December 1999 News

December 30, 1999            1,000th Win..Finally!
Win number 1,000 finally came on a night that everything seemed to go the King's way. And it helped that everybody showed up to play.  Blakey called a players only meeting earlier in the day, and the result was a 8-2 beating of the Edmonton Oilers before a sellout crowd in the last Kings game of the 20th century.  What a way to end 1999.
"One of the challenges for tonight was to have our good players play good," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "They are the ones who comprise the power play and they got the job done tonight.
"Modry opened the scoring, on the power play, batting in a rebound of a spinning puck that had been kicked around the crease by Luc after it had been shot by Ziggy.  His goal marked the first time in seven games that the Kings scored first.  It was his first goal in two years.
Luc's goal came only 58 seconds into the second period, and was scored when he redirected Mattias Norstrom's shot past goaltender Bill Ranford.  Glen Murray started the play.  Luc ended the night with five points (a goal and four assists).
Blakey's first goal, at 5:14, came on the power play when Palffy threaded a pass across the ice to Blake, who popped the puck past Ranford with a one-time shot.  Blakey's second goal, which came on a rebound of Stumpel's shot, gave them three power-play scores.  "He showed a lot of leadership tonight," Robitaille said of Blake. "He came out and played great and scored two big goals for us. He's a great offensive defenseman and him coming into the plays like that really helped us."
Ziggy scored midway through the second when he took Stumpel's pass in the low slot, deked right and roofed a backhander over Ranford.  "It seems like we got over the hump because everybody did their job out there," Kings center Ian Laperriere said. "Rob Blake, Luc Robitaille and Ziggy Palffy all stepped up and if I see these guys work hard, I feel guilty if I don't work hard, too. That's what leadership is all about."
Smolinski added a third-period goal for the Kings, and Jere Karalahti's final-period power-play goal, his first NHL score, made it four. That last happened for the Kings in the season's fourth game.  Karalahti finished the scoring with his second of the game.  "We had so many scored against us in a short period of time, who are we to sit back and take anything for granted?" Murray asked. "We were by no means trying to run up the score. We wanted to make sure we won the game. We got a lot of respect for them, but we had four goals scored on us in five minutes this year and we couldn't afford to sit back."
From the start of the game, the Kings were hitting, and there were a few scraps.  Dan Bylsma drew 19 minutes for wrestling Mike Grier to a one-fall win after Grier had twice blasted Palffy.  With 1:01 left to play in the game, mayhem broke out as the frustrated Oilers were not about to leave quietly.  Grier was  involved with Steve McKenna in a scrap that drew Bill Guerin and when Tsypy tried intervene, Guerin started pelting him.  It looked like Guerin was intentionally trying to injure Tsypy.
Edmonton could have tied the Kings for eighth place in the West.


