Kings Stuck in Neutral as Coyotes Close the Gap

The traffic in front of Jamie Storr looked like the San Diego Freeway at rush hour, and somehow he continued to reach into the crowd and pluck out the puck.

There were even three Sig alerts, when Storr was run over.

He stood up each time. His mission, after all, was holding the fort until the Kings’ cavalry arrived.

It did, in the form of a goal by Glen Murray.

And then it was overwhelmed.

Trevor Letowski’s goal at 8:54 of the third period Monday night gave Phoenix a 2-1 win at America West Arena, and accomplished several things.

Among them, it put the Coyotes into the playoffs. It also moved them within two points of the Kings for fifth place in the Western Conference standings. It also ended a 3-0-2 Kings’ streak.

Worse, it might have cost them center Bryan Smolinski, who was helped from the ice with 17 seconds to play, his right skate in the air after Phoenix’s Travis Green rolled into him and appeared to twist Smolinski’s knee.

A win Monday night was the Kings’ final chance at a .500 record with any of their Pacific Division rivals, but Phoenix made sure it wouldn’t happen with Letowski’s goal, which was set up by Jeremy Roenick’s work on the boards behind the King net. Roenick was hammered by the Kings’ Steve McKenna and Mattias Norstrom, then sent a pass to Letowski from his knees.

The shot was true, and the Coyotes’ defense made it stand up.

They had practice in the second period, when they gave up only three King shots.

One of those was by Murray, who took a pass from Jozef Stumpel on a two-on-one break against Keith Carney. Murray blasted the puck past Sean Burke for a 1-0 lead at 4:16.

By then, the Kings had been outshot, 20-11, and it got worse. Phoenix treated Storr as a target and it finally paid off when Dallas Drake took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Kings’ Jere Karalahti, who headed toward Benoit Hogue and the puck, then realized too late that Norstrom had them under control.

Hogue could only backhand a pass toward the middle, but Drake was alone and popped the puck past Storr to tie it at 10:30.

By period’s end, Phoenix held a 30-13 shot advantage, and 10 of those shots came on power plays, including 33 seconds of a five-on-three advantage in the opening period.

After the tie, the pressure only heightened. With 2:32 to play in the second period, Phoenix’s Letowski found himself alone with the puck and Storr in his sights. After taking a shot, Letowski was alone with the rebound--so alone he could have teed up the puck. This time Storr’s pad absorbed the shot and the 1-1 score remained.

In the third period, the Coyotes’ Greg Adams had the puck in alone on Storr, but like so many of his teammates, left shaking his head.

He wasn’t the only head-shaker among those on the ice and the announced 14,378 who paid to watch them.

Time after time the Kings were frustrated, not so much by Burke, who could have played goal in a rocking chair most of the night, but by the Phoenix defense, which checked tight, hit hard and used its sticks effectively.

Letowski’s goal was a wake-up call for the Kings, who began to pressure Burke, with close-in efforts by Garry Galley and Marko Tuomainen being thwarted.

Even two third-period power plays offered no respite for the Kings, who were not only without high-scoring winger Ziggy Palffy, but also without defenseman Rob Blake, who has a bruised knee.

The Kings have only four goals in their last three games.

They have three more to play, including one at Vancouver on Wednesday before finishing with Pacific Division rivals Dallas and the Mighty Ducks.

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DUCKS: 3

NASHVILLE: 1

The Ducks moved into ninth place in the Western Conference, but still trail eighth-place San Jose by three points for the final playoff spot. D3