A `STRANGE' FLIP-FLOP BLACKHAWKS PLAY LIKE KINGS IN L.A. VICTORY KINGS 5, CHICAGO 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

CHICAGO - Good thing the Chicago Blackhawks played Kings hockey Sunday night. They played hard in spurts, took some bad penalties, fell apart in the second period and tried to come back at the end.

Add it up and the Kings' 5-2 victory was not a surprise in front of a sparse crowd of 12,310 at the United Center even though the Blackhawks entered the game with an 11-1-3 record at home.

``Strange business,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said.

A night after a solid but losing effort against St. Louis, the Kings somehow were the fresher team even though the Blackhawks came in with the fifth-best record in the NHL.

Good bounces led to power-play goals by Andreas Lilja and Craig Johnson in the second period when the Kings pulled away.

Mikko Eloranta scored his second goal as a King when his pass to Jason Allison at the 14:20 mark of the first period struck the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Phil Housley and slid past goaltender Jocelyn Thibeault. Adam Deadmarsh, scoreless in five games since his return from badly bruised ribs, got a good bounce in front of the net to score his ninth of the season.

Put it together and the Kings (9-14-4-2) had the kind of game that could turn into something. After losing to St. Louis, they were two points out of last place in the Western Conference. Now they are tied with Nashville for 12th in the conference at 24 points and play the Predators on Tuesday night to end their three-game trip.

It probably should be said in hushed tones since the Kings have blown similar opportunities in the past, but they now face a stretch of beatable opponents in Nashville, Vancouver, Columbus and the Mighty Ducks.

``How about one game at a time,'' Ian Laperriere said.

Saturday, the Kings had just 18 shots but chased Thibeault after two periods. Stingy defense kept the Blackhawks 0 for 3 on the power play and gave the Kings 20 consecutive kills off penalties in the past four games.

``I don't know if we played so well or they played so bad,'' Deadmarsh said. ``Like I've been saying all along, you need to get a few bounces to win.''

And a few breaks.

Like at 11:36 of the first period, when Chicago's Tony Amonte hit the left post. Amonte already had given the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead six minutes earlier with his 11th goal.

``A play like that can change things,'' said Kings goaltender Jamie Storr, who faced 28 shots on a night off for Felix Potvin. ``But you should never look at it as luck. It is the reward for all the hard work we've been doing.''

The second period has been the Kings' worst all year, getting outscored 32-17. But this time it was Chicago that struggled.

At 6:13 of the second, the Kings' Ken Belanger was called for a four-minute, double minor. Instead of taking advantage, the Blackhawks' Steve Sullivan negated the second power play when he was whistled for goaltender interference.

When Eric Belanger was penalized for high sticking at 12:27 of the second, Sullivan was sent off 1:30 later seconds later for slashing. Johnson took advantage of Sullivan's second penalty. He took a long pass from Jaoslav Modry and lifted the puck over Thibeault just as he crashed into the net. It was his seventh goal of the season.

``That was a great play,'' Deadmarsh said. ``That's what we need.''

It only made first-year Chicago coach Brian Sutter groan. Although his team is 10 points behind runaway Detroit in the Central Division, the Blackhawks have passed dangerous St. Louis in the standings and joined Calgary as the surprise teams in the league.

``We didn't get good efforts from a lot of people,'' Sutter said. ``The media has been blowing people's horns and the players have been reading their press clippings. That's why I don't get too high on them. We weren't good enough tonight. We didn't win the battles.''