News Archives from Oct 1999 Ian Laperriere is 6' 1" and 201 pounds. He's not a heavyweight or a goon, but he won't back down from a fight. And Saturday night against the Blackhawks, he showed why 'everybody loves Lappy'! He plays with so much heart that you can't help but love the guy. He didn't score a goal, but he sured scored points with his teammates and the fans. He went after Bryan McCabe twice for roughing up Ziggy Palffy.Another delight for the evening, besides the win over Chicago, was Stephane Fiset's assist on Brad Chartrand's shorthanded game winning goal. While the Kings were killing off a Chicago power play, Fiset stopped a shot from the Anders Eriksson, shot the puck down the ice right on Chartrand's stick, who found himself with open ice in front of him so he skated in on Thibault and put the puck past him, for his first NHL goal. "I could see the play developing, and it's weird when you've never had an NHL goal before, the things that go through your head," said Chartrand. "Fiz made a great play. It happened so quickly, and I saw Fiz and it was an eye-contact type thing. He lofted it up in the air, and he made a great play and I converted it." "No," Fiset said, laughing at the idea of considering an assist when he launched the puck. "I shot the puck, and I had it in my mind to shoot the puck all the way down (to the other end of the ice to clear it), but I missed my shot. Instead, I find Chartie and he scores. It looked perfect onOct 30, 1999 First in Western Conference
TV ... but I missed my shot. "You don't have time to stop the puck, look at the puck, see if you have somebody open and shoot the puck at them. He may have looked at me, but I never saw him.""Well, they had six power plays, that's where their chances came from," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "Fiset was outstanding, but that's what he gets paid for." "Every shot is dangerous, whether it's 17 or 36, especially if I don't control the rebounds," Fiset noted. "A couple of times I didn't."
Glen Murray scored three minutes into the game. Donald Audette was at the top of the left faceoff circle and slid a cross-ice pass to Murray, who was skating down the right side. Murray got his fifth goal of the season by wristing the puck past Jocelyn Thibault and just under the crossbar.
Rob Blake scored half way through the second period. Audette and Bryan Smolinski assisted on both goals.Who woulda thought! Sean O'Donnell scored the game tying goal with a wristshot in the third period, and about 2 minutes later started the play that led to Luc Robitaille's go ahead goal. Luc redirected Ziggy's shot for his 10th goal, tying Brian Savage of Montreal for the league lead. "We were sticking together and playing as a team," Palffy said. "We have to battle, play 60 minutes. We have started very well and that is important in this league." ![]()
Oct 28, 1999 Homestand Ends With Winphotos soon
11 seconds later, Glen Murray scored what became the game winner, and it finally looked like the Kings could skate away with another win in this first homestand. "As you get the shots and opportunities, it's going to go in sometime," Murray said. "This is a huge game, especially on the homestand."
Donald Audette got the Kings on the board 11:26 into the second. He fired a slap shot from above the right circle that was stopped by Skudra. But the rebound came right back to him and Audette drilled it home for his fifth goal. And Bryan Smolinski put the puck in the empty net with 3 seconds left in the game to give the Staples crowd one last 'cheer for the road'. We are now tied for first in the Western Conference, and tied for second in the NHL!
Jagr scored the first goal 42 seconds into the game and finished the night with a goal and two assists.The Kings were behind 2-0 on a power play and a shorthanded goal by Washington before scoring five unanswered goals to come from behind to beat the Capitals 5-2. With this win, the Kings are tied for first place in the Pacific Division. Rob Blake's goal tonight makes him the scoring leader in defensemen. ![]()
Oct 26, 1999 Kings Win After Bad Start
Donald Audette scored two goals, including the game-tying goal at 7:46 of the second period, and added an assist. "After the first period we weren't too happy. But in the second and third we really dominated them," Audette said. "We kept the puck down in their end. It felt good to take the game to them."
