Kings, Ducks Focusing on Their Goals

The Kings have a new goaltender -- again -- so let’s go to the tape.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings defenseman, flips the puck in from center ice. The red light goes on, a Vancouver Canucks fan curls into the fetal position in the first row and a collective groan echoes through the mountains all the way up to Whistler.

The vision certainly has never left Dan Cloutier’s mind in the three seasons since that Stanley Cup playoff moment. How could it? It might as well have been a weekly reality show in Vancouver -- Where were you when Cloutier let the puck in?

“I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it, everyone has seen it,” Cloutier said, coaxing a cordial smile to go along with a soft monotone voice. “It’s one bad goal, but people still talk about it. If I was in Vancouver, to this day I’d still answer questions. I’ve moved on.”

Moved south too, where Kings fans probably will give Cloutier the benefit of the doubt after what they have seen in net.

Bad goal? Wanna see a bad goal? Roll the Roman Cechmanek follies.

Cloutier may have finally found a place to lay the past to rest, beginning tonight when he starts in net as the Kings take on the Ducks in Anaheim.

One moment in history is not the best way to judge Cloutier’s skills, which are considerable in Coach Marc Crawford’s eyes. But 18 different goaltenders in nine seasons is ample time to conclude that the Kings’ crease has mostly been a vacant lot.

The dominoes fell this summer. Vancouver pried Roberto Luongo from the Florida Panthers and the 30-year-old Cloutier was shipped to the Kings, who overall were not unhappy with Mathieu Garon but saw this as an upgrade.

“We have stabilized that position, now and in the immediate future,” said first-year General Manager Dean Lombardi, who signed Cloutier to a two-year, $6.2-million contract extension. “People in hockey know what a competitor Dan is. He’s a little like Ron Hextall.”

A little like Hextall is more than a little dangerous. Hextall, now the Kings’ assistant general manager, was known for his type-A personality in net, and Cloutier “is pretty close,” Crawford said.

Type Cloutier’s name on a youtube.com search and you end up with a ringside seat. It includes the 1998 game when Cloutier, a New York Ranger at the time, pummeled New York Islanders goaltender Tommy Salo into submission, then skated in front of the Islanders’ bench for any other takers.

“Even now, when I go back to New York, people remember that,” Cloutier said.

Basically, Cloutier has the personality of a feisty little brother, come by honestly while playing goal against Sylvain Cloutier, two years his senior.

“My brother was a forward and he needed someone to shoot the puck at,” Cloutier said. “In between periods, when we were watching ‘Hockey Night in Canada,’ we’d run downstairs to the basement and my dad and my brother would shoot on me.”

Cloutier spent eight-plus season with the Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Canucks. It was in Vancouver that he became a No. 1 goaltender, with three consecutive 30-win seasons that might have been four had he not suffered a knee injury 13 games into last season.

“We got Dan from Vancouver, he was a competitor. But he has become so much more complete as a goaltender,” said Crawford, who was Cloutier’s coach in Vancouver. “His movement is now on par with some of the top goaltenders in our game.”

But while he has a 2.66 goals-against average during the regular season, he has allowed 3.31 per game in the playoffs.

The postseason postmortems began the night Lidstrom’s center-ice shot slipped past him in the 2002 playoffs. The Canucks were leading the first-round series, 2-0. The goal broke a scoreless tie and Detroit won four consecutive games, leaving Vancouver media and fans to dissect the series, usually by carving up Cloutier.

“I never really worried about what was said or what was done or the things I did,” Cloutier said. “I think playing in a Canadian city, you don’t have a choice but to go out there every night because if you don’t, it is only going to make things worse.”

The heat continued the following season when the Canucks blew a 3-1 series lead against the Minnesota Wild.

“What people always forget is the next year, we’re facing Calgary and Dan is playing great,” Crawford said. “He makes a goal-saving save in Game 3 and breaks his ankle. If he’d played that series, no one would question his abilities in the playoffs.”

And the Detroit goal?

“Honestly, it doesn’t really bother me,” Cloutier said. “I have been in the sport long enough. I’ve seen it happen to Hall of Fame guys. I’ve seen it happen to rookies. . It was a bad goal. It was a terrible goal. It was bad timing. But those things happen.”

Just ask Kings fans.

chris.foster@latimes.com