December 29, 1999     Kings Lose Six Straight
The Kings have lost six games in a row, and it looks like they've gone into a midseason slump.  The question is ... can they pull out of it before it's too late?  They lost to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2, but if not for Steph, it could have easily been a lost worse.  They haven't lost seven in a row since December 1987.
Brian Rolston scored first, and Alexei Gusarov, Sandis Ozolinsh and Adam Deadmarsh added goals and Joe  Sakic and Peter Forsberg had two assists each as the Avalanche beat the Kings for the first time in three games this season. Colorado led 2-1 after one period on goals by Rolston and Gusarov, both deflections off Blakey.  Rolston's shot from the right circle popped off Blakey's leg and under the stick of Steph at 4:54.  Eric Messier fed Gusarov at the right point, and he bounced a slap shot off Blakey's skate and past Steph at 12:29.
Luc scored twice.  Jere Karalahti and Zigmund Palffy had two assists as the Kings lost again while trying to gain the all elusive 1,000th victory.  Los Angeles missed on two scoring chances before Luc sent a backhander over Roy's right shoulder at 13:52 with the Kings on the power play. The Kings were 0-for-4 on the power play in the period and managed only two shots during a four-minute advantage.  Luc scored his second goal at 15:31 of the third when he tipped in a shot from the right point by Karalahti. Deadmarsh sealed the game for Colorado, scoring with 1:01 left.
December 28, 1999       Kings Sign Corkum
Bob Corkum, an original Mighty Duck, will become a King today when he signs a one year contract, plus a club option for another season.  Corkum has been skating at a local rink in Boston.  He is regarded as a defensive center who averages 10 goals a season and is particularly good at faceoffs. He projects to be a third or fourth line center with the Kings, though Coach Andy Murray said Monday that Corkum's signing is more for depth.  "We're pretty happy with Ian Laperriere and Len Barrie," Murray said. "Bob Corkum will give them some competition."
December 26, 1999           Kings In A Slump?
Which will come first: the year 2000 or the team's 1,000th victory?
The Kings had more scoring chances than they had all season, but they still came up a point short in a 3-2 overtime loss to Phoenix.  Ziggy Palffy, in front of Bob Essensa, who came up with the puck in his glove.  Glen Murray, had a breakaway, shot through Essensa's legs that was stopped when he sat on it just short of the goal line.  Two five minute fighting majors for Jeremy Roenick, in exchange for Dan Bylsma and Len Barrie.  The Kings looked like they might pull this one off when Ian Laperriere out-muscled Phoenix's Lumme in front of Essensa, then tipped in a shot by Marko Tuomainen from along the boards, well away from the net.  Defenseman Jere Karalahti also earned an assist on the play, his first in the NHL in only his second game, and helped set up a 1-1 tie at 14:36 of the first period.  Travis Green scored the first two Coyotes goals.  The game was sent  into overtime when Luc Robitaille scored at 12:06 of the third period to gain a 2-2 tie.  Stumpel took the puck near the Phoenix goal line, skated out, turned his back to Travis Green to protect the play.Stumpel then did a pirouette, and threaded the pass across the ice to Robitaille.  "I think the pass surprised the goalie," Robitaille said. "He gave me the short side."
Overtime was a disaster.  The game-winner came when Roenick fired a pass from behind the goal to Greg Adams, whose shot was turned back by Stephane Fiset, but the puck popped into the air, hitting the crossbar of the goal.  Jyrki Lumme swung at the puck, which stayed crazily in the air. Roenick reached over the goal with his stick and might have hit the puck.  Whoever hit it, Smolinski was trying to swat it away from a pack of Coyotes when it popped into the net.  "It looked like it was going to fall and hit 'Fizz' in the back and go in the net," Smolinski said. "I had to hit it, considering. I couldn't reach it with my hand.  ". . . I don't know how it went in there.  It went top shelf.  "What can you do? Just throw your hands in the air."  "It's very disheartening," Coach Andy Murray said. "We felt our team has played very hard in the last two games, and we don't have a win to show for it.  It's obviously disappointing."
December 22, 1999           Kings Keep Losing
The Kings didn't give up 8 goals in the first period, Stephane Fiset played the whole 60 minutes, and the players actually gave an effort but the result was the same as the last three games.  The Kings dropped another game in a 2-1 loss to San Jose.  It doesn't matter that the loss was by one goal.  They are now last in the Pacific Division.  Another woe for them is that they can't seem to get past the 999th franchise win to the elusive 1,000th.
San Jose broke a three-game losing streak and is 3-4-1 in its last eight games.  The Kings lost for the fourth-straight time, allowing 25 goals during the stretch.  "When you've played as badly as we've played the last three games, there seems to be some sort of penance you've got to go through where you play a couple of real solid games before you get your just rewards," Coach Andy Murray said. "Tonight, we . . . played the kind of game we needed to play to be successful. But we didn't get our reward."   Steve Shields stood in their way.  "Sometimes you play pretty good but you run into a hot goalie," said Stephane Fiset, who was hotter than he has been lately, stopping 19 shots.
Vincent Damphousse scored the first goal, but Bryan Smolinski's tied it at 18:57. Glen Murray took a shot that bounced off the pads of San Jose goalie Steve Shields and Smolinski, who has an eight-game point-scoring streak, knocked in the loose puck.  Bryan now leads the Kings in points.  Not bad for a guy who was not looking very good at the beginning of the season.  Nolan's goal, his 26th of the season, came at 8:51 of the second period.  That was the end of the scoring.  The kings played well considering their last three, but came up short.

December 18, 1999  Kings Drop Third Straight
Summary     Game Story

December 15, 1999        Kings Woes Continue
The Los Angeles Kings were scheduled to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden tonight.  The problem was, noone told the Kings.  When it was over, the Rangers looked like a Stanley Cup contender instead of a team in trouble.  Tonight the Kings looked like a team in trouble.  This was the worst they've played all season.  They weren't skating, their passing was miserable, goaltending was shakey, and when was the last time Lappy lost a fight?  After giving up 7 goals to the Devils last night, the Kings gave up 6 goals in the first period for an embarrassing  8-3 loss.  "Who'd have thought before the game that this would happen again. It's sad," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "As a coach I talked before the game about trust and playing together. We did that through the first 30 games, but 31 and 32 were disasters."  This is only the second time this season they have lost two in a row.
Just five minutes into the game, Todd Harvey opened the scoring with his second goal of the season. Tim Taylor, Harvey, MacLean, Mike Knuble and Theo Fleury finished the first-period burst.  Rookie Mike York scored a power-play goal 1:45 into the second and MacLean added his second of the game and third of the season with 4:56 to play in the period to increase the lead to 8-0.
Los Angeles goaltender Jamie Storr left after one period for the second straight night. "The hardest thing is to come out of the net," he said. "Everyone else has to stay out there and absorb it, so why shouldn't I."  He stopped 11-of-17 shots after giving up three goals on 14 shots against the Devils.  "Our goaltending has been very good all year -- not tonight," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "It was as weak as our overall team play.   My feeling was he was going to see that first period through," Murray said. "To give up the number of goals that we did is hard to believe."

