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Kings' Hot Trip Ends With Big Chill

Montreal 2 - Kings 1

(from the Daily News)

By Matt McHale
Staff Writer

December 23, 2001 - MONTREAL - Ian Laperriere stood alone at center ice as the voices from 20,000 of his French-Canadian neighbors rained down through the rafters of Molson Centre.

They were not singing "Joyeux Noel."

Laperriere, who grew up here and had 30 friends and family members in the stands, was the bad guy now, preparing for a penalty shot midway through the second period Saturday night that could have made a big difference in the Kings' 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

"I have never taken a penalty shot in the NHL or even junior hockey," Laperriere said. "I didn't even know how. I went over to the bench and asked Bryan Smolinski and Adam Deadmarsh and they said, 'Go for the five-hole.' "

Laperriere skated in, gunning for the spot between the pads of goaltender Jose Theodore, but his shot was stopped.

And though there was half a game to play, so was the Kings' magical run of five consecutive victories and a seven-game unbeaten streak.

They headed back to Los Angeles after the game for the three-day Christmas break knowing they once again are playoff contenders, but still it hurt.

The Kings were 10 points from a playoff spot just two weeks ago but cut that deficit to two against No. 8 Dallas after defeating Ottawa on Thursday.

They were hoping to sweep through three games in Canada without a loss. The Stars won Saturday and lead the Kings (14-15-5-2) by four points.

"I think we're happy with the way we've been playing," said defenseman Aaron Miller, whose cross-checking penalty late in the third period set up Yanic Perreault's game-winning goal. "Our penalty killing has been terrific but we finally let one in."

The Kings had killed off 20 consecutive penalties and all but one of their previous 43 when Perreault, a former King, redirected a Stephane Robidas shot past another native son Felix Potvin with 3:15 left in regulation.

And despite outshooting Montreal 24-8 in the first two periods and 29-16 overall, the Kings had no answer for Theodore, who has helped bring the Canadiens back to respectability (16-14-5-1) after many bad seasons.

"They still are the Canadiens," said Potvin, who left 26 tickets for family and friends. "This is not the old Forum, but this still is Montreal.

The Kings never have played well at the Molson Centre or at the Forum, where the Canadiens won 23 Stanley Cup titles.

They are 8-44-11 lifetime in Montreal and have won just once in the past nine years.

This season looked like it might be different. The Kings came in with back-to-back victories against Toronto, the lead team in the Eastern Conference, and Ottawa, one of the NHL's top scoring clubs.

But the Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at the 16:02 mark in the first period when Arron Asham redirected a Patrick Poulin shot from the corner past Potvin in front.

The Kings tied the game at 7:43 of the second on a goal in front by Nelson Emerson. Jason Allison, who ran his point streak to a career-high eight games, circled behind the Canadiens' net and found Emerson alone.

"That is his play," Emerson said of Allison, who has 27 points in 27 games with the Kings. "He comes around and has the option to shoot or pass. I just happened to be there."

Five minutes later, the game turned.

Laperriere, the gritty journeyman, had his best scoring chance of the night when he was pulled down from behind by defenseman Andrei Markov on a breakaway.

The Kings were awarded their second penalty shot of the season. Ziggy Palffy failed to convert Oct. 7 in a loss to Minnesota.

Theodore's stop was routine, but he was nearly nocked over when Laperriere skated by. The crowd roared. The momentum changed.

The Canadiens outshot the Kings 8-5 in the third period. Pressure in front of the net caused Miller, named to the U.S. Olympic team earlier in the day, to cross check Richard Zednik with five minutes left.

Just 1:44 later, Perreault scored.


COPYRIGHT 2001 Daily News