Kings Can Put a Star Next to This Victory

The Kings held an exorcism Friday night at Reunion Arena.

Begone, Mike Modano, you demon.

Begone, Eddie Belfour, you goblin.

Begone, all Star ghosts, even those as far back as Mark Tinordi and Andy Moog and the rest of you who made the trek south from Minnesota seven years ago.

Steve Passmore had no cross, nor garlic. Instead, he had glove, goalie stick and enough defensive help to make even the former Texas governor happy in his new job in Washington.

And Passmore had goals by Jere Karalahti, Lubomir Visnovsky, Ian Laperriere and Rob Blake in a 4-1 victory over Dallas, the Kings’ first in this city since Feb. 15, 1995, 10 lost games and a lonely tie ago.

“Here, we hadn’t won in Montreal in a long time until last year. St. Louis, I don’t know if we have any more demons to slay,” Coach Andy Murray said.

“Well,” he amended, “maybe a playoff game.”

The victory followed by 24 hours one Thursday night in St. Louis, which broke a 0-5-1 King slump. And it put them back on the playoff ladder, albeit on the bottom rung in the Western Conference. You have to make the playoffs to win your first postseason game since 1993.

But that is 44 games hence.

For now, the Kings are celebrating the return of Passmore from Chicago of the IHL, his third stop this season after tours with the Kings and with Lowell of the AHL. He has endured about four months of hotels because he hasn’t been anywhere long enough to inquire about an apartment.

Since coming back to the Kings on Tuesday, he is 2-1 and has given up only five goals.

And he has rejuvenated the team.

“I like to think he responds to them as much as they respond to him,” Murray said. “He faced 21 shots, but also 11 power plays, so other people in front of him were facing shots too.”

No doubt. The Kings blocked 30 shots Friday night, many of them while a man or two disadvantaged because referees Blaine Angus and Bernard Degrace chose to be strict rules’ constructionists. They wore out the peas in their whistles while wearing out the flow of the game for the usual 17,001 in the aging building, whose days are numbered.

It will be replaced next season.

Dallas was on the power play 18:55 of the game’s 60 minutes.

The Kings were on it 8:23.

The bottom line, though, is that the Kings gave up only a power-play goal by Jere Lehtinen, which came in the second period and matched a goal by Karalahti, his first of the season.

The Kings were more successful on their power plays, with goals by Visnovsky and Blake coming with a man advantage.

Laperriere’s goal came on a two-on-one play with Eric Belanger when Laperriere sent a pass Belanger’s way, but the skate of Richard Matvichuk returned the puck to sender and Laperriere slapped it past Dallas goalie Belfour, himself a bit of a demon.

Passmore had faced a much different game a night earlier in St. Louis, when the Blues fired 35 shots his way. A few miles to the south, Dallas had only 11 shots in the opening two periods.

“The way these guys are playing defense makes it a ton easier for me,” said Passmore of his teammates. “I mean, they were clearing everything in front of the net.”

Originally scheduled to watch Jamie Storr play Friday’s game, Passmore’s nomination to play came after Murray had slept on his performance against the Blues.

It was Passmore’s third game in four days.

“I was more surprised than anybody to get that first start,” he said of his game Tuesday against San Jose. “I’ll take every one I can get after that. . . . I’m going to relish every chance I get to play. I want to start.”

He gets no argument from the Kings.

“He’s making the saves on the penalty kill when we need them,” said Bob Corkum, who had 16:20 of ice time, much of that on the penalty kill. He also won 20 of 32 faceoffs, most in front of Passmore.

“That’s the difference in teams on the top and those on the bottom.

“He’s been around a long time and battled hard in the minors. He’s probably not the most talented goalie in the league, by any means, but he makes you earn everything you get.”

In Friday’s case, Dallas earned only one goal.

And Passmore earned another start, Sunday night at Detroit.