Kings Finally Have Coyotes’ Number

The Kings opened their 36th NHL season Wednesday night both by paying homage to Wayne Gretzky and disappointing their former captain.

After a pregame ceremony in which The Great One’s No. 99 jersey was retired to a place of honor on the arena’s south wall, the Kings dominated Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes, 4-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 18,260 at Staples Center.

Ziggy Palffy and defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored on the power play and Eric Belanger and Ian Laperriere scored even-strength goals for the Kings, who ended a six-game winless streak against the Coyotes.

And did they feel any guilt about spoiling Gretzky’s big night?

“Not the tiniest bit,” King Coach Andy Murray said.

The Kings, who haven’t lost an opener since 1993, had little success against the Coyotes last season, losing twice and tying three times, and had not outscored them since March 19, 2001, when they were 6-2 winners at Staples Center.

Still, the teams were so evenly matched that each finished with 95 points last season, tied for sixth place in the Western Conference.

“I think there are a lot of similarities in the two teams,” Murray said before the game. “That’s why we had the battles and the number of overtime games [four] we had with them last season.

“I think we play similar styles. We’re both very workmanlike in the way we approach it. We both are physical. They’ve got good team speed, as we do.”

Both teams, of course, also are linked to Gretzky, who played for the Kings for eight seasons before he was traded in 1996 and last year became a 20% owner and managing partner of the Coyotes.

The pregame festivities, including the unveiling of a bronze statue of Gretzky that will stand outside the arena, delayed the opening faceoff by about 30 minutes, but Murray and his players were only too happy to oblige.

“Everything up to that point is for Gretzky,” the coach said, anticipating the late start, “and everything after that is for the Kings.”

He was right.

“It was a big night with a lot of distractions,” said goaltender Felix Potvin, who stopped 25 shots, “but we seemed to get out of the gate fast.”

Wearing Gretzky-era white home uniforms with silver and black trim, the Kings came out aggressively, nearly taking the lead on a shot by Brad Chartrand that caromed off the crossbar about 75 seconds into the game.

By the time the period ended, Coyote goaltender Sean Burke had turned aside 14 shots, Potvin nine and neither team had scored.

Belanger, whose promising 2001-02 season was marred by a midseason wrist injury, broke the 0-0 tie at 6:32 of the second period. Pouncing on the rebound of a shot from the point by Schneider, the Kings’ new second-line center shifted the puck to his backhand side and flipped a pretty shot over the sprawling Burke for his first goal since Jan. 5.

The Kings, whose 72 power-play goals last season tied for the NHL lead, took advantage of a five-on-three situation at 12:06 of the period, Palffy scoring off a pass through the crease by Jason Allison.

Danny Markov netted the Coyotes’ only goal, making the score 2-1 on a shot from the left faceoff circle with 1:50 to play in the second period.

Midway through the third period, however, the Kings scored two goals in 32 seconds. After the Coyotes were penalized for having too many players on the ice, Schneider scored off a pass from Allison at 9:32. Laperriere, who sat out the exhibition season after off-season abdominal surgery, slapped a shot past Burke at 10:04.

“It felt great to be out there with my teammates,” Laperriere said.