Kings Receive French Support

Cafeterias in the U.S. House of Representatives, only about a mile from the home of the Washington Capitals, have changed the name of “French fries” to “Freedom fries,” “French toast” to “Freedom toast.”

It’s part of the “Boycott France!” campaign, loosely organized by Americans upset with the French for not backing the United States in its standoff with Iraq.

The Kings’ Canadian coach, Andy Murray, chose to ignore the mostly unsuccessful boycott Friday night in front of 17,308 in the MCI Center, giving French-born goaltender Cristobal Huet his first NHL start.

“I never even thought that,” Murray said, smiling. “I don’t know if anybody else in the building would even know where he’s from.

“And I don’t think he’s too politically involved himself.”

Huet, 27, was involved enough in the net to turn aside all but one of the 22 shots by the Capitals, helping the Kings end an eight-game losing streak against playoff-bound teams with a 3-1 victory.

Rookie Alexander Frolov scored two goals, his second multi-goal game of the season and first since Nov. 2, and Sean Avery scored his first in two games since the Tuesday trade that brought him from the Detroit Red Wings.

Sergei Berezin, acquired Tuesday by the Capitals in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, scored a first-period goal at 17:05.

“I thought he was solid in goal for us,” Murray said of Huet, who, benefiting from the absence of injured scoring leader Jaromir Jagr, stopped the Capitals’ eight-game point streak. “He was there when we needed him.”

Jamie Storr had made 19 consecutive starts since Jan. 28, when Felix Potvin suffered a knee injury in a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks, and posted a 9-9 record, 2.49 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.

Given a night off, he will continue his extended audition for the No. 1 job tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes in the finale of a three-game trip.

Potvin, meanwhile, is rehabbing in El Segundo, where he has started mobility drills in workouts with former King forward Nelson Emerson but might not be sound enough to play again this season. Further muddling the goaltending picture, Potvin will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.

Eleven games before the off-season begins for the Kings and six months before training camp, the position is wide open.

“We could go with Jamie as the No. 1,” General Manager Dave Taylor said before the game in a telephone interview, laying out the club’s options. “We could attempt to re-sign Felix or we could look elsewhere and get another goaltender.”

Huet, he said, is not an option.

“You have to be No. 2 before you’re No. 1,” Taylor said.

In other words, Huet is competing for a backup role at best.

Not that he has played poorly.

Including a victory in relief of Storr last month at Pittsburgh and a scoreless 28-minute stint Monday night against the Red Wings, he is 2-0 with a 1.63 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in five appearances.