Kings Are Different Nowadays

This was another night that could have gone oh-so wrong for the Kings. Another moment when they could have crumbled, yet held firm.

A 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of an announced sellout at Staples Center -- the eighth this season -- was another chance to see how different things are this season.

“We’re learning to win,” forward Luc Robitaille said. “You always hear bad teams complaining about all the one-goal losses they have. Good teams find a way to win those games.”

The Kings found a win Saturday in a game in which they were out-played and out-hit much of the time.

In the end, their A-Line -- Pavol Demitra, Craig Conroy, Alexander Frolov -- continued a scorching streak, as the team’s AARP-line -- Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick, Derek Armstrong -- showed there was no reason to trade in their sticks for canes.

Frolov had a goal and an assist, and Demitra had a goal and Conroy an assist. Robitaille scored the winner 17 minutes 24 seconds into the second period.

The victory kept the Kings atop the Pacific Division, two points ahead of Dallas, and gave them 33 points, the second-most in the Western Conference. It also sent the Kings into a five-game stretch in which they will play four of the NHL’s top teams -- Detroit at home Monday, then Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto on the road.

“I don’t know if we’re going to have a tougher stretch all year, to tell you the truth,” Roenick said. “If we come off this road trip nine or 10 games over .500, I can see this team really exploding, maybe becoming one of the tops in the league. We definitely know about it. Everybody has looked at the schedule and has been excited for it.”

Only Chicago sits as a team the Kings seemingly should beat in this stretch, and the Blackhawks showed what a pain they can be. The Kings had their hands full in a physical game, falling behind, 2-1, when Kyle Calder chipped in a rebound 20 seconds into the second period.

“The big thing is no one ever panics,” Conroy said. “People are not screaming at each other in the dressing room when we’re down. We figure out a way to get it done.”

More points from Frolov and Demitra were good starting points. Demitra took Conroy’s cross-ice pass at the crease and slipped the puck under goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin 8:51 into the second period. The trio has 32 goals and 83 points in the last 18 games.

But it took a couple old hands -- with the emphasis on the old -- to put the Kings ahead. Robitaille (39), Roenick (35) and Armstrong (33) were teamed together Saturday in what Robitaille called the century line -- “Because our ages add up to a century,” Robitaille said.

Those 107 years of life paid off late in the second period, when Roenick took the puck to the blue line before finding Robitaille, who cut in front of the net and flicked in a shot.

“That was just a veteran move by J.R.,” Robitaille said. “He put it out in front, where their guy couldn’t hook me. You can’t teach that.”

It was the 547th goal Robitaille has scored as a King, leaving him three short of Marcel Dionne’s franchise record.

Said Coach Andy Murray: “The bottom line [is] that we stuck with it for 60 minutes. We knew it would be this kind of game and we found a way.”