Hrudey Saves the Day in Kings’ 5-2 Victory

PITTSBURGH —  Goalie Kelly Hrudey was scared Tuesday before the Kings’ 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Actually, that is too mild a word. He was petrified.

And what goalie in his right mind wouldn’t be, coming into Civic Arena to face the high-scoring, crease-crashing Pittsburgh Penguins. The defending Stanley Cup champions, led by Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Joe Mullen, lead the NHL with 191 goals.

“I’ve been watching the box scores,” Hrudey said. “I see the goals they’ve been scoring. I was petrified. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a 12-goal game.”

Through two periods Tuesday night, Hrudey’s worst fears seemed realized. The Penguins, blasting away from near and far, boasted a 37-15 edge in shots.

But when the final shot had been fired, it was the Kings who emerged victorious, surprising the Penguins before a sellout crowd of 16,164.

True, Pittsburgh (23-15-4) was without Lemieux, the league’s leading point producer. The Pittsburgh center, perennially plagued with back problems, was forced out minutes before the opening faceoff Tuesday after experiencing back spasms in the pregame warm-up.

Still, the Penguins had enough firepower to outshoot the Kings, 15-7, in the first 20 minutes and 22-8 in the second period.

But the Kings stayed patient and Hrudey hung tough, twisting, diving, and sprawling to stop everything that came his way.

The only puck he didn’t stop in the first two periods was inadvertently pushed past him by teammate Brian Benning. A pass from Bryan Trottier from the side was intended for teammate Mark Recchi at the right post. Benning was right where he should have been, on Recchi’s back. But the puck caromed off Benning’s skate and past the surprised Hrudey for Trottier’s fifth goal.

Earlier this season, that might have been enough to kill any thoughts of victory by the Kings.

“Last year, when people counted us out, we would find a way to win,” Wayne Gretzky said. “This year, it’s been the opposite. We seem to find a way to lose.”

But not anymore. All of a sudden, they are again finding ways to win.

They did it again Tuesday.

In the midst of the Penguins’ second-period attack, stuck on the receiving end of a power play, the Kings struck back with a short-handed goal, Gretzky feeding Charlie Huddy for Huddy’s third goal of the season.

That evened the score and, before the period was over, Tony Granato had put the Kings on top with a goal of his own.

In the closing seconds of the second period, Stevens found himself in front of Hrudey with the puck on his stick and not a defenseman within reach. It was 2-1 at that point, and that’s the way it stayed as Stevens’ shot sailed over the net.

“That,” Hrudey said, “was the biggest play of the game.”

In the final period, the Kings’ patience paid off. It was the Penguins’ turn to break down defensively and the Kings’ turn to come up with the three-on-two and two-on-one advantages. The difference was, the Kings converted them, breaking the game open with three more goals. Granato added his team-high 20th of the season, Corey Millen got his fourth in seven games with the Kings and Dave Taylor chipped in with his sixth.

Tuesday was the Kings’ 40th game, marking the halfway point of the season, but many of the players regard it as a starting point. The Kings seem to be heading into the second half of the season with their prospects brighter than at any point since training camp.

With the exception of wing Tomas Sandstrom, they are healthy, they have put their troubling suspensions behind them and they have some momentum. The victory put the Kings back above .500 at 17-16-7, it gave them only their second three-game winning streak of the season, it gave them five victories in their last seven games and it moved them within one point of the idle, second-place Winnipeg Jets in the Smythe Division.

King Notes

King defenseman Larry Robinson and Pittsburgh center Bryan Trottier have been added to next week’s All-Star game under the special veterans category. . . . Not a single penalty was called against the Penguins Tuesday, a rarity in the NHL. . . . Pittsburgh’s other goal was scored by Mark Recchi, his 23rd, with 15 seconds to play. . . . The Penguins outshot the Kings, 42-22.