Grimson Forging New Identity

Go figure this one.

Or, more properly, these two.

Stu Grimson, who scores about as often as Pavarotti raps, sent in his second goal in as many games Saturday night in the Kings’ 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Skyreach Centre.

Saturday’s goal came in the second period on a pass from Mattias Norstrom and was relatively conventional when compared to Grimson’s goal Thursday night against the Dallas Stars.

That one went in off his head and created a prophet.

“Now, the floodgates will open,” Grimson said then, tongue firmly in cheek.

This time he merely planted himself in front of Edmonton’s Ethan Moreau and took the puck from Norstrom and sent it netward with his stick.

The goal gave the Kings a 3-2 lead.

“I told you,” Grimson said, embellishing prophecy. “I told you and you mocked me.”

The lead was extended when Ziggy Palffy, more used to scoring as the league leader with 20 goals, took a backhand pass from Bryan Smolinski and treated young Daniel Cleary to a Slovakian two-step.

Palffy, with Cleary in a one-on-one situation, spun him around like a top and had a clear shot at former New York Islander teammate Tommy Salo, Edmonton’s goalie.

First a fake, then a shot between Salo’s legs.

“I played with him, what, four seasons?” Palffy said of Salo. “I know what kind of guy he is.”

Until Grimson broke the deadlock, the announced 16,619 who came in out of the minus-24-degree cold were treated to an up-and-down affair, with goals by the Oilers’ Ryan Smyth and Anson Carter matching those of the Kings’ Luc Robitaille and Jozef Stumpel.

“They’re a team that likes to exchange chances and we allowed them to play that way tonight,” Edmonton’s Smyth said of the Kings. “They got a couple of opportunities in the second period with guys all alone in front of our net. Tommy’s going to make the vast majority of those saves, but we can’t leave him hung out to dry and expect him to stop everything.”

King goalie Jamie Storr, who has struggled of late, did just that on an Oiler power play in the opening period when he stopped a shot by Tom Poti that was tipped by Rem Murray. The puck lay on the ice behind him, though, just short of the goal line and easy pickings for Smyth, who merely poked it home for a 1-0 lead.

That was matched by Robitaille’s goal, 15 seconds into a power play. Robitaille was lurking in his usual spot, a few feet from the net, when he took a pass from Palffy and rammed it home.

Stumpel--who also had two assists--broke the tie only 37 seconds into the second period when he slapped a shot that Salo slowed but did not stop. The goal gave the Kings a 2-1 lead, matched when Carter took advantage of Storr at four minutes of the period.

On the play, Storr tangled with Robitaille and Carter and all three were sprawled on the ice when Storr got up and scrambled back to his perch in front of the net.

His stick remained on the ice when Robitaille and Carter quit playing Twister. Carter then took a pass and popped a shot between Storr’s legs, about where his stick would ordinarily block it.

“It was just good to get a win,” said Storr, whose last victory was on Nov. 18 against the Colorado Avalanche and who faced 24 shots Saturday night. “It’s lots of fun to play in a game like that.”

It was a game like football, in many ways, for Storr found himself getting to his feet only after the Oilers unpiled on several occasions.

“That’s how they win,” he said. “They send a lot of guys to the net, create a lot of traffic.”

It remained for Grimson to secure the victory for the Kings, who have won two in a row and three of four.

“We played as well as we have played all year,” Coach Andy Murray said. “We may have played a few games as well in my two seasons with the Kings. A lot of people can take credit for it.”

Especially Grimson.

“The thing is that I’m only one shot from staying on pace,” he warned.

Vancouver Canucks, take note.