Conroy stays in the zone for Kings

Craig Conroy, ever the optimist, always the workaholic, never gave up.

The puck was cleared from behind the net and two Colorado Avalanche players skated up ice. Conroy went to the net.

A moment later, the red light was on, Conroy’s arms were in the air and the Kings could breathe a collective sigh of relief. Their 5-4 victory in front of an announced 17,079 at Staples Center, as ragged as it was, was a palate cleanser.

Conroy managed to tap in a rebound for the winning goal 13 minutes 48 seconds into the third period, helping make Thursday’s woeful performance against the Nashville Predators just an unpleasant memory, instead of a disturbing trend. At least for now.

“I didn’t know where the [Avalanche players] went,” Conroy said. “I knew I just had to get to the net. [Jeff Cowan] got off a great shot. It went off my foot, my leg, my stick. I was just so happy to get one.”

Conroy’s work gave the Kings the chance to look ahead, instead of peeking back at the 4-1 loss to Nashville, which resulted in a gritty players-only meeting afterward. The Kings spotted the Avalanche a 2-0 lead, then clawed back for a victory that allowed them to slip past the Chicago Blackhawks into 11th place in the Western Conference.

That allowed Conroy to push his glass-is-half-full campaign.

“All it takes is stringing three, four, five wins in a row and we’re right there,” Conroy said.

The Kings sit five points behind eighth-place Calgary, though the Flames have played four fewer games.

Staying in sight took some sweat.

The teams traded third-period blows. The Kings’ Michael Cammalleri tied the score, 3-3, with his second goal of the game 4:13 into the period. Pierre Turgeon cashed in on a Mattias Norstrom turnover for a 4-3 Avalanche lead 49 seconds later. Scott Thornton pulled the Kings even, slinging a shot past Jose Theodore five minutes after that.

There was a time when this sort of intense play meant something, as when the Kings and Avalanche faced off in playoff series in the past. Of course, that was a time when four goals were usually enough for Colorado, with Patrick Roy in net. And that was a time when the Kings did not hail a December victory as a monumental achievement.

But these are different times. Roy was been tucked away into the Hall of Fame and the Avalanche has slipped significantly. The Kings, meanwhile, are grasping at anything that would point to their being a playoff contender.

“This was huge,” Conroy said. “We can move on now. This is something we can build on.”

But awaiting the Kings are not so much building blocks as immovable objects. Their next three games are against the San Jose Sharks (twice) and Dallas Stars.

Saturday’s game featured a long-awaited bout, when the Avalanche’s Ian Laperriere finally caught up with the Kings’ Sean Avery nine minutes into the game.

Laperriere was angered by Avery’s disparaging comment about French Canadian players before last season, when he said a hit by Phoenix’s Denis Gauthier was “typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not [backing] anything up.”

Laperriere, a French Canadian player who does not wear a visor, said Avery avoided his challenges to fight in an exhibition game soon after the comment. He cornered Avery in the first period Saturday and landed a flurry of late punches to score a split decision.

Avery, though, also picked up a game misconduct for not having his jersey tied down.

chris.foster@latimes.com