Kings Continue to Backpedal in 5-4 Loss

It couldn’t be this easy.

A quick Kings’ goal by Garry Galley. A Colorado goal waved off, and in the Great Western Forum, home of what King Coach Larry Robinson is convinced is the road-team advantage.

No, it couldn’t be this easy for the Kings, first making up ground in the standings, now spending that ground faster than an army in full retreat.

Tuesday brought another setback, which came when Joe Sakic and Shane Donovan scored first-period goals 10 seconds apart and Sakic and Stephane Yelle found a cavern where Stephane Fiset’s stick was supposed to be in the Avalanche’s 5-4 victory before an announced crowd of 9,692.

The Kings are 1-3-1 in their last five games, on the heels of a five-game winning streak.

Team Enigma.

Fiset enjoys playing against the Avalanche, which gave him a Stanley Cup ring when it was his employer. But he was embarrassed by Sakic’s second goal and one by Yelle, both of which were between his legs.

Sakic’s was unobstructed. Fiset saw it all the way but was powerless to stop it. Yelle’s goal came on a two-on-one and made it 4-2. Valeri Kamensky scored a breakaway goal in the third period, further damaging Fiset’s goals-against average, which was 2.01 when the evening began.

The Kings’ four goals were three more than they had scored for Fiset in his last three games combined.

There was even some poetic justice when the first King goal, by Galley, was assisted by Eric Lacroix. Yes, the same Eric Lacroix who was given away by Colorado earlier in the season. The same Lacroix whose father, Pierre, was the Avalanche general manager who made the gift.

Lacroix, camped near the crease, sent the puck to Galley, then screened former teammate Patrick Roy in giving the Kings a 1-0 lead.

The Kings are 14-6-3 when they score first.

Goals by Sakic and Donovan gave Colorado a 2-1 lead after one period.

The Kings are 0-11 when they trail after one.

Still, it wasn’t as if they were out of it.

Sakic’s goal came only 46 seconds after a goal by Peter Forsberg was waved off because Rene Corbet was in the crease. The Kings have lost eight goals in similar circumstances, but this was not a good omen for them.

Sakic scored from the right wing on a pass from Forsberg, beating the Kings’ Sean O’Donnell before beating Fiset.

Having squared things, 1-1, the Avalanche quickly moved into the lead on Donovan’s goal 10 seconds later. Donovan deflected a shot by Chris Drury past Fiset, who had no chance on the play.

Before things got out of hand, Russ Courtnall took advantage of a four-on-three King break to score his second goal of the season, in his first game since he broke an ankle Nov. 18.

Courtnall’s shot, which was set up on a pass by Luc Robitaille, bounced off Roy’s left shoulder and into the net at 3:16 of the second period to tie the score, 2-2.

That lasted only 4 1/2 minutes, until Sakic sook a pass from Forsberg and sent the puck between Fiset’s legs for a 3-2 lead.

Yelle’s goal followed 3:59 later in a period in which the Kings were outshot, 17-9.

Robitaille answered for the Kings in the third period, scoring his ninth goal in his last 10 games, and his 25th of the season, Courtnall returning the favor with an assist.

A power play with 1:40 to go was turned into a final offensive gasp for the Kings, who pulled Fiset for an extra attacker. With that, they got Donald Audette’s goal with 12.8 seconds to play, their first score after pulling a goalie all season.

But it was too little, too late for the Kings against Colorado, which was 2-7-1 in its last 10 games against the Kings, including a tie in the season’s fourth game that sent Fiset to the bench because of a groin strain.

It was the first of three such strains for him in what has been a strained season.