Kings Frustrated, Make No Mistake

There’s a reason why the Maple Leafs are leading the Northeast Division. Why they have the third-most points in the NHL. Why they went to the Eastern Conference finals last season.

Just as there’s a reason why the Kings are battling merely to make the playoffs.

They played two-plus strong periods Saturday night, but in the end Toronto’s Steve Thomas stuck out his stick with 18.9 seconds left and a shot that appeared headed for Bay Street instead headed over goalie Stephane Fiset’s shoulder to beat the Kings, 3-2.

“Yeah, it hurts,” said the Kings’ Luc Robitaille, who prophesied after a loss at the start of this trip, at Dallas, that hard work would be rewarded, then found Saturday night that sometimes it isn’t.

“They got a couple of bounces and they win. Every time we made a mistake in the third period, it was in the net.”

Three mistakes: three goals. A 3-2 Toronto win, earned by winning only one period. It was enough to turn the Air Canada Centre critics, or most of the announced 19,217, completely around.

“We seem to find a way to win those,” said Maple Leaf goalie Curtis Joseph, who had a below-par first period then found a way to improve his record to 24-11-6. “We played really well in the third period. We picked up our game.”

Goals by Bryan Smolinski and Jere Karalahti had given the Kings a 2-0 lead, and Fiset was making acrobatic stops and getting a fair amount of defensive help.

Early in the second period, the Maple Leafs broke through a Kings’ forecheck that bedeviled them much of the night. Toronto’s Mats Sundin, Thomas and Jonas Hoglund worked a weave in front of the net that lacked only “Sweet Georgia Brown” to be worthy of the Harlem Globetrotters.

- Sundin finally shot the puck toward Fiset, who took it in his glove.

He was on his game, and he was getting help.

And then came the third period.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Toronto’s Bryan Berard had the puck in open ice, courtesy of a pass by Igor Korolev. Berard sailed between Craig Johnson and Rob Blake and deked Fiset off his feet before sliding the puck between his legs.

Ninety seconds later, the Kings failed to clear a puck from their end, and Sundin got it to Thomas, who lofted it over Fiset at 6:32 to tie the score, 2-2.

“They’re a great team,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “You have to expect they will get it going.”

That the Maple Leafs did, but the Kings shook off their shock and turned up the defensive wick, matching Toronto, then pressuring the Maple Leafs again. Garry Galley had the puck in open ice, 15 feet in front of Joseph with 1:20 to play and the goalie sent it away.

Twenty seconds later, Robitaille had it in the same range, and Joseph turned it back.

And with 20 seconds to play, the Kings had the puck in their own end with a mission to merely clear it and play for overtime.

Mission failed.

Blake’s pass was intercepted by Berard, who let the shot fly from near the blue line. Thomas, starting up ice from the corner, stuck out his stick and won the game. Right place, right time.

“Things are just happening for me now,” said Thomas, who scored two goals for the second game in a row after struggling all season.

The puck came out of the net so quickly, the play was reviewed and quickly ruled a goal.

“It hit the camera inside the net,” Thomas said. “No question it was in.”

No question the Kings are frustrated. They earned only two points on a three-game trip in which they showed more energy than they have in weeks.

“It’s tough,” Galley said. “The little things beat us. The one thing we can’t do is let this rip us apart. If we make a mistake, it’s in the net.”

So, they can’t make a mistake, a tough assignment for the next 33 games.