CORVO CARVES COMEBACK THIS TIME, KINGS DIG OUT OF EARLY HOLE KINGS 4, EDMONTON 2.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

The Kings fell behind early again Tuesday, just as they had done a few days earlier. But this time it didn't come back to haunt them.

They have a couple of offensive-minded defensemen to thank for that.

Joe Corvo scored his first goal of the season, which happened to be the game-winner late in the third period, and Lubomir Visnovsky also scored to lead the Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in front of a sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

Corvo's shot from the point with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left deflected off a defenseman and past Oilers goalie Tommy Salo. Alexander Frolov added an empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining to preserve the victory for the Kings, who remain in first place in the Pacific Division.

``This was huge,'' Corvo said. ``It's a lot easier to win at home. You want to pile up the points.''

The Kings fell behind 1-0 to St. Louis on Saturday after a sluggish first period but played well over the final 40 minutes, losing 2-1. The Kings trailed 1-0 against the Oilers, too, but managed to get the win and two points.

Left wing Jon Sim and Visnovsky scored second-period goals for a 2-1 lead, but Edmonton tied the game 2-2 on a goal by Ales Hemsky 1:26 into the third period.

Corvo made sure the Kings (16-11-1-3) avoided overtime and the one point that goes with it after he scored from the point and beat Salo to his glove side.

``We were sloppy,'' Kings center Martin Straka said of a slow first period. ``I don't know why. It's always hard when you come back from a long road trip and you're kind of tired, but it shouldn't be happening.''

Visnovsky, whom Kings coach Andy Murray has called an All-Star-caliber defenseman, gave the Kings a 2-1 lead in the second period on a slap shot from the point that went between Salo's pads. Ziggy Palffy had the assist for his team-leading 34th point.

Noah Clarke, a La Verne native, played his first game as a King and earned his first NHL point on a second-period assist.

Clarke made his NHL debut and was anything but timid. The 24-year-old, recalled from Manchester (N.H.) on Sunday, took two shots in the first seven minutes and was welcomed to the league with a check into the boards by Jason Smith.

``It was real exciting,'' Clarke said. ``I was pretty nervous the first couple (of minutes), but I got a couple of shots on net and got banged up a little bit. It was fun. It was great.''

The Oilers struck first on a Shawn Horcoff's goal 13:56 into the first period. He got a wrist shot past Cristobal Huet's right skate for a 1-0 lead.

Huet stopped 22 of the next 23 shots.

Sim tied it 1-1 just 1:03 into the second period for his fifth goal of the season. He moved in front of the net to collect a rebound and found an opening on the right side to beat Salo. Clarke assisted on the goal.

Clarke, who played 13 minutes, became the first Southern California-born player to wear a Kings uniform. He didn't get to wear just any jersey, though, since the Kings wore vintage jerseys from the 1980-81 season.

He was aggressive, twice taking a crack at the net in the first period, both times on slap shots from the right faceoff circle.

``The first shift, I didn't know what to expect, but midway through the first I settled down,'' he said. ``I had a blast out there.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The Kings' Maxim Kuznetsov (6) is upended on a check by Edmonton's Georges Laraque in the third period at Staples Center.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer