[0] PROBERT, 'HAWKS PREVENT KINGS WIN KINGS 2, CHICAGO 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

Felix Potvin had carried the Kings the past three weeks until he just couldn't carry them anymore.

He had stopped eight shots during a four-minute power play midway through the third period Saturday night against Chicago, even watched fellow Frenchman Eric Belanger give the Kings a brief lead with a short-handed goal.

But in one brief flurry with less than four minutes to play, veteran Bob Probert picked up a loose puck in front of the net and beat Potvin to give the Blackhawks a 2-2 tie in front a sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

The Kings were that close to their seventh victory in the last 10 games and keeping pace with idle Edmonton, which is eighth in the Western Conference playoff race after Phoenix tied Montreal.

In spite of the trade of Rob Blake to Colorado, the Kings might point to the Blackhawks should they wind up missing the playoffs.

In four meetings between the two teams since early February, Chicago, 10th in the West, has one win and three ties against the Kings.

In overtime, each team took a penalty. The Kings' Lubomir Visnovsky and Chicago's Michael Nylander were whistled off for hooking, but neither team could take advantage.

Potvin, who has been brilliant since coming over from Vancouver three weeks ago, stopped 26 of 28 shots in regulation. He never was better than when after Glen Murray went off on a double minor for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

But suddenly one shot by Jaroslav Spacek struck Belanger's pads and the rookie Kings center found himself with 90 feet of ice between himself and a game-winning goal.

Belanger, one of the pleasant surprises of the Kings recent resurgence, skated in on his former teammate Steve Passmore and score on a back-hander.

Belanger's eighth goal of the season was the highlight for the Kings, who now have just two losses in their last 10 games. Until Belanger scored, Potvin had been the hero by stopping seven shots.

Someone had to do it.

Still playing without top forwards Jozef Stumpel (rib) and Adam Deadmarsh (bruised left hand), the Kings did not have much firepower. In the first two periods, top scorers Luc Robitaille and Ziggy Palffy had just two shots between them.

The Blackhawks have been one of the Kings most frustrating opponents this season and Saturday was no different.

Each team seemed to measure the other in the first period. Neither team scored or drew a penalty until the 17:31 mark of the first when Craig Herperger scored his ninth of the year on a short-handed goal with Alexander Karpotsev off for holding.

Eric Daze, who has been one of the Blackhawks leading scorers in the second half, fired a cross-ice pass in front of the Kings net that hit the skate of Lubomir Visnovsky and dropped right on Herperger's stick.

Potvin, who entered the game with a 6-2-1 record in his last nine games, was sharp in the first period when he stopped 11 of 12 shots.

The most dramatic came in the final minute of the first when he gloved a blast from Jean-Yves Leroux. The Blackhawks would have led 2-0 and had a big surge of momentum heading into the dressing room.

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Photo: Chicago Blackhawks forward Jean-Yves Leroux, left, battles for the puck with Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky on Saturday.

John Hayes/Associated Press