Feared Power Vacuum Emerges

The Kings are a couple of watts short of a power play, and that was quickly apparent on a Tuesday night in which they found having a man advantage was no advantage at all.

Neither was there a particular home-ice advantage against Edmonton, which got a goal from Mike Grier that was matched by the Kings’ Bryan Smolinski in a 1-1 tie before 13,282 at Staples Center.

That was for 60 minutes. The teams then demonstrated the flaw in the new four-on-four, you-already-have-a-point-want-to-try-for-another? rule by playing not to lose in five minutes of overtime.

It’s a conference thing. You don’t want to let another team in your conference have a point at your expense, so you play defense.

Both teams played defense.

The Kings, who came into the game ranked second in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 26.2%, were anything but efficient in six opportunities, many of which did not even yield a shot.

Watching from upstairs was Luc Robitaille, who is down to one crutch but wears no skating blade on the bottom of a boot that encases his broken left foot. Robitaille has 10 goals, five of them on power plays.

Watching at home, only 24 hours after surgery for a sports hernia, was Jozef Stumpel, the power play’s quarterback. His next power play could come in February.

The two--along with Ziggy Palffy--had formed one of the league’s most formidable power-play lines, but in their places Tuesday night were, well, sometimes, Len Barrie and Vladimir Tsyplakov.

King Coach Andy Murray also tried a unit of Rob Blake and Glen Murray on the blue line, with Palffy, Bryan Smolinski and Donald Audette up front.

Good initiative.

Poor judgment.

With five shooters, there was no one to bring the puck up the ice.

Salvation came from the penalty killers, for Edmonton had no better luck on four power plays.

Still, after a somnambulant 12 or so minutes, the Oilers took a 1-0 lead when Grier swept a puck past Jamie Storr, who learned only minutes before the game that his night off had been canceled.

Storr stood in for Stephane Fiset, who suffered a pregame bruise when he was hit by a puck on the hand.

The King goalie stopped a shot by Ryan Smyth, but the puck slipped beneath his pads, dangerously close to the goal line. Garry Galley reached in with a stick to try to push it out of harm’s way, with Audette adding his bit in the effort.

The result was a tangle of Kings--Audette, Galley and Storr--with Grier, who muscled his way out and had an open net as a target, inches away.

For all of that, the Kings tied the score on Smolinski’s goal only 25 seconds later.

Audette also was involved in that one, taking a puck from a scrum at the point and sending it to Smolinski in open space, straightaway and 30 feet from Tommy Salo.

The goal was Smolinski’s fifth of the season.

In what increasingly became a holding action, the rest of the Kings’ night was a series of near-misses and chipping the puck out of harm’s way.

The near-misses included a shot by Galley that rang off the goal post at 15:06 of the second period; a rush by Glen Murray in which the puck hopped over his stick a few seconds later; and Brad Chartrand’s close call after a pass from Dan Bylsma midway through the third.

The Oilers, who spent more of the evening administering punishment than they did playing hockey, had their own rush, including a solo charge by Georges Laraque, who sailed in from Storr’s right, bringing 255 pounds and a puck. Storr took the puck off his pads, then absorbed the rest with his body.

The Kings outshot Edmonton, 34-26 in regulation, with the Oilers picking up 16 of those shots in the third period.

The Kings extended their record to 3-2-2 at home, but more important got a point in a Western Conference game in which they were two stars short of a constellation.

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DUCKS 2

TORONTO 0

Guy Hebert stopped 19 shots and Marty McInnis and Paul Kariya scored for Anaheim. Page 4