The Kings’ Problem Is in Goal

Even with their overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, the Kings have been one of the most disappointing teams in the league over the first six weeks of the season.

It’s true that the team has been hit hard by injuries, but the biggest difference between last season’s playoff run and this season has been goaltending.

Felix Potvin was incredible last spring when the Kings made a late-season run to make the playoffs and won over fans with impressive showings against Detroit and Colorado in the postseason.

Potvin gave the team added confidence with his play and the Kings finished last season with a 13-2-5-2 run over their final 22 games. Potvin allowed more than two goals seven times and more than three only twice over that stretch.

But this season, Potvin has returned to being merely a serviceable goaltender, who can have a great game one night and then an average one the next.

In 16 starts, Potvin has given up more than two goals nine times and four or more goals three times. In the seven games Potvin has allowed two goals or fewer, the Kings are 4-2-1.

The Kings are hoping that now that Aaron Miller, a highly underrated defenseman, and Ziggy Palffy, their most dangerous offensive weapon, are back on the ice after stints on injured reserve, they’ll become a cohesive unit again.

That’s a key reason Coach Andy Murray has stayed with Potvin instead of turning to Jamie Storr, who hasn’t had much of a chance to play lately. Remember, it was Murray who recently said, “Goaltending is 99.9% of the game when you are winning and it’s 100% when you are losing.”

Meanwhile, some King players may have questioned Murray’s motive for giving them a writing assignment last week, but by having them complete the following sentence: “When I play my best hockey, I ... “ Murray made them think about how they are playing individually.

“Some guys put a lot of thought into it,” Murray said before the Kings defeated Detroit in overtime on Saturday. “You can tell they enjoyed the exercises. It gave them a bit of a forum and a couple of the guys were outstanding.

“The guys I expected to get good answers from, I did, but there were a couple of guys who surprised me with their thoughtfulness and their perception of things.”

Sour Foes

The most interesting yet disturbing story in the NHL involves the bitter battle between New Jersey and Toronto, who completed a vicious home-and-home series over the weekend.

There has been no love lost between the teams for a while and their mutual dislike hit an all-time high in last spring’s seven-game playoff series, which featured Tie Domi’s cheap-shot elbow to Scott Niedermayer’s head in Game 4.

In the Devils’ overtime win at home Friday, Domi “turtled” and hid instead of fighting New Jersey tough guy Jim McKenzie in his first shift of the game. But later in the first period, Domi beat down Randy McKay. In the rematch, which ended up being a 1-1 tie at Toronto, Toronto’s Wade Belak racked up 24 penalty minutes in a game that featured eight fighting majors and 128 penalty minutes.

“It was a circus,” New Jersey Coach Larry Robinson said after Saturday’s game. “They punch after the whistle, stab guys in the back of the legs. And for a tough team, they lead the league in dives.... I played against tough teams. They’re not tough. They’re gutless.”

What upset the Devils most was how Belak roughed up high-scoring forward Patrick Elias, who scored a hat trick in Friday’s 3-2 Devil win.

“There’s no place in this game for cheap hockey,” New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur said. “This has been a great rivalry to be part of, but I think it got a little out of hand with all the cheap shots. We definitely don’t like each other.”

Circle March 1 on your calendar, the date when the Maple Leafs and Devils meet again at Continental Airlines Arena.

Line Shifts

With Mark Messier banging bodies as if he’s a young man again, the New York Rangers have gone on a roll, winning five games in a row to move within one point of the Eastern Conference-leading New York Islanders. A key to the Rangers’ success has been how veterans such as Theo Fleury and Messier have accepted Eric Lindros as a trusted teammate. Fleury called last week’s three-game suspension given to Buffalo forward Vaclav Varada for high sticking Lindros “a joke” for being too lenient.

Like the Kings, the Vancouver Canucks are struggling to regain their form from last season. Vancouver and the Kings both have 15 points, more than only three other teams in the Western Conference.

To help turn things around, Vancouver reacquired Trevor Linden from the Washington Capitals in a trade Saturday. In Linden’s first game back, the Canucks defeated Minnesota, 5-0, on Dan Cloutier’s third shutout of the season.

Vancouver Coach Marc Crawford is hoping Linden provides an offensive spark, centering a line that includes Trent Klatt and Matt Cooke.

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Talk about no respect. In his first game back since having arthroscopic hip surgery on Oct. 29, Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux had an assist in the Penguins’ 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay but was also roughed up by Lightning defenders all night. Lemieux was involved in a shoving match with Tampa Bay’s Nolan Pratt 44 seconds into the game and also received a high-sticking penalty on Pratt in the final minute of the third period. “If I’m getting under his skin, I’m doing my job,” Pratt said.

Washington is optimistic Jaromir Jagr, troubled by a right knee injury, could return to the lineup this week. He has resumed practicing and could play Thursday against Philadelphia.

Quotes of the Week

“There’s something about him that allows him to read the other team well. It’s like a player who can score goals or a goaltender who can make key saves. It’s something that you cannot teach.”

Luc Robitaille, about playing for legendary Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman.

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“ Every once in awhile you’re going to have accidents that happen, but when it’s the same guy doing it over and over, that’s what gets me.”

Carolina captain Ron Francis on Bryan Marchment, who picked up a six-game suspension for elbowing the Hurricanes’ Shane Willis in the head Friday.