[0] LAPERRIERE HAT TRICK THERAPY FOR KINGS KINGS 5, BOSTON 0.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

The stitches above his nose are Ian Laperriere's signature, but never forget that in every tough guy beats the heart of a goal scorer.

Laperriere finished Friday night with the first hat trick of his career, three goals that helped the Kings to a 5-0 victory over the Boston Bruins and helped erase the embarrassment of last Wednesday's tie with St. Louis.

Laperriere, one of the Kings' most popular players, also kept the mood light after the Kings benched starting goaltender Jamie Storr earlier in the day for arriving late to a pregame meeting.

Storr's replacement, Steve Passmore, stepped in and stopped all 18 shots he faced to record the second shutout of his NHL career.

Passmore, who came to camp as the club's third goaltender, was thrust into a starting role in front of 14,352 at Staples Center and took advantage of an early Kings lead.

Passmore, who played for Chicago last season, was at his best midway through the third period when he held off the Bruins for 1:43 during a 5- on-3 power play.

Ten seconds after killing the penalty, Passmore faced another Bruins man advantage when Jaroslav Modry was whistled for holding. Boston managed only one shot and the shutout was intact.

Laperriere, usually limited to the enforcer's role with the Kings, had two goals early and completed the hat trick with less than three minutes to play. His first came 14:40 into the first period against former Kings goaltender Byron Dafoe.

When the Bruins came out for the second, Andrew Raycroft was in goal, but Laperriere didn't care. He had spent 4 1/2 months rehabilitating from reconstructive surgery on his left knee and missed most of training camp. Just 2:44 into the second period, he took a pass in front from Steven Reinprecht and beat Raycroft.

After going scoreless in the first four games, Laperriere suddenly had two goals in less than nine minutes. But just to prove he gets more black eyes than style points, Laperriere received a five-minute major penalty for a first-period fight with Dave Van Impe.

It was in the first that the Kings set a familiar tone. It marked the fifth straight game they scored more than one goal in the opening period. Twice, that was not enough to secure a victory.

Boston came in 3-0-1, far better than last year's 0-5-4 start that included a tie in the opening game at Staples Center. But after Ziggy Palffy gave the Kings a 1-0 lead just 4:23 into the game, the Bruins applied little pressure. Jason Allison, who entered the game as the league's top scorer with four goals and six assists, had just one shot in the first two periods.

Eric Belanger, the rookie center on the first line with Palffy and Luc Robitaille, made it 2-0 with less than nine minutes left in the opening period. Belanger, who hadn't scored since last Friday's one-goal, two-assist performance in his NHL debut, beat Dafoe on the power play with Mike Knuble off for holding.

After the Kings' meltdown in Wednesday's game at St. Louis, in which they saw a four-goal lead evaporate, Kings coach Andy Murray gave the team Thursday off to recoup from four games in the first six days of the season.

Murray did not blame Storr for the Blues fiasco, but he was disappointed when Storr played poorly last Saturday in a loss at Buffalo.

With projected starter Stephane Fiset out for the first month with a sprained left knee, the Kings were hoping Storr would use the opportunity to take the job for good.

Although Fiset has had a successful NHL career, Storr is six years younger and has more physical ability. Storr started the first four games and failed to establish himself as the frontrunner.

He was scheduled to start Friday until he did not arrive on time for the morning meeting.

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Photo:

Goalie Steve Passmore, right, dives for one of his 18 saves - one against Bob Corkum - against 18 shots in the Kings' 5-0 victory against Boston on Friday.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press