FOR NOW, L.A. YET TO GET ZIGGY WITH IT.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

The security guard in ``The Sports Section'' apparel store on Manchester Avenue in Inglewood was wearing a ``Cal'' cap and a confounded expression. He was staring hard at a mug shot, but he was unsure who he was looking at.

``He's a boxer, right?'' he said. ``He's gotta be a boxer.''

He held the picture up to the light as if it were a color slide he was viewing and not a color snapshot. ``Or a football player.''

The kid working behind the counter had no better luck identifying the glossy head shot.

``He looks like an actor,'' he said.

The bartender at O.B.'s Bar and Grill on Highland Avenue in Manhattan Beach stared blankly at the photo. He was surprised to find out the guy lives just around the corner. He couldn't remember having ever seen him before, anytime, anywhere.

``Dunno,'' he said. ``He doesn't look familiar.''

The bartender came out from behind the bar and showed the head shot to three customers nursing drinks. ``Anybody know who this is?'' he asked.

Three sets of shoulders shrugged.

The young lady working behind the counter at the snack bar inside the Kings' practice facility on Nash Street in El Segundo studied the head shot.

``Is he a basketball player?'' she asked.

She walked the photo to the grill and pressed it under the nose of the short-order cook. ``Do you know who this is?''

``He looks really familiar,'' the man said, rubbing his temples as he tried to place the face.

Here's a hint, he was told: He's on the ice surface a few yards away. You know, the one the Kings are using right now for practice.

``Of course,'' the short-order cook exclaimed, triumphantly. ``It's the Kings' trainer!''

Peter Demers? Close but no Slovak (that's another hint).

Um, ladies and gