Kings Clamp Down

With 10:47 remaining in the third period and the Kings holding a one-goal lead, the St. Louis Blues found themselves on a power-play in a crucial game for both teams Thursday night at Staples Center.

That’s when the NHL’s best penalty-killing unit took over. For two minutes, the Blues were held without a shot on goal and the Kings rode the momentum created by their penalty-killers to close out a 2-1 victory in front of a capacity crowd of 18,118.

Winger Brad Chartrand had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky scored the winning goal for the Kings, who moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference.

“It’s playoff hockey in March right now,� Chartrand said. “The tempo of the games has picked up and it’s not a surprise to see low-scoring games now. Teams are clamping down and that’s what happens when you need the points. You can’t play a run-and-gun style if you want to win in this league. You have to concentrate on defense first.�

The Kings and St. Louis headed into Thursday’s showdown tied with Phoenix with 75 points each. Since Phoenix had the night off, the Kings took full advantage of their opportunity to gain some ground in the tight Western Conference playoff race.

Felix Potvin was impressive again in goal for the Kings, making 28 saves to improve to 24-22-6.

The Blues, who ended a slump with their first win since the Olympic break at San Jose on Wednesday, definitely did not start off against the Kings playing like a struggling team.

St. Louis aggressively shut down the Kings’ offense in the first period with solid forechecking and seemed to have more jump in its legs despite having played on the road the night before.

Potvin, who has played in 93 of the 103 games since being acquired by the Kings on Feb. 15, 2001, had to be sharp early. St. Louis not only outshot the Kings, 13-8, over the first 20 minutes, but the Blues also had the better scoring chances. Potvin was at his best when he stuffed a shot by Tyson Nash from the top of the crease and when he batted away a shot by forward Cory Stillman from the left circle.

After looking lethargic in the first period, the Kings struck quickly in the second.

Chartrand, whose last goal before Thursday came against Columbus on Feb. 26, is not known as one of the Kings’ top offensive threats, but he certainly seemed like one to St. Louis defenseman Al MacInnis when he gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 34 seconds into the period.

After picking up a St. Louis turnover in the neutral zone, Chartrand skated by the right circle, faked MacInnis to the ice and ripped a shot past Brent Johnson for his sixth goal of the season.

“I was thinking pass at first because Mikko [Eloranta] had a jump on MacInnis,� Chartrand said. “But in the middle of my thought process, MacInnis just flopped down.�

With a one-goal lead, the Kings came close to stretching it to 2-0 a couple of times but failed, and St. Louis took advantage with Stillman’s 17th goal at 11:33. After making a nice stop on a shot by Pavol Demitra, Potvin had Stillman’s shot from a sharp angle outside the right post, bounce off his chest into the net to tie the score, 1-1.

Before the period ended, the Kings regained the lead on Visnovsky’s fourth goal of the season. Forward Ian Laperriere set up the score when he faked St. Louis defenders out of position before finding Visnovsky inside the blue line. Visnovsky skated toward the middle of the ice and beat Johnson high to his glove side at 16:38 to help the Kings take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

“We had a poor first period, but we came out gave them a lot more trouble in the second,� said King center Jason Allison, whose point-scoring streak ended after four games. “We played a lot better from then on.�

In the third period, the Kings didn’t exactly shut down on offense but they did cut down on risky plays.

Except for a couple of late shots by the Blues, the Kings controlled the game down the stretch to win their second in a row. They conclude their three-game homestand on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.