|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As Rob Blake goes, so go the Los Angeles
Kings.
The All-Star defenseman's teammates can only hope that general
manager Dave Taylor can work out a contract with him before
choosing the other option -- a trade.
Blake scored two goals in the second period Saturday night as
the Los Angeles Kings snapped the Calgary Flames' five-game
unbeaten streak with a 5-0 victory.
"He's a Norris Trophy winner and a key player in the NHL, but
all we can say right now is that he's still an L.A. King," goalie
Jamie Storr said. "And every night he puts on an L.A. King
uniform, he's going to benefit us."
Blake, second in the league with 170 shots, scored on a power
play at 8:32 of the second period, and again just seven seconds
after coming out of the penalty box. In his last 11 games, he has
eight goals and nine assists.
"It's the same as any time during the season. You shoot and
some nights they're going to go in, and some nights they're not. So
you take it for what it is," said Blake, who won the Norris Trophy
as the league's best defenseman in 1998 when he led all defensemen
with a career-high 23 goals.
Blake again is leading defensemen this season with 14 goals. The
two he scored against Mike Vernon were his first in five home games
since Dec. 14, when he had a career-high five points in a 5-5 tie
with the New York Rangers -- including his first NHL hat trick.
"He's not holding back," Calgary coach Don Hay said. "He's
going every chance he gets, and he wants to put up some big
numbers."
Storr, starting for the first time since giving up five goals at
Colorado on Dec. 21, earned his ninth career shutout with 22 saves
-- one on a breakaway by Jeff Cowan less than eight minutes in.
"It feels good because you just want to get in there and play a
consistent game," Storr said. "I've been practicing a lot and I
felt pretty comfortable out there, so I wasn't worried about being
rusty."
Jozef Stumpel and Jaroslav Modry each had a goal and an assist
and Eric Belanger completed the scoring with a short-handed goal
less than two minutes into the third period.
Brian Smolinski and Zigmund Palffy each had two assists, helping
the Kings snap a three-game losing streak and win for only the
third time in 12 games. It was their fifth straight victory over
the Flames, including a four-game sweep last season.
"They were prepared for us and they didn't give us a lot of
time and space on the ice to execute things," Hay said. "But our
battle level's got to be a little higher. They just kept coming at
us. We made some mental mistakes in the second period and they were
able to take advantage of it."
The Kings opened the scoring at 1:23 of the first on Stumpel's
10th goal -- the first shot against Vernon in Calgary's last six
games since Dec. 20.
Teammate Tommy Albelin lost control of the puck outside his own
blueline and Palffy chipped it ahead to Smolinski, whose cross-ice
pass set up Stumpel's 15-foot wrist shot over Vernon's glove.
"We didn't get the puck deep when we needed to, and they thrive
on turnovers," said Flames defenseman Phil Housley, who returned
to the lineup after missing nine games because of a concussion.
Blake made it 2-0 on a power play at 8:32 of the second, while
Calgary's Derek Morris was sent off for interference. Less than
five minutes later, Modry ended a 24-game scoring drought with his
first goal since last April 7.
Blake made it 4-0 at 16:25 of the period, getting a cross-ice
pass in the neutral zone from Glenn Murray and beating Vernon low
to the stick side with a 40-foot slap shot.
Game notes
Storr's shutout tied Mario Lessard for fourth place on the
Kings' all-time list. ... The Flames were 0-for-8 on the power play
-- including a two-man advantage that followed a double-minor to Stu
Grimson for roughing and led to Belanger's goal. ... In 69 career
games against Calgary, Luc Robitaille has 48 goals and 47 assists.
Kelly Buchberger has played in 70 games against the Flames, with
only four goals, seven assists and 248 penalty minutes. ... The
Flames are 1-15-4 when their opponent scores first. ... Steve
Passmore started the Kings' previous six games allowing 10 goals in
his last two outings. Fred Brathwaite started Calgary's previous
five games in net, including shutouts of Vancouver and San Jose and
an overtime victory over Montreal.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Calgary Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 5
NY Rangers 5
Colorado 2
Carolina 2
Phoenix 2
NY Islanders 1
Ottawa 4
Montreal 3
Atlanta 2
Philadelphia 2
Washington 3
Toronto 2
Dallas 4
Boston 0
Buffalo 2
Nashville 0
St. Louis 5
Minnesota 1
Los Angeles 5
Calgary 0
Vancouver 4
Columbus 3
San Jose 3
Florida 1
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Valeri Bure Official Site
|
