Referees Rule Over Kings

Long after Sunday’s game had ended and the bitter taste in their mouths had turned sour, the Kings gathered in front of a television to watch replays of the Phoenix Coyotes’ winning goal.

Said Coach Andy Murray of the goal credited to Branko Radivojevic with 7:03 to play: “We still have not seen where the puck went into the net.”

They probably never will.

Though replays from all angles were inconclusive, the disputed goal stood, giving the Coyotes a 2-1 victory and ending the Kings’ three-game winning streak in front of an announced 11,819 at America West Arena.

The Kings, after trailing from the game’s sixth minute into the third period, had tied the score on a goal by Adam Deadmarsh with 14:55 remaining.

Playing their second game in two nights after a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday over the Pittsburgh Penguins, they were positioned to leave with at least a tie.

But Radivojevic, camped in front of the net, took a pass from behind the net by Daniel Briere and jammed the puck toward the goal.

“After that,” King defenseman Mattias Norstrom said, “it’s anybody’s guess.”

The puck wound up pinned between the ice and goaltender Jamie Storr, who sat on top of it and, in the scrum that followed, was pushed deeper into the goal mouth.

Briere, Radivojevic and the late-arriving Claude Lemieux, who continued to swipe at the puck, raised their arms in celebration.

While one referee ruled it a goal, the other waved it off.

Still, Warren Zevon’s celebratory “Werewolves of London” blared over the loudspeakers and -- belatedly, it seemed -- the goal lamp shined red.

Then came the final ruling, after a quick review of the same inconclusive replays the Kings would later analyze to their great frustration: Goal, Coyotes.

Cue the music again.

“That’s just one of those calls,” said Storr, who faced 24 shots, also giving up a first-period goal by Mike Johnson. “I mean, everyone makes mistakes. We make a lot of mistakes as players, and the officials are bound to make mistakes.”

A moment later, however, Storr said, “Whether it was a goal or not, I have no idea. If it went in, [that’s] great. If it didn’t, someone made a mistake.”

While he extricated himself from the net, Storr said the puck was pinned under his left thigh. After he scooted forward, he looked down and saw it between his legs, about a foot in front of the goal line. Of course, he had moved it there.

Whether it had ever crossed the goal line, nobody could say for sure, but after having six goals disallowed in their last three games, maybe the Coyotes deserved a break. They’re last in the Pacific Division, their No. 1 goaltender, Sean Burke, has been sidelined for two months because of a high ankle sprain and they had won only two of their last 13 games before Sunday.

They held the Kings scoreless into the third period, goaltender Brian Boucher stopping 22 shots in one of his best efforts.

Deadmarsh was in the right place at the right time to score his 13th goal and fourth in five games, a wild shot by Norstrom bouncing perfectly off the end boards and right onto Deadmarsh’s stick in front of the net.

“The way we’ve been playing defensively, one goal at times can give us a point,” Murray said.

“But to win you’ve got to get more than one and we lost tonight because we didn’t get more than one.”

The Coyotes did, or so it was ruled, anyway.