Trip Ends on Tie Note

The end of the trip finally came, 7,964 miles and seven games after the Kings last played at Staples Center, way back on Jan. 29.

Eighteen days later, the Kings will take what they got Monday afternoon, what they usually get these days, one point out of a possible two after a 1-1 tie with the New York Islanders.

Backup goaltender Cristobal Huet had 36 saves and kept things from getting out of control, and the Kings finished 2-1-2-2 on their longest trip this season.

It started Jan. 31 in Edmonton, was broken up for a week by the All-Star break, and came to an end before some people in Los Angeles were even awake.

Trent Klatt provided a one-goal edge and the Kings held on, for the most part, while playing without another defenseman in front of 15,369 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Two months ago, the Kings lost Aaron Miller to a pinched nerve in his neck. Two weeks ago, they lost Lubomir Visnovsky because of nerve damage in his shoulder. Monday, the Kings played without Jaroslav Modry, who flew to Los Angeles on Sunday night after his wife gave birth to their third child.

As a result, defenseman Jason Holland logged a team-high 27:15 of ice time and rookie Tomas Zizka had 20:56, second-highest in his brief NHL career.

The Kings also had help from the crossbar, which bore the brunt of two Islander shots in the first period and kept the score in check before the game had barely begun.

“For us to come in here and get a point, we’ll take it at this juncture of the season,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “For us to play seven games on the road and only have one loss in regulation, that says a lot about our team.”

The Kings weren’t so sharp in overtime, but Huet was.

The Kings were outshot, 8-1, but managed the tie on a day in which Roman Cechmanek was given a rest and the defense consisted of All-Star Mattias Norstrom and five others with fewer than 102 games of NHL experience.

“We don’t even think about who’s in the lineup anymore,” Huet said. “We battled hard and tried to get a point.”

The Kings are now one point ahead of the Dallas Stars for sixth place in the Western Conference. The teams play Wednesday at Staples Center.

Klatt opened the scoring at 1:30 of the second period, wristing in a rebound from the slot after goaltender Rick DiPietro was handcuffed by Joe Corvo’s slap shot.

The Islanders tied the score when rookie Trent Hunter skated behind the net and found Arron Asham alone in the right circle for a one-timer 50 seconds into the third period.

The Kings had a pivotal opportunity a little more than two minutes later with a five-on-three man-advantage that lasted 1:54 after Adrian Aucoin and Michael Peca were called for high-sticking within six seconds of each other.

But the Kings had trouble getting the puck down low on the power play, settling for shots from the point by Corvo and Zizka. A King timeout with 23 seconds left in the five-on-three failed to help, and the Islanders were back at full strength.

“I don’t think we’re playing our best hockey right now,” Norstrom said. “We’re finding ways to get points. That’s a really good sign for our team, to be able to get points without playing your best hockey.”

The end of regulation became interesting when the Islanders received a power play with 2:07 left after Norstrom was calling for hooking Peca in the left corner of the King zone.

Norstrom checked Peca shoulder-first into the boards, was hit in the face by Peca’s stick and came away with a cut under his nose, but went to the penalty box.

The Kings killed the penalty and made it to the extra session.

They can now look forward to fewer road games -- nine, compared with 14 at home -- and shorter travel distances when they return to Los Angeles.

“After this road trip we don’t have a trip past Dallas the rest of the year,” Murray said. “And we have two games in Anaheim, which are like home games.”