Kings Go Better With Goaltending

Head up, stick down. Stay on your wing. Up and down. Take the body. Put the biscuit in the basket. Light the lamp. This is our barn.

Hockey is a simple game, eh?

There are only a handful of sacred tenets in the sport. Perhaps at the top of the list is the notion that no team can expect to win a championship without good goaltending. Plenty of teams with bad goaltending have proved the point over the seasons.

Which brings us to the Kings, who find themselves battling for their playoff lives in the season’s final two weeks because their goaltending was subpar until Felix Potvin arrived in town.

Stephane Fiset sprained his left knee in a Sept. 22 exhibition against the Mighty Ducks. He injured his knee again Oct. 3 and Dec. 22. He hasn’t played a minute for the Kings since then. Jamie Storr, given a yet another shot to be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL, couldn’t sustain his early-season excellence over the long haul.

Is it any wonder the Kings went into Monday’s pivotal game against the San Jose Sharks in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, one spot shy of the Promised Land? Is it any wonder the Kings decided to trade for Potvin, battle-tested but available after a rocky few months with the Vancouver Canucks, on Feb. 15?

“I think goaltending is so very important,” Coach Andy Murray was saying the other day. “Teams that win in the playoffs usually have good goaltending. I don’t think you can overestimate the importance of goaltending.”

It’s possible to point to the Feb. 21 trade of Rob Blake to the Colorado Avalanche for Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller as the turning point in the Kings’ season. No question, the deal ended the dressing-room distraction that had plagued the Kings’ season until then. Finally, the Kings could concentrate on hockey instead of worrying about where in the world Blake would land.

But consider that the Kings were a pedestrian 25-25-8-1, mired in 10th place in the conference before Potvin made his debut. After making his 16th consecutive start in Monday’s 0-0 tie with the Sharks at Staples Center, the Kings are 34-28-12-1 and ninth in the conference standings.

Just as Potvin has rescued the Kings, the Kings have rescued Potvin. He was blamed for many of the Canucks’ shortcomings while going 14-17-3 with a 3.08 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage. Vancouver acquired Dan Cloutier from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a mid-February deal, hoping he could succeed where Potvin had failed.

Vancouver happily dealt Potvin to the Kings for future considerations Feb. 15. The Kings haven’t been the same team since then, gaining confidence and points during Potvin’s short tenure in L.A. Monday’s tie gave them a 9-3-4 record in his 16 games in goal.

By game’s end Monday, Potvin had to make only 15 saves. He didn’t make anyone forget Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres of Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils or Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche. But a good goaltender doesn’t have to make the highlight-reel saves. He merely has to make saves, giving his team a consistency it can bank on from start to finish. He also can be counted on to steal a game once in a while. Plus, he often is a team’s best penalty-killer.

Until Potvin’s arrival, the Kings didn’t have that dependability in net. Early in the season, the Kings gained leads but failed to hold them because Storr couldn’t halt the opposition. Storr is 19-18-6 with a 2.74 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.

Too many goals that could have been stopped eluded Storr and the Kings found themselves in a rocky place after the All-Star break. All their firepower--in the person of wingers Luc Robitaille and Ziggy Palffy--meant nothing if they weren’t in a playoff position.

All General Manager Dave Taylor had to do was glance at the Sharks to see what solid goaltending could do for a club. The Kings were in a predicament because Fiset was injured and Storr couldn’t meet expectations.

The Sharks were atop the Pacific Division standings for much of the season’s first half because rookie Evgeni Nabokov was almost impossible to crack. Nabokov has cooled considerably in recent weeks, which has coincided with the Sharks’ late-season nose-dive.

With all that in mind, Taylor took a chance on Potvin, banking that L.A.’s winter sun would be just the tonic to get him on course.

“I think he’s really responded to some things we’ve done here,” Murray said. “Plus, he’s playing for a contract.” Potvin, 29, will be a restricted free agent July 1.

“I know their coaches were worried because they thought he could rebound,” Murray said, referring to Marc Crawford and the Canucks’ staff. “I’m sure he’s feeling better about himself right now.”

There’s no question the Kings and their fans are feeling better too.