Harvey Jumps at This Chance

The Kings were down and out in the third period Wednesday night in New York, and they were on a power play, with Rob Blake in position for one of his blue-line boomers.

The Rangers’ Todd Harvey considered all possibilities, including one involving standing in the way of a 90-mph slap shot, and decided a prudent man had only one choice.

“I jumped out of the way,” Harvey said. “I said it was 8-0, and I said we can afford to let one in.”

The goal broke Mike Richter’s shutout for the Rangers, and it was followed by scores by Marko Tuomainen and Ziggy Palffy, only eight seconds apart.

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King winger Luc Robitaille had an answer for the team’s play the last two nights:

“If we don’t play desperate hockey, if we don’t play every game like it’s our last, we won’t win. That’s the way we played for our first 30 games and that’s why we won.”

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Even after successive blowout losses to finish a 1-3 trip, the Kings still hold the NHL’s best road record: 9-6-3-1, worth 22 points. Tied for second are Phoenix and Colorado, with 20 points each.