Kings Survive the Avalanche

Mattias Norstrom was knocked groggy for a couple of minutes. It was the biggest offensive boost of the night for the Kings.

Goaltender Mathieu Garon was dreadful at times. Yet, he was credited with saving the game.

Craig Conroy was ready to take responsibility for the loss. He then scored the game-winner.

That’s how the Kings’ 5-4 victory over Colorado played out Wednesday night in the Pepsi Center. Conroy crashed the net and chipped in a pass from Alexander Frolov with 59 seconds left to complete the Kings’ rally from a three-goal deficit.

The Avalanche built a 4-1 lead early in the second period, but for the second time in a week, it evaporated into a disappointing loss.

“We just kept chipping away,” said Conroy, who had a goal and three assists. “We know that leads aren’t safe in the NHL now.”

The Kings did what they could to get the Avalanche off to a fast start. For a time, it looked as if they were trying to honor an ex-King. Ian Laperriere scored two first-period goals in his first regular-season game against his former team.

Garon gave up three goals on the Avalanche’s first seven shots and Coach Andy Murray considered pulling him, but stayed with him.

“I wasn’t going to take the rest of the players off the hook by changing goalies,” Murray said. “After the first period, I told them Mathieu was going to shut them down and we had to regroup and battle.”

Joe Sakic’s power-play goal gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead 6 minutes 35 seconds into the second period. But then Norstrom was leveled by Brad May 13:46 into the period.

May came across the ice to slam Norstrom into the boards. The Kings’ Tom Kostopoulos then jumped May. Norstrom didn’t miss a shift, and the Kings began to control play.

“We felt that was a bad hit,” Conroy said. “From that point, we played more aggressive.”

May received a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, which further infuriated the Kings.

“He should be suspended,” Eric Belanger said.

Said Murray: “I think Brad May plays hard and is a real competitor. But that hit was unnecessary.”

Yet, it served to get the Kings out of a funk.

Garon further fueled the comeback by stopping Sakic on a breakaway, denying the center a short-handed goal and keeping the Kings within one goal, 4-3.

Moments later, Sean Avery rushed the net on the back side and tapped in a perfect pass by Belanger to tie the score.