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Laperriere Hat Trick Therapy For Kings

Kings 5, Boston 0

(from the Daily News)

By Matt McHale 
Staff Writer

October 14, 2000 - The stitches above his nose are Ian Laperriere's signature, but in every tough guy beats the heart of a goal scorer. 

For Laperriere, it also beats for his father Michel, who is back in his native Montreal battling pancreatic cancer. On Friday, the night he completed the first hat trick of his NHL career in the Kings' 5-0 victory over Boston, Laperriere wept for his dad and put the puck from his third goal in the mail. 

"He'd be mad if I didn't focus on hockey right now," Laperriere said, sadly. "He has been alongside me my whole career. He is my best friend." 

Laperriere, who just returned from 4 1/2 months of rehabilitation for reconstructive surgery to his left knee, gave the Kings an early-season lift when they really needed one. 

They were coming off a miserable 4-4 tie Wednesday after taking a four-goal lead. It was the second time in the young season the Kings (3-1-1) blew a comfortable lead. And to compound matters, starting goaltender Jamie Storr was benched after missing a morning meeting at the team's training facility in El Segundo. 

Steve Passmore, who came to camp as the club's third goaltender, was thrust into a starting role in front of 14,352 at Staples Center. Although he faced just 18 shots, Passmore took advantage of an early Kings lead and recorded the second shutout of his NHL career. 

Passmore, who played for Chicago last season, was at his best midway through the third period when he held off the Bruins for 1:43 during a 5-on-3 power play. 

Ten seconds after killing the penalty, Passmore faced another Bruins man advantage. Boston managed only one shot and the shutout was intact. 

Laperriere, usually limited to the enforcer's role with the Kings, had two goals early and completed the hat trick with less than three minutes to play. His first came 14:40 into the first period against former Kings goaltender Byron Dafoe. 

Andrew Raycroft was in goal when the Bruins came out for the second period, but Laperriere didn't care. Just 2:44 in, he took a pass in front from Steven Reinprecht and beat Raycroft. 

After not scoring in the first four games, Laperriere suddenly had two goals in less than nine minutes. But just to prove he still gets more black eyes than style points, Laperriere received a five-minute major penalty for a first-period fight with Dave Van Impe. 

It was in the first when the Kings set a familiar tone. It marked the fifth straight game they scored more than one goal in the opening period. Twice, that was not enough to secure a victory. 

Boston came in 3-0-1, far better than last year's 0-5-4 start that included a tie in the opening game at Staples Center. But after Ziggy Palffy gave the Kings a 1-0 lead just 4:23 into the game, the Bruins applied little pressure. Jason Allison, who entered the game as the league's top scorer with four goals and six assists, had just one shot the entire game. 

Eric Belanger, the rookie center on the first line with Palffy and Luc Robitaille, made it 2-0 with less than nine minutes left in the opening period. Belanger - who hadn't scored since last Friday's one-goal, two-assist performance in his NHL debut - beat Dafoe on the power play with Mike Knuble off for holding. 

The rest belonged to Laperriere. 

Although doctors are optimistic after Michel Laperriere recently completed chemotherapy, there is no cure for pancreatic cancer. Instead of doing his rehab in Los Angeles during the offseason, Laperriere spent the summer with his father in Montreal. 

"Although I am here, my thoughts are with him," Laperriere said. "I talk to him every day and I'm going to call him right now. I love him so much."

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