Rob Blake and Bryan Smolinski scored 33 seconds apart in the third period to give the Kings a victory. Luc Robitaille cut it to 2-1 when he redirected a shot from Aki Berg while standing to the left of the net, Robitaille's ninth goal of the season. It put him one behind league-leader Brian Savage of Montreal. "A lot of pressure was put on the team after the Phoenix loss," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "Tonight the entire team was really sharp in the first period and then we got in a hole. Tough to get five in a row against (Olaf) Kolzig, he's tough. I thought our neutral zone play was very strong tonight. We had to stop them quickly in their zone or their speed would break us down."
Jamie Storr finished with 15 saves for his first win of the season. "It's good to get into a game. I need to see the puck," Storr said. "There were a couple of deflections early that I didn't see but I will look at the tapes to see what I can do better. It was a good all-around game for everyone in front of me. Every game this year we've had a chance to win and that's a better feeling. We played a tremendous second and third period."The Kings almost blew another lead, but managed to hold the Sharks back for a 4-3 victory. This is their first win in their new home, the $400 million Staples Center. ![]()
Oct 24, 1999 Kings First Win at Home
Stephane made 30 saves including an awesome save on a penalty shot from Mike Ricci. Bryan Smolinski scored first on a power play at 4:04 of the first period. The second period broke loose with 5 goals. Danny B scored his first goal in his third game and the Kings led 2-0. Luc scored on a power play with help from Ziggy and Stumpy at 9:11, also in the second period giving the Kings a 3-0 lead. We know the Kings have had trouble keeping a lead but they managed, just barely, to keep the Sharks from scoring in the last 2 mins 36 seconds after Patrick Marleau scored at 17:24.Lappy scored twice, and Steph made some awesome saves to try and keep the Kings in the game, but to no avail. These were the only bright spots in an otherwise dreadful game. We had a 3-1 lead midway thru the second period.... and blew it. De'ja vu. ![]()
Oct 22, 1999 Coyotes Skin Kings
Brad Chartrand centered a puck that was deflected by defenseman Aki Berg to Laperriere coming around the net, who blasted it past Mikhail Stalenkov for the game's first goal at 3:54.
Ziggy Palffy scored on a power play at 19:43 of the first period when Luc sent the puck to Blakey who fired it in. The puck deflected off Tempo Numminen right to Palffy who shot it in.
Laperriere scored his second of the night at 1:13 of the second period and it looked like the Kings might be on their way to their first win in the new Staples Center. Then we fell apart.
Drake's goal at 4:25 of the second was the first the Kings have given up shorthanded. At 14:16, Trevor Letowski scored on a shot from the right wing after he had taken a pass from Numminen.
Third period was all Coyotes with goals from Deron Quint, Keith Tkachuk and Mika Alatalo.The Kings settled for a 2-2 tie against the winless Boston Bruins, when Jozef Stumpel scored with 69 seconds left in regulation. ![]()
Oct 20, 1999 Kings Tie in Home Opener pics
It looked like the Bruins were going to win their first game of the season when Sergei Samsonov scored with 2:23 left in the third period, but Jozef Stumpel flipped a shot over Rob Tallas just over a minute later to force overtime. Ziggy Palffy and Glen Murray assisted.
"We battled hard all night and got through those first-period jitters," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "We were not very good in the first period, couldn't make passes and just didn't execute the way we wanted. I thought we played real strong the remaining 40 minutes, actually 40 minutes plus five."
Blakey scored the first Kings goal at the new Staples Center on the power play in the second period and Zigmund Palffy and Frantisek Kaberle assisted.
"I thought after the first period that our team played real hard for the remainder of the hockey game," Murray said. "We haven't done an analysis of the scoring chances but I think that ours certainly have been double what Boston's was."
Blake's eight points leads all defensemen.
Fiset played awesome, making 28 saves.
Marko Tuomainen was hit in the face with a puck in the second period and left the ice with a cut above his left eye.Glen Murray scored a hat trick and Bryan Smolinski and Jozef Stumpel had two assists apiece for the Kings. Daniel Cleary scored twice in the third period to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. ![]()
Oct 16, 1999 Kings Hit Oil Slick
After Rob Blake cut the deficit to one at 11:27 on a power play Cleary got his own rebound to score at 13:42 and restore the two-goal margin. Glen Murray, with his third goal of the game, closed the gap to one with three minutes remaining.Ryan Smyth, Alex Selivanov and Tom Poti also scored for the Oilers.
The Kings completed a seven-game road trip to open the season with a 4-2-1-0
record. Murray opened the scoring on a power play when he deflected
Garry Galley's point shot 6:03 into the game. Smyth's fourth goal on a shot high to goalie Stephane Fiset's glove side at 9:24 of the second period tied the game.
Selivanov gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 17:53 on a power play, but Murray tied the game at 2:20 of the third with his second goal.
Poti broke the tie at 7:10 of the third with a slap shot from just
inside the blue line on a power play.Bryan Smolinski, Donald Audette, Garry Galley and Marko Tuomainen were the heroes tonight. Smolinski and Audette each had a goal and an assist. The first line was missing in action Friday night, but Smolinski stepped up and scored a goal and set up another in a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames. And what about the second line? "They've been getting chances the last two or three games, and it's nice to see them get rewarded," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "We can do it!" shouted Audette, laughing at critics who were wondering when they were going to do anything after he, Smolinski and winger Glen Murray had failed to get a point ![]()
Oct 15, 1999 Kings Douse Flames
through the season's first five games. "These goals were important," added Audette, who fed Smolinski from behind the net in the second period for the game's first goal, then got a pass from Smolinski and scored to give the Kings a
pressure-relieving 3-1 lead in the third. The first line -- Robitaille, Stumpel and Palffy -- went without a shot for a period. The Kings still had the problem of holding onto a third-period lead. The holding action was accomplished by playing keep-away from the Flames for much of the period, but scoring shots for Audette and Tuomainen were too great to pass up. "We broke them down in the last 10 (actually about 13) minutes and got some opportunities," Andy Murray said. "In this game, you get what you deserve, and we deserved to win that hockey game." The win denied Flames goaltender Grant Fuhr in his first attempt to become the sixth netminder with 400 wins.Peter Bondra and Chris Simon scored third-period goals, and the Washington Capitals rallied to tie the Los Angeles Kings 2-2. Luc Robitaille had his seventh goal for the Kings, who looked like they were on their way to another win before Washington struck back to salvage a point. ![]()
Oct 9, 1999 Kings Blow 2-0 Lead
Stephane Fiset had a shut out going for two periods, but the Capitals broke it when Bondra scored on a power play with 15:57 left to make it 2-1.Then Simon scored from between the circles with 8:13 remaining. There were plenty of close calls after that, but Kolzig and Fiset were up to the challenge. Fiset stopped a 2-on-1 in the closing seconds of overtime. Marko Tuomainen scored his first NHL goal, playing the fifth of seven straight road games to open the season. Fiset finished with 23 saves and a tie. Robitaille scored on the power play at 3:25 of the second period, sending a rebound past Kolzig from the left side of the net
after shots by Rob Blake and Jozef Stumpel. The Kings went up 2-0 at 5:31 on Tuomainen's first NHL goal. The 27-year-old rookie beat Kolzig from between the circles off a centering pass from Craig Johnson.Luc Robitaille got his first hattrick of the season with three power-play goals and an assist, leading the Kings to a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Robitaille, who leads the league with six goals and three assists in four games, scored at 11:50 of the first period. Ziggy Palffy's shot from the right side of the slot was stopped by goaltender Daren Puppa, but the rebound came to Robitaille, who slid the puck into the net. Robitaille scored with just under three ![]()
Oct 7, 1999 Kings Strike Lightning
minutes left in the second period when he converted a centering pass from Jozef Stumpel at the right side of the net for a 4-2 advantage. He got his 14th career hat trick with 3:09 to play in the third period when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from rookie Frantisek Kaberle.
