Big Lead Is a Moot Point

VANCOUVER, Canada —  Little by little, the ice in the King defensive zone became carved up beyond recognition, enough snow lying around to build a castle, a snowman and, ultimately, a Canuck comeback

The ice tilted in the Canucks’ favor shortly after the Kings took a three-goal lead, apparently not a large enough edge to stave off one of the top offenses in the league.

But the news wasn’t all bad for the Kings, who managed to grab a point in a 4-4 tie Monday before a crowd of 18,630 that applauded the comeback, but probably expected more against a particularly short-staffed King team at General Motors Place.

The Kings shouldn’t come empty-handed to today’s holiday party, each delivering a token of appreciation to goaltender Cristobal Huet, who stopped a career-best 40 shots and prevented things from getting out of hand in the third period, when the Canucks outshot the Kings, 13-6, and dominated time inside the offensive zone. Much as they did in a 4-4 tie last week against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Kings fumbled a large lead, although there was something more acceptable this time around, namely that it came against a better opponent and with an even more short-handed King lineup than usual, if there is such a thing anymore.

The Kings played without high-scoring defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, out because of a concussion, and forward Martin Straka, in Pittsburgh for the birth of his first child.

“We scraped a point out of here tonight,” Kings Coach Andy Murray said.

Jarkko Ruutu scored with 3:54 left to play, or else the Kings might have taken two points despite what looked like a 23-minute power play from the time the Canucks fell behind by three to the time regulation ended.

Ziggy Palffy’s goal on a short-handed breakaway gave the Kings a 4-1 edge at 16:40 of the second period. Game over, right?

Not quite.

The Canucks scored twice within 33 seconds, Brent Sopel on a wrist shot while the Canucks were still on the power play, and Artem Chubarov on a snap shot from the right dot at 18:04.

The tying goal came when Ruutu fished the puck out from Mattias Norstrom’s skates after Norstrom failed to clear it from the right dot in the King zone. Ruutu moved in on Huet and jammed it through his pads despite King pleas that Ruutu also jammed Huet out of the way.

“Our players all thought there should have been a whistle,” Murray said.

How the Kings got to a three-goal lead was noteworthy, no doubt.

Down 1-0, Alexander Frolov scored on a short-handed breakaway and Luc Robitaille converted on the power play for a 2-1 edge at the end of the first period.

Robitaille was also part of the goal that put the Kings ahead, 3-1. He was stopped by goaltender Dan Cloutier on a one-timer in the slot, but Palffy was there to put in the rebound with a backhand at 12:32 of the second period.

Then came Palffy’s second goal, followed by a Vancouver flurry.

“I’m flustered right now,” said right wing Trent Klatt, who played in Vancouver for the first time since ending his five-year career there by signing with the Kings. “To have a 4-1 lead and give that up, there’s just no excuse for giving up three goals.”

The Kings had 37 points though 34 games last season. They currently lead the Pacific Division with 39 points at the same point this season. They want more.

“I think we should have 49 points right now,” Murray said. “It’s not about whether we’re in first place, it’s about how many points we have.”

*

TV color commentator Jim Fox arrived in time to work Monday’s game after having unexpected surgery Sunday on his left elbow for what is believed to be a staph infection. Fox’s elbow began to swell during Saturday’s game and his white blood cell count was 40% higher than it should have been, he said. “The doctor said the rate of infection was doubling every 10 minutes,” said Fox, who was still wearing a hospital bracelet on his wrist when he arrived at the arena Monday two hours before faceoff. “If I had gone home [Saturday] night and said, ‘I’ll take care of it tomorrow,’ there could have been some serious issues.” ...

Center Derek Armstrong, out since Nov. 15 because of a fractured finger, can start carrying a stick while skating but has not been cleared for physical contact.