and Stumpel] had some key goals.”

Stumpel’s first gave the Kings a 1-0 lead in the second period, countered by Rick Tocchet’s goal and surpassed by Daniel Briere.

Only 39 seconds after Briere scored, Robitaille answered to tie the score at 2-2.

Robitaille made it 3-2 at 12:09 of the third when he trailed Jyrki Lumme behind the Phoenix goal, where Lumme fell and Robitaille ended up with the puck. He whirled and fired it goalward, where it glanced off the Coyotes’ Keith Carney and into the net.

By then Tkachuk, who had been a surprise starter, playing only six days after suffering a strained knee ligament, went off the ice because of a rib injury. It was sustained when Norstrom cracked him in the back to get him away from Storr and the King goal in the second period.

The Coyotes deemed that worthy of revenge.

Norstrom’s lip was cut and he ended up with a headache after being hit from behind in the third period. He doesn’t know who did it.

By then, Tkachuk had been joined in the dressing room by Roenick, courtesy of Bodger.

“It’s tough when a guy gets hurt, and when the two guys who get hurt are the guys who lead the team, it’s even tougher,” the Coyotes’ Shane Doan said.

And apparently worthy of retaliation.

That came courtesy of Drake, who with Tkachuk and Roenick form Phoenix’s top line and one of the best in the NHL.

After Drake hit Bodger, Ferraro came in, but claims to have landed no punches. Robitaille joined in, but also claims a no-hitter.

And Drake started in on Robitaille before being interrupted by Sean O’Donnell, who admits he got in a couple of licks.

“He was hitting Luc,” O’Donnell said. “I had to do something.”

Drake, who received a game misconduct, faces a review from Campbell and the NHL.