The Kings, who outshot the Rangers 48-31, scored all their goals in the third.
Rob Blake scored 39 seconds in on the power play and had to convince referee Bill McCreary to go upstairs for a video replay.  Marko Tuomainen added a power-play goal at 6:54 and Ziggy Palffy scored eight seconds later. Los Angeles, which has the most road points with 22, lost two straight away from home for the first time this season. "I think anyone who follows our team would be surprised at the last two games," Murray said.

December 14, 1999   Robinson Has Last Laugh
The Kings playing their worst game of the season, were handed their heads by the New Jersey Devils.  7-1 to be exact.  And New Jersey assistant coach Larry Robinson had the last laugh.  It would seem the Devils players were more intent on giving the Kings' former coach a win than the Kings players were on giving their new coach a win. The Kings came out flat, and with the exception of a 10 minute span early in the second period, they stayed flat the majority of the 60 minutes it takes to win a hockey game.
Claude Lemieux and Patrik Elias scored in a 48-second span early in the first period.  Lemieux stole a blind backhand pass from Bryan Smolinski at the right point and beat Storr from the right circle at 4:16. The Kings inability to get the puck out of their own zone helped Elias break a 12-game goal-scoring
drought 48 seconds later with a shot also taken from the right circle.
McKay's 10th goal, with 2:13 left in the opening period, gave New Jersey a three-goal lead.  Bobby Holik was stationed in the slot and found McKay just outside the left post, where he was able to stuff the puck under the right pad of Storr.  Storr was replaced by Steph at the beginning of the second period.
Donald Audette had the lone goal at 8:08 of the second on a 3-on-1 break.  Brodeur prevented the Kings from getting any closer stopping Jason Blake on a two-on-none breakaway.
Madden's slapshot from the red line hit off defenseman Rob Blake.  Fiset who replaced Storr at the start of the period, lost sight of the puck and went left. The puck stayed right and took a big hop into the net. "I just lost it," Fiset said. "I moved to one side and it just bounced in front of me."
Pandolfo stripped Aki Berg at the Los Angeles blueline for a breakaway goal 49 seconds later. Arnott scored on a slapshot from the point on a powerplay late in the second period.  Nemchinov scored in the closing minutes on a tap-in goal.
It was ugly..ugly..ugly.  Something Kings fans haven't seen to often this season.
December 11, 1999      Montreal Holds Grudge
A shoving match between Steve McKenna and Montreal's Scott Thornton during the pregame warmup drew both teams to center ice.  There was also a rematch between Thornton and McKenna during the first period.  McKenna also took on Cummins and Lappy fought Arron Asham early in the second. It would appear Montreal is holding a grudge.
Montreal had not lost at home to Los Angeles since November 24, 1990.  Brad Chartrand scored twice and chased Montreal goalie Jeff Hackett to the bench before the midway point of the second period.  Bryan Smolinski scored his seventh of the season on a power play with just under 10 seconds left in the first.  Gary Galley made it 2-0 with another power-play goal 1:29 into the second.  Chartrand scored his first of the night, second of the season at 8:49 and that was it for Hackett.  Jose Theodore came in relief and held the Kings off the rest of the period.  Two quick goals by Montreal early in the third period had the Kings reeling, and prompted a time out by Andy Murray.  Jamie Storr held strong the remainder of the game, and Brad Chartrand scored his second of the game at 18:45 recording his first career multi-goal game.
Martin Rucinsky missed on a penalty shot 5:51 into the game after he was hauled down from behind by Kings defenseman Mattias Norstrom on a breakaway.
December 10, 1999            Legace vs Storr
This time last year, Manny Legace was playing for the Kings, while Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr mended groin injuries suffered in the same game.  Tonight he played against his former team, and came out with a win.  "It was nice to play against them," Legace said. "(Kings captain) Luc Robitaille skated by and said 'hello' (before the game).  I left on good terms there.  I'm a Detroit Red Wing now and glad."  Legace stopped 27 shots.  "You think he's small and you shoot high and he keeps stopping everything with his glove," Robitaille said. "And you think he's small and you shoot in the corners low and his pad always seems to be there.  He's one of those goalies where you have to keep on shooting and hope you get a break."
Glen Murray scored a power play goal 4:05 into the second period.  He now leads the Kings in goals.  He got control of a pass from Bryan Smolinski that went through his skates and fired a pointblank shot past Legace.  Murray bumped into Detroit right wing Pat Verbeek with 4:53 left in the third period and was penalized for slashing.  Kozlov scored on the power play, ending an eight-game goal-scoring drought by banking in a bad-angle shot off Storr's left skate. "It was a good game until (referee Stephen Walkom) called that," Murray said. "That was going on all night. There was a lot worse than that.  My question is there's four minutes left in the game, it's a battle, both teams are playing hard," he said. "Just let them decide it. Our team's doing whatever it can to win hockey games now. We're battling hard out there. I don't yell and scream at the referees. I try to stay calm with them. That's the way I'm going to stay, but don't think he gave us a break there."
December 8, 1999      Kings Thrash Atlanta
Jamie Storr recorded his first shutout of the season, and we finally scored a power play goal by someone other than Glen Murray.  The Kings recorded a season-high 41 shots and snapped a two-game winless streak.
Jason Blake, known as Mini-Me skated in from the end boards and batted his own rebound past Thrasher goalie Norm Maracle making it 1-0 at 12:04 of the first period. . It was Blake's third goal of the season and eighth point.  Glen Murray jammed his own rebound past goaltender Maracle at 2:39 of the second period for his seventh goal in the last six games and team-leading 12th of the season.  He won a wrestling match with Atlanta's Gord Murphy in front of the crease and put in a rebound of his own deflection of a pass from Donald Audette.  Just under three minutes later, Gary Galley blasted a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle through Maracle's pads for a power-play goal and a 3-0 lead.  "It's nice to get that," Galley said. "We don't come out looking at our opponent. We look at ourselves.  We watched them play the other night and they played hard."  The icing on the cake came from a goal by Luc Robitaille playing in his third game after returning from a broken foot.  His goal came with 3:24 to play, when he backhanded a shot past Maracle, who was screened by a crowd. The puck glanced into the net off the skate of the Thrashers' Andreas Karlsson on the Kings' 41st shot of the game.  "It seemed that every time I thought we were going into a flat spot, we scored a goal," Murray said.
This was Jamie's first shutout of the season and he only needed to make  21 saves to extend his unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2).  His best save came in the second period when he stopped rookie Patrik Stefan from point-blank range.  "Anytime you see something like that, it's a team effort," Storr said of the shutout. "It's not based on one player. It takes a little bit of luck too."

