Straka’s on Target at Right Moment

The Kings’ winless streak wasn’t snapped Saturday, but the news wasn’t all bad.

Evidence: Frustrated Dallas defenseman Sergei Zubov snapping his stick into splinters with 21.3 seconds left to play.

The Kings were strolling toward a loss, but Martin Straka scored on a behind-the-net pass from Eric Belanger -- Zubov reacted angrily by cracking his stick over the net -- and the Kings tied the Dallas Stars, 2-2, before an accepting crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

Richard Matvichuk tried to corral the puck behind the King net, but Belanger beat him to it and fed Straka for his sixth goal in 15 games since being traded to the Kings from the Pittsburgh Penguins. King defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was in the penalty box at the time for high-sticking, and the King goaltender had been pulled, making the play even more impressive.

A tie that, for the first time in a while, seemed like a victory.

“Certainly when you’re down a goal in the last 30 seconds and killing a penalty and able to get a point against a good hockey club, there’s a feeling of satisfaction,” King Coach Andy Murray said.

The Kings, anchored in the third spot in the Western Conference for most of the season with their first-place standing in the Pacific Division, were 21.3 seconds from dropping to ninth, one spot below playoff level.

But because this is January and not early April, the Kings are forgiven for not panicking, even though an eight-game winless streak (0-2-5-1) continues to be cause for concern.

Stu Barnes scored 1:34 into the second period and the Stars, uncompetitive and unimposing until the last couple of weeks, almost made it stand up as the game-winner. Instead, they remained one point behind the Kings for second place in the Pacific.

The Kings had other reasons for optimism: Derek Armstrong played for the first time since sustaining a broken finger Nov. 22, and Visnovsky was back after missing six games because of a concussion.

The King penalty kill was also steady, killing all five Dallas power plays, including a 35-second five on three near the end of the second period. On the kill, Murray applauded the effort of much-maligned and oft-injured center Jozef Stumpel, who has three goals in 25 games.

“I shook Jozef Stumpel’s hand after the game tonight,” Murray said. “He was one of our best players tonight and was a key member of that penalty kill, along with [Jaroslav] Modry and Visnovsky.”

Earlier in the day, Murray wasn’t so pleased with one of his players. Forward Sean Avery, the NHL’s most penalized player, was benched because of a recent rash of shaky on-ice behavior and, according to Avery, for telling reporters Friday he thought the Kings weren’t “team tough.”

The Kings tried to set a tougher tone Saturday -- Brad Chartrand and Brad Norton combining for 20 penalty minutes during a couple of scraps 3:32 into the game -- and the Kings took the end result.

“They got that lead and held their defensemen back, but we finally got that break,” left wing Luc Robitaille said. “It’s a big point. These are the type of games we’re going to be in a lot this month.”

The Stars played better than they did after a humiliating 6-0 home loss Friday to the Phoenix Coyotes, but they couldn’t claim victory.

The Stars opened the scoring when Brenden Morrow won a battle for the puck with Mattias Norstrom and passed from the King blue line to an uncovered Bill Guerin at the left circle for a wrister at 6:03.

The Kings tied it up at 18:47 of the first period, Ziggy Palffy stealing a pass from goaltender Marty Turco in the slot and backhanding the puck into the net.

The Stars took advantage of a King defensive mistake to take a 2-1 lead 1:34 into the second period. David Oliver moved past defenseman Jason Holland near the King blue line and hit Barnes at the right side of the crease for a goal.