Kings Take It All Back From Stars

If only the Kings could play the Dallas Stars all the time.

Something good just seems to happen when the Kings see Stars. That was apparent again Sunday in a game where bodies flew and tempers flared.

The Kings rallied from a three-goal deficit for a 6-5 victory over the Stars at Staples Center, giving them consecutive victories and a cleansed palate going into the Olympic break.

“Now we don’t have to think about hockey during the break,” said Jeremy Roenick, who scored his first goal since returning from a broken finger Feb. 2. “If we had lost this, we would have been thinking about that the whole time.”

Derek Armstrong gave the Kings peace of mind, redirecting a shot past goaltender Marty Turco 13 minutes 34 seconds into the third period to end a 5-5 tie. That settled an I-want-it-you-take-it game, where 20 players scored at least one point, including an assist by Turco.

Pavol Demitra had four points and Nathan Dempsey scored his first goal. That helped the Kings experience a feel-good moment. They had lost seven consecutive games before beating Chicago on Saturday, then put in one highlight-reel period to ease into the break.

“We needed this one,” said Luc Robitaille, whose goal tied the score, 5-5, 2:57 into the third period. “Now we can feel good during the break and get ready to go again. This was a morale boost.”

The Stars’ version was a bit different.

“After we got the lead we decided to start the Olympic break,” Coach Dave Tippett said.

The Stars seem to be on break often when they play the Kings. After rallying from a four-goal deficit to beat the Kings on opening night, the Stars have lost five in a row in the series.

Four second-period goals Sunday gave the Stars a 5-2 lead heading into the third period. During the intermission before the period, two things happened.

“We were acting like we had already won something,” the Stars’ Bill Guerin said.

And ...

“What were we going to do, cry about it?” the Kings’ Craig Conroy said.

Lubomir Visnovsky scored 45 seconds into the third period, starting a three-goals-in-three minutes barrage that tied the score.

“We got arrogant,” the Stars’ Mike Modano said. “Everyone wanted to score a goal while forgetting to defend.”

The turnaround was so sudden that King fans, who had booed the team off the ice when the second period ended, quickly reversed the opinion and shifted into a sing-song chant of “Turco, Turco, Turco,” throughout the third period.

“They had a right to boo us,” Conroy said. “We then gave them a reason to cheer us.”

Turco may be heading to Italy to play for Team Canada, but that Olympic selection didn’t come from watching any game tapes against the Kings. He has a 4.58 goals-against average in five starts against the Kings this season.

“They seem to bring out the best in us,” Armstrong said.

Turco finished the game with more penalty minutes (four) than the Kings’ Sean Avery (two). Turco was called for leaving the crease to join a 10-player pileup behind the net in the second period, one of a few post-whistle confrontations. He wandered far from the crease trying to play the puck and was checked into the boards by Dustin Brown in the third period, with Brendan Morrow then jumping Brown.

But it was Turco’s second penalty, for tripping Roenick 12:19 into the third period, that proved costly.

Moments later, Visnovsky fired from the blue line and Armstrong, standing to the left of Turco, got his stick on it.