December 4, 1999       Lightning Hits Kings
The Kings let a win get away and settled for a 1 point tie against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Stan Drulia scored with 23.3 seconds left in regulation to end the game in a 3-3 tie.  Glen Murray opened the scoring at 4:46 with a power-play goal. Smolinski launched the shot from well outside, and the puck glanced off
Murray's skate and into the goal for a 1-0 lead.  Vladimir Tsyplakov, playing in his 250th NHL game, doubled Los Angeles' lead a little more than five minutes later.  He finished a tick-tack-toe play with a shot from the slot for his fifth goal.  Todd Warriner scored for Tampa Bay, the only goal in the second period.  On Murray's second goal, the puck hit the linesman at the blue line to keep the Kings from being called offsides.  Murray skated in, grabbed the loose puck and shot it through Cloutier's legs from the left circle for his sixth goal in his last five games.  It was 3-1 in favor of the Kings and then lightning struck.  Gratton and Drulia scored just about two minutes apart.  "Disappointing," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "I don't question our heart or our intent or anything. I just question some of our decisions tonight. We're disappointed and that is certainly not to take anything away from Tampa Bay. We have to give them a lot of credit for their effort and determination and just staying with it and grinding. They could've folded the tents when we were all over them in the first, but they found a way to get through."

December 3, 1999     Kings Can't Beat Ducks
It wasn't a high scoring game but it was packed with plenty of action and a few really good hits.  And Luc was back after missing 10 games with a broken foot.  The Kings and Ducks tied 1-1 in their first meeting of the season.  Craig Johnson scored for the Kings 13:46 into the game.  Pavel Trnka scored for the ducks less than two minutes later, and the rest of the game belonged to the penalty killing units and the goaltenders.  Johnson's goal, his third, came when Aki Berg fired a shot from the top of the left circle, and Johnson, parked in front of the goal, raised his stick and redirected it past Hebert.  Storr carried the Kings in the second period, when he stopped all 14 shots he faced.  He stopped Selanne's blast from the right faceoff circle early in the period and gloved Fredrik Olausson's slapper from the point midway through the session with the Ducks on a two-man advantage.  The Kings were outshot 35-20 but managed to get a point.

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