Rob Blake scored during a power play 24 seconds into the second period giving the Kings a 3-2 lead. He blasted a shot from Palffy to just inside the right crossbar for the game-winner. The Kings went 4-for-6 on the power play and improved to 3-1 under first-year coach Andy Murray. The line of Robitaille, Stumpel and Palffy has put up impressive numbers. Stumpel and Palffy each picked up two assists, giving them six and five points, respectively. Goaltender Jamie Storr allowed first-period goals to Stan Drulia and Mike Sillinger before leaving during intermission with a slight groin strain. Stephane Fiset relieved and stopped all 17 shots he faced for his third win.The Los Angeles Kings were on their way to their third road victory. ![]()
Oct 6, 1999 Panthers attack Kings
The Florida Panthers made it impossible.
Trailing 2-1 with two minutes left, the Panthers scored twice in a 20-second
span, and Pavel Bure capped the rally with an empty-net goal to give the Kings
their first loss of the season..
Kozlov scored from just outside the left crease on a feed from Ray Whitney to tie
the game with 1:51 left. Twenty seconds later, Bret Hedican received a pass from
Scott Mellanby at the left point and fired a slap shot that Parrish deflected past
goaltender Stephane Fiset for the game-winner. "I didn't see it," Fiset said. "I thought it was going wide. It looked like it hit somebody in real close."
Bure finished off the scoring with 34 seconds left with an empty net.
"It was a very difficult game for us to lose, but it was our mistakes that cost us,
and we're the ones who allowed it to happen," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray
said. "We knew it would be a 60-minute game, and it turned out to be a 58-minute game for us."
Zigmund Palffy scored his second goal of the season to put Los Angeles ahead
2-1 at 1:11 of the third period. Palffy scored from the left side of the crease against Florida goalie Trevor Kidd. Florida led 1-0 in the second period on Robert Svehla's goal at 5:53, but the Kings tied it on Robitaille's goal with 1:17 left in the period, giving him three goals and four points this season.Luc Robitaille scored with 5:35 left to play giving the Kings their first win in 10 games over the Blues, a 3-2 victory. Stephane Fiset made 36 saves. Robitaille collected a puck in the Blues zone when defenseman Chris McAlpine could not control a deflection by Kings winger Zigmund Palffy at his own blue line. Robitaille unloaded a quick shot that beat Roman Turek between his pads. Fiset made 14 saves in the third period, including two big ones in the final 1:40. He got his right pad on a blast by defenseman Chris Pronger and also had a pad save on a shot by Al MacInnis. Fiset also made two critical saves 90 seconds before Robitaille's goal, stopping a shot from the right point by MacInnis and denying Demitra on the rebound. "That's my first win here, that's a great thing," Fiset added. "We talked about it before the game, forget about the past." Palffy and Rob Blake also scored for the Kings, who are 2-0 for the first time since 1995. ![]()
Oct 4, 1999 St Louis Cries the Blues
The Kings converted a 5-on-3 in the first period. Quick passing resulted in Blake
unloading a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle. St. Louis scored a pair of goals in a 3:04 span of the second period. Demitra converted his own rebound for a power-play goal after a giveaway by Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell. Handzus gave the Blues their first lead of the season in similar fashion, putting a backhanded shot between Fiset's pads with 8:41 left. Kings coach Andy Murray called a timeout to settle his team, and the Kings tied the
game six seconds later. Palffy charged to a loose puck, sidestepped Pronger and
beat Turek high to the left side. "We felt at that time, we were shooting ourselves in the foot," Murray said about the timeout. "We were taking penalties
because we weren't winning the physical battles. We told them these things
happened to the Kings in the past, they're not going to happen to us." "It feels great," Palffy said. "We tied the game and got back on the track. One reason we play great is because we stick together. We were talking about skating around him (Pronger) and not going at him."Jozef Stumpel scored on the Kings' first power play and added an assist as they
![]()
Oct 2, 1999 Fiset shuts out Nashville
beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 in the teams' season opener. The Kings lost
the season series 3-1 to the Predators in 1998-99. "This was a real good measuring stick for our team to try and match Nashville's work ethic," said Kings coach Andy Murray. Murray had the Kings focused on the opener, and the team looked energized by the additions of players and the return of defenseman Aki Berg. The Kings outshot Nashville 34-27, including 26-12 after two periods.
