[0] TWO GOALS STILL TOO FEW; KINGS END DROUGHT, BUT END UP WITH A TIE AGAINST BLUES : KINGS 2 ST. LOUIS 2.

Byline: Roger Phillips

On a night when it seemed there were as many scouts in the Forum as there were fans, the Kings finally remembered how to score, but allowed twice as many power-play goals as they had in their first 11 games combined.

The result was a 2-2 tie Thursday night with the St. Louis Blues before an announced crowd of 10,496 that watched 19-year-old center Olli Jokinen record his first NHL point in his first game with the Kings this season.

Despite Jokinen's promising performance, the Kings' winless streak reached three, all on their current four-game homestand, which ends Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.

The struggling power play went 0 for 6, and Manny Legace had to stop Kings nemesis Geoff Courtnall on a partial breakaway in the final five seconds of regulation to preserve the tie.

Still, Kings coach Larry Robinson was happier than he's been in awhile.

``We played with a lot more emotion,'' he said. ``There was a lot more traffic in front of the net. Our goals were the result of having people go to the net. We came out and played physical. That's our game.''

Still, rumors abound of a possible trade to boost the struggling attack, which had failed to produce a goal in three of the previous four games. Kings management denies a major trade is close, but speculation is unavoidable given the team's offensive woes and considering the presence in the stands Thursday of scouts from 13 teams - about double the number at a typical game.

``If there was a deal we could make that made hockey sense, we'd go ahead and do it,'' team president Tim Leiweke said. ``Right now, is there something imminent? No.''

That said, the New York Islanders (unsigned winger Zigmund Palffy), Pittsburgh Penguins (unsigned center Petr Nedved) and Vancouver Canucks (disgruntled winger Pavel Bure) were all represented at Thursday's game. The financially strapped Penguins also are rumored to be considering unloading star forward Jaromir Jagr's huge contract.

Additionally, the Calgary Flames might trade star forward Theo Fleury, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Flames did not have a scout at Thursday's game.

General manager Dave Taylor said: ``I'm not going to make any comments on potential trades. Like we have been for a long time, we're always looking to upgrade the team.''

In fact, the performance of the Kings (4-5-3) against the Blues (5-3-3) represented something of an upgrade.

It took only 6:16 for a goal by Luc Robitaille to end the Kings' scoring drought, which had lasted for 132 minutes, 28 seconds.

And the Kings only had to wait five more minutes for Jokinen to notch his first NHL point, an assist on a goal by Glen Murray that gave the Kings a 2-0 lead. Jokinen, who played 20:42 and had four shots on goal, carried the puck out of the corner and passed the puck into the slot to Robitaille, whose shot was deflected by Murray past St. Louis goalie Jamie McLennan.

``Before the game, I was a little nervous,'' said Jokinen, a native of Finland. ``It's normal. For the first 10 minutes, I was a little afraid to play my own game. After that, I see those guys and think, `I can play at that level.' I started skating and hitting.''

The Blues battled back in the second period, helped by an ill-advised slashing penalty to Rob Blake, the team's captain, at the end of the first period and an equally undisciplined cross-checking penalty to Sean O'Donnell early in the second.

St. Louis' Pavol Demitra scored 41 seconds into the second period.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) The Kings' Gary Galley sends the Blues' Michal Handzus on a trip during the first period of their game at the Forum, the first meeting since last year's playoffs.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(2) OLLI JOKINEN

The 19-year-old had an assist in his first game as a King.