Kings Get Winning Lift Late

The Kings played some old-time hockey Thursday, really old at times.

They scraped out a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild at Staples Center with a goal on a play as old as the game. Eric Belanger won a faceoff, Tom Kostopoulos screened the goaltender and Lubomir Visnovsky buried a puck from the blue line.

They received a solid effort from three players who combined are older than the NHL, as Craig Conroy, Luc Robitaille and Jeremy Roenick -- 110 years old and counting -- produced a goal.

But in the end, good, old-fashioned goaltending won. Matthieu Garon survived two Marian Gaborik goals, one that tied the score with five minutes left, and made 29 saves to cleanse his palate after a distasteful January.

Visnovsky’s goal with 2 minutes 36 seconds left got the Kings off to the post-Olympic start they desired after losing 13 of 17 games before the 17-day break. They did so without two of their top scorers, Pavol Demitra (eye injury) and Alexander Frolov (separated shoulder).

“That was a nice way to start,” said Garon, who had given up four or more goals in nine of his previous 13 starts.

“I got away from hockey during the break, spent time with my family. It seemed like everything went wrong” in January. “A puck would go off my mask and into the net, things like that.”

The Kings were concerned enough about Garon’s play that General Manager Dave Taylor has asked about Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo and is also working on a deal for Washington defenseman Brendan Witt, league sources said.

Help was not necessary Thursday, as the Kings, seventh in the Western Conference, put another two points between them and the teams in pursuit.

That was due in large part to Conroy (34), Roenick (36) and Robitaille (40).

“I have the young legs on that line,” Conroy joked. “Even after the Olympics, I’m still faster than them.”

The Kings had tumbled before the break, falling to seventh place. They then were faced with playing without Demitra and Frolov, who said he hoped to get back on the ice within the next two days.

“We’re lucky we put ourselves in a situation where we can decide our fate,” Robitaille said Thursday morning. “Yet in saying that, we got to win these games. There can’t be any excuses.”

Conroy, sitting next to Robitaille at the time, said, “we used up our excuses last month.”

Said Robitaille: “Yeah, we are out of excuses.”

Robitaille and Conroy, along with their silent partner Roenick, helped keep the Kings from needing another alibi. Roenick, who has taken a vow of silence with the media, chipped the puck to Conroy, who spun and fed Robitaille at the crease. His goal, the 667th of his career, ended a 1-1 tie eight minutes into the second period.

“Those guys can skate,” Robitaille said.

“They create things and I try to find a hole on the ice. That’s what we did tonight. That was a big, big victory.”

While the Kings grinded out a victory on the ice, Taylor worked off the ice trying to swing a deal.

The Kings are after Witt, a stay-at-home defenseman, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Kings are believed to be offering a prospect in the deal.

Taylor is also among those clamoring for Luongo, although Panther officials are unsure whether to deal one of the top young goaltenders in the NHL or build around him. Luongo is a restricted free agent at the end of the season.