[0] KINGS STICK WITH RED WINGS KINGS 2, DETROIT 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

With the taste of last spring's playoff sweep still fresh in their minds, the Kings set out to earn a bit of revenge against the Detroit RedWings Saturday night.

And after two more periods of frustration, the Kings shook loose some of those past demons from Detroit. The Kings overcame a two-goal deficit with an inspired third period and tied the Red Wings 2-2 to remain unbeaten in their last six games.

For much of the game, the Kings frustrated the standing-room only Staples Center crowd of 18,360 - the largest hockey number in the arena's two-year history - with their inability to capitalize on numerous scoring chances, particularly on the power play.

The Kings failed on their first six power-play attempts and looked bad in the process. That, coupled with the fact that they were 0-4 in games they trailed after two periods, didn't bode well for the Kings, but it all turned around four minutes into the third period on a brilliant offensive sequence.

Mattias Norstrom controlled the puck just outside the left Detroit goal post, and fed a cross-ice pass to Bob Corkum, who one-timed the puck back across the ice to Kelly Buchberger, who slapped it past goaltender Manny Legace to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 15:58 remaining in the game.

The goal seemed to enliven the Kings, who put increased pressure on the Detroit net. Four minutes after Buchberger's goal, Detoit defenseman Jiri Fischer was assessed an interference penalty.

The Kings, who had been passive at best on the power play over the first two periods, put traffic in front of Legace and buzzed the net over the first minute of the power play. Finally, defenseman Mathieu Schneider took a pass just inside the blue line, set the puck and ripped it past Legace to tie the game with 10:11 remaining.

Neither team had any serious scoring chances over the last 10 minutes, and the 4-on-4 overtime did not yield a goal, even though the Kings went on a power play with 1:30 remaining. With the tie, the Kings are now 4-0-2 in their last six games.

The Kings played well over the first two periods, but it didn't show on the scoreboard because of their many failed opportunities.

In fact, the Kings, who entered the game with the sixth-best power play in the league, played their worst over the first two periods when they had the man advantage, as the short-handed Red Wings often forced them into a defensive posture.

The missed chances haunted the Kings in the second period. They went on the power play two minutes into the period, but managed just one shot, in large part due to the Red Wings' physical play in front of the net.

Less than one minute after the Kings' power play ended, the Red Wings took a 1-0 lead. The Kings' Ludomir Visnovsky was stripped of the puck by Brendan Shanahan just to the left of the Kings' net.

Shanahan turned and fired the puck toward the net without looking, and Kings goaltender Jamie Storr apparently lost track of it. The puck deflected off of Storr's left skate and onto the stick of Martin Lapointe, who slipped it behind the pads of Storr.

The Kings went on another power play three minutes later, but it lasted only 48 seconds when they took two penalties of their own to give the Red Wings a man advantage.

Detroit needed just 13 seconds to capitalize. The Kings won a face off deep in their own zone, but Norstrom couldn't clear the puck. With Lapointe shielding Storr in front of the net, the Red Wings moved the puck around the zone and finally found Sergei Federov near the top of the face-off circle.

Federov ripped a slap shot past the shielded Storr for a 2-0 Detroit lead with 11:05 remaining in the second period.

The first period was a mixed bag for the Kings, who struggled mightily on their two power-play attempts but had two excellent scoring chances on a Detroit power play late in the period.

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Photo: (color) Red Wings goaltender Manny Legace prevents the Kings' Nelson Emerson from getting to the puck during the first period Saturday.

Kim D. Johnson/Associated Press