Kings Hold It Together at End

A game they seemed primed to win in a rout turned into a nail-biter with dizzying speed for the Kings on Thursday night. They mustered some tired grins and a few sighs of relief afterward, but they knew they’ll hear from Coach Andy Murray about the third-period scrambles that nearly cost them a victory.

“Kings survive,” Craig Conroy said, proving he’s as adept at summing up situations as scoring goals.

The Kings withstood a forceful push by the Vancouver Canucks but held on for a 5-4 victory at Staples Center, regaining possession of first place in the Pacific Division. After building a 5-1 lead early in the third period, they nearly gave it all back, yielding a power-play goal to power forward Todd Bertuzzi and world-class efforts by Markus Naslund at 11:18 and 17:13.

They were spared a complete meltdown when goaltender Mathieu Garon repelled a close-in backhander by Naslund with less than 50 seconds left, perhaps one of the most important moments of the Kings’ promising but still-young season.

“We knew how well that team had been playing,” said Conroy, whose goal at 3:20 of the third period gave him and linemates Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov 26 goals and 64 points in their last 14 games. “It was a huge challenge.”

Murray said he preferred to emphasize the positives, the three power-play goals by the Kings that ended a lengthy slump and his team’s overall energy. He said he told players they should be satisfied to defeat a team that has been touted as one of the NHL’s best and is tied with Calgary for the Northwest Division lead, and that they shouldn’t be too critical of their mistakes.

At least for the moment.

“We found a way to get a win. That’s all I care about,” Murray said. “We’ll analyze some of those other things [today].”

A pair of power-play goals by Lubomir Visnovsky, the first during a five-on-three advantage gained after Wade Brookbank took an instigator penalty in a bout with George Parros, gave the Kings a 2-0 lead in a 53-second span in the first period. Michael Cammalleri extended the lead to 3-0 with a highlight-film fake on Richard Park in the slot and a wrist shot that eluded Dan Cloutier at 1:38 of the second period, the Kings’ season-best third power-play goal in a game.

Daniel Sedin narrowed the Canucks’ deficit to 3-1 at 16:12 of the second period, flicking home a cross-ice pass from his twin brother, Henrik, but the Kings seemed to take control early in the third after Jeff Cowan redirected a pass from Eric Belanger at 3:04 and Conroy converted a pass from Frolov at 3:20. After that goal, Cloutier was replaced by Alex Auld.

The Canucks chipped away with a power-play goal by Bertuzzi at 7:30, and Naslund ratcheted up the pressure with his goals, the second of which saw him lunge past a dogged but tired Belanger. Despite a frantic push in the last minute, the Canucks couldn’t pull even.

“It was interesting,” Cowan said. “They put us back on our heels at the end of the third period but we kept battling....

“This is a huge win for us, and we can go into our next game with some confidence.”

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Luc Robitaille practiced with the team Thursday for the first time since a fractured lower right leg took him out of the lineup Nov. 3. He has sat out eight games but said that it “shouldn’t take too long, maybe a couple of good skates” before he returns. Derek Armstrong (groin) also skated but remained day to day.... Defenseman Mattias Norstrom sustained a thigh bruise that stiffened, and he sat out the third period. Parros sustained a high ankle sprain, which Murray called “a bit of a concern.” ... Mike Weaver, recovered from a foot injury, replaced Nathan Dempsey on defense.... Adam Hauser was Garon’s backup again, as Jason LaBarbera continued his absence to address a personal matter.