Kings Can’t Spoil His Debut

Steven Reinprecht’s long day’s journey into overtime ended with a satisfying moment for the Phoenix Coyotes, his new team.

Jeremy Roenick’s long hours of work to get back into the Kings’ lineup brought him nothing but sweat for the effort on his first day back.

That was the yin and the yang of the Coyotes’ 2-1 shootout victory Thursday at the Glendale Arena. Reinprecht, acquired from Calgary late Wednesday night, slipped a shot past Kings’ goaltender Matthieu Garon for the only goal in the shootout, giving the Kings their fifth consecutive loss and 10th in the last 13 games.

The moment ruined Roenick’s return to the lineup after missing 20 games with a broken finger. He was handed the Kings’ last shootout try despite the long layoff because “he was hot yesterday in practice,” Coach Andy Murray said. That didn’t carry over to the game.

Roenick shanked a shot that was easily stopped by goaltender Curtis Joseph, turning the game over to Reinprecht.

“I choked,” Roenick said. “The puck jumped on me. I was going high short side and it flipped on me. I didn’t get all of it. Brutal.”

Roenick, though, wasn’t alone.

Pavol Demitra brought Joseph to the ice but fired high on the first shootout attempt. Alexander Frolov also beat Joseph, only to fan on the shot.

That left the game on Reinprecht’s stick.

Less than 24 hours earlier, he was a Calgary Flame, until a late-night deal sent him to Phoenix. He caught a 5 a.m. flight and arrived in town mere hours before the opening faceoff.

Asked before the game whether he had met his new teammates, Reinprecht said, “I’m still trying to find a stick.”

The one he had at the end worked just fine. Reinprecht burst in on Garon and fired blocker side to give the Kings their first loss in five shootouts this season.

This was not the first time that Reinprecht has tortured his former team. A free agent signing by the Kings in 2000, he was traded to Colorado a year later and scored two game-winning goals during a 2001 playoff series. Thursday’s goal may not have come while chasing the Stanley Cup, but it earned him a little shut-eye.

“It has been a long 24 hours, but it ended right,” Reinprecht said.

The Kings had another view. It was their fourth loss in the last five games against Pacific Division opponents, although three were overtime games in which they earned a point.

“That means nothing,” Roenick said. “We came here to get the two points, not one point. We came here to win a hockey game and we had a lot of chances to do that.”

There was the promise of that, starting from sunrise and carrying right up to the moment Reinprecht flicked his shot.

Roenick was cleared to play and put in the lineup after being put through a rigid training schedule.

“I’m in the condition I need to be in to go with what the speed of the game is now,” Roenick said. “It has been frustrating, especially with the team struggling.”

Roenick looked fit throughout, playing 20 minutes 40 seconds.

Frolov’s goal gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 5:47 into the second period. Dave Scatchard tied the score with a power-play goal four minutes later -- the 19th such goal the Kings have allowed in the last 10 games.

The Kings out-shot the Coyotes, 13-2, through the first 15 minutes of the third period, yet could not beat Joseph, who made 34 saves.

That wasted a quality game by Garon, who stopped 31 of 32 shots.

“When your team is going through a stretch like this, you want to win a game for them, 2-1, or 1-0,” Garon said. “I did everything I could to give us that.”