Stumpel scored on a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:10 of the first period, the Kings' second shot on goal, on assists from Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. "We've got a lot different intensity this year," Robitaille said. "A lot of guys have a lot to prove." The Kings scored at 12:11 of the third when Stumpel found Robitaille
breaking into the right post with a cross-ice pass for a 2-0 lead. Stephane Fiset recorded his 16th career shutout. Fiset stopped Tom Fitzgerald on a two-on-one and later stopped Kimmo Timonen in the first period. He also made big saves on
Richard Lintner and Patrick Cote in the third. "If we play the way we did tonight, I think we're going to have lots of wins," Fiset said. "Stephane was real solid," Murray said. "He didn't have anything to do for the first 40 minutes. They threw everything at us in the third period."The Los Angeles Kings reached an agreement with restricted free agent defenseman Mattias Norstrom Thursday night, less than 48 hours before their ![]()
Oct 1, 1999 Norstrom Signed
season opener in Nashville. Norstrom of Sweden, one of the team's best defensemen, ended a holdout and signed a multiyear contract as the Kings
prepared to kick off a seven-game road trip. Norstrom, who played for the world team in the NHL All-Star game last winter, is the defense partner of Kings'
versatile Rob Blake. Financial terms of Norstrom's contract were not announced.
Before the signing, Norstrom and the Kings had been far apart on a proposed three-year agreement. He had sought $1.3 million for one year and the Kings countered with just over $1 million, but in the past week talks had reportedly
centered on a four-year deal. Norstrom will practice Friday with the Kings, and will be available Saturday night in Nashville. The Kings' home opener at the new Staples Center is Oct. 20 against Boston.Tickets for 1999-2000 Kings home games will go on sale October 9 at 10:00 a.m. at STAPLES Center Box Office and TicketMaster locations Donald Audette scored two goals, and Ziggy Palffy had a goal and an assist to lead the Los Angeles Kings to an 8-1 fight-filled preseason victory over the ![]()
Forum Finale FiascoMore News
Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Monday night.
Los Angeles scored the first seven goals before things started heating up in the final period. Referees Rob Shick and Brad Meier assessed game misconduct penalties to Anaheim captain Teemu Selanne and Los Angeles captain Rob Blake each for being the third man in a fight in a brawl-filled third period. There were fights on three consecutive faceoffs midway through the period. There were a total of six separate fights from 5:43 to 7:15 of the period. At one point, Anaheim coach Craig Hartsburg and Los Angeles coach Andy Murray shouted at each other from between the benches. Shick finally went behind the Ducks bench to restore order. Los Angeles' Steve McKenna was also given a game misconduct. The Kings' Len Barrie and the Mighty Ducks' Stu Grimson were sent off the ice early after receiving misconduct and fighting penalties. The referees handed out a total of 141 penalties minutes in the third period, including 131 during the altercations.
Ruslan Salei scored Anaheim's only goal with 3:42 remaining.
Los Angeles improved its preseason record to 3-1, while Anaheim fell to 2-2.
The game was the Kings' last at the Forum, which has been their home since it opened on Dec. 30, 1967. The Kings will finish the exhibition season on the road and open the regular season with a seven-game road trip. They're scheduled to play their first game in the Staples Center, a $375-million facility being completed in downtown Los Angeles, on Oct. 20. The new arena will also house the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
More PicsLuc and Selanne Lappy at his best Jozef Frantisek Kaberle
Celebrating one of 8 goals Last look at the Jumbotron