Kings Enjoy Stay in Florida

Ziggy Palffy was beaten by the post once in overtime. Next time around, he beat the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The King right wing floated through the slot, deked to the right and sent the puck flying between the legs of goalie John Grahame with 7.7 seconds left in overtime, giving the Kings a 1-0 victory Thursday and continuing their sweep through Florida.

The winner started with a solid back-checking effort by Luc Robitaille, who stopped Vincent Lecavalier in a one-on-one situation near the King blue line and moved up ice with the puck.

Robitaille found Palffy, Palffy found the net and the Kings won their third consecutive game, this time against one of the league’s hottest teams, before 14,287 deflated fans at the St. Pete Times Forum.

“I knew there was a couple seconds left so I took a shot,” Palffy said. “I got a little lucky. It went under his pad.”

The shot was slightly more effective than Palffy’s attempt that hit the right post on a partial breakaway with 2:47 left in overtime.

“Bad luck that time,” Palffy said.

The Kings played again without center Jozef Stumpel, who has a bruised chest, and are still without forwards Jason Allison, who has whiplash, and Adam Deadmarsh, who has a concussion. They suffered the injuries last season.

And yet, the Kings completed a successful swing through Florida, beating the Florida Panthers for the first time on the road, 3-2 on Wednesday, and ending an 0-4-1 skid against Tampa Bay that dated to 1999.

“Considering our record against these Florida teams over the last number of games, to get four points in two nights is a nice boost,” King Coach Andy Murray said.

Tampa Bay lost its second consecutive game after a 7-0-1 start, largely because of King goaltender Roman Cechmanek, who had 30 saves and several well-timed highlights, none more important than a sliding save on Martin St. Louis’ snap shot in front of the net with 2:35 left in regulation.

The Kings acquired Cechmanek during the off-season with the idea he would win a few games when the team was outshot, or tired, or both. Playing on the road for a second consecutive night, Cechmanek handed the Kings a dividend check.

“We got good goaltending tonight,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “It held us in there.”

Cechmanek was sterling in the second period. He had a glove save on Andre Roy in a three-on-two, stopped Dimitry Afanasenkov as he walked in untouched from the left circle and rebuffed Dave Andreychuk on two consecutive chances at the doorstep.

Cechmanek finished with his second shutout of the season and was a difference-maker for the first time since blanking his former team, the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-0, on Oct. 21.

Cechmanek’s counterpart, Grahame, played pretty well with 19 saves, but the pressure was on Cechmanek to stop a team that was the NHL’s only undefeated club until a 5-1 loss Tuesday to the Washington Capitals.

“We’re trying to get him on a bit of a roll there and certainly to win games back-to-back is a good indicator,” Murray said.

Cechmanek did his part, Palffy followed it with a goal, and the Kings got the victory. Said Miller: “That’s a good road game.”