A LOW-DOWN LOSS FOR L.A. WINNER `SCORES' UNDER STORR PHOENIX 2, KINGS 1.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

PHOENIX - In a wide-open, energetic game Sunday night, it seemed only fitting that the Phoenix Coyotes wound up winning by the seat of Jamie Storr's pants.

Nobody seems to know for certain if the Coyotes' Branko Radivojevic pushed the puck over the goal line, but the goal went on the scoreboard anyway and it gave the Coyotes their winning margin in a 2-1 victory over the Kings in front of 11,819 at America West Arena.

The game-winning play came with 7:03 remaining in the third period. Daniel Briere centered a pass, and Radivojevic, stationed in front of Storr, jabbed at the puck. Storr, unsure where the puck was, sat on the ice, and Radivojevic and Briere raised their arms in celebration.

Referee Tim Peel, who was behind the play, immediately pointed at the net, signaling a goal, and the play went upstairs for review, but no camera angle conclusively showed what happened to the puck, so the initial call stood.

``I sat down, and then everybody charging at the net pushed me back,'' Storr said. ``My head was under the crossbar, and I pushed myself forward a little bit. When I opened my legs, the puck was about a foot in front of the line.

``If it went in, great. If not, then somebody made a mistake. That's not going to be the reason why the L.A. Kings make or don't make the playoffs this season.''

The loss can't be called devastating, but it's certainly a backward step for a Kings team that seemed to be making progress with three consecutive victories.

Adam Deadmarsh's goal, 5:05 into the third period, tied the game 1-1, and with Storr and Phoenix goalie Brian Boucher both making tough saves, the Kings seemed to have a good chance to earn at least one point until the scramble in front of Storr.

``All the angles we looked at were inconclusive,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``(The Coyotes) were jumping up and down and celebrating, but I don't know how you can call it a goal if you don't see it go in. If you notice, the goal light never came on.''

Perhaps it's some cosmic justice for the Coyotes, who had six goals disallowed in the previous six games, and the Kings can't put on the blame on a possible blown call, as they had several excellent scoring chances that came up empty.

The Kings trailed 1-0 late in the first period when defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich delivered a devastating hit that knocked Brian Savage out of the game. Several Coyotes, upset with the hit, went after Yushkevich, and Briere was called for roughing.

Phoenix's Claude Lemieux continued to exchange words with the officials, who gave him an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and the Kings a two-man advantage for 43 seconds. The Kings buzzed around the net and Bryan Smolinski hit a crossbar, but the Kings couldn't score.

``We needed to finish some of those opportunities,'' Murray said. ``We were only five-on-three for about 40 seconds and we had three great chances. ... We hit two crossbars, and maybe if we get a goal there it's a different situation.''

The Kings, who have showed improvement on the power play in recent games, failed on all five of their opportunities despite good puck movement and several good shots on Boucher. They pulled Storr with 70 seconds remaining but couldn't set up in the Phoenix zone.

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Photo:

Kings goalie Jamie Storr, left, makes a glove save as Phoenix's Mike Johnson (12) moves in.

Roy Dabner/Associated Press