A Group Effort Key for Kings

The demons were there for the Kings to wrestle.

A lesser team had them on the ropes. A King-sized flop was not out of the question.

The Kings exorcised such thoughts.

Pavol Demitra returned home in fine fashion. Joe Corvo returned to the score sheet. And Jeremy Roenick returned from the penalty box, scored the game-clincher and the Kings carved out a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues in a nearly empty Savvis Center on Tuesday.

“There are a lot people who didn’t think we would be as competitive as we are this season,” said Roenick, who scored on a wrist shot fresh out of the penalty box to give the Kings a 5-3 lead with 1 minute 50 seconds left. “We have attacked a lot of demons already this year.”

The cast-of-thousands-credit handed out afterward included a smorgasbord of players who filled the score sheet. Corvo’s two goals, Demitra’s four assists and Alexander Frolov’s empty-net goal and three assists topped the list of nine King players with points.

“We have a lot guys contributing, and that’s what great teams that go deep in the playoffs need,” Corvo said.

“I’m not saying we’re a great team right now, I just think we have a lot of good players and someone always seems to step up.”

The victory left the Kings with the third-most points in the NHL and only a point behind the Detroit Red Wings, the Western Conference’s top team.

“It makes things a lot easier when you have a start like this,” Roenick said. “If you’re four or five games under .500 at this point, you have to do a lot to stay in the race.”

The Blues know that well. St. Louis’ run of 25 consecutive playoff appearances, the longest active streak in professional sports, seems in serious jeopardy as the Blues struggle to stay out of last place in the weak Central Division.

Demitra’s four assists made for a special night in his first game in St. Louis since signing with the Kings. Demitra has six points in two games against his former team.

“It was fun to be back,” Demitra, who has 14 assists in the last five games, said. “But we won, that was the most important part.”

The outcome was in doubt entering the third period, as the Kings let a 3-1 lead get away late in the second period when the Blues scored goals on consecutive shots.

Mike Cammalleri fired a shot past goaltender Curtis Sanford for a power-play goal 41 seconds into the period.

“I think that goal really showed real resilience,” Coach Andy Murray said. “A lot of teams would have given up those two goals and gone the other way.”

The Kings got plenty of offense, more and more the norm. They began the game ranking fourth in the NHL in goals a game.

Corvo helped add to that total with his first two-goal game, tripling his season total.

“I have been waiting for a game like this to happen,” said Corvo, who is plus-17, the top goal ratio on the team. “I’ve done some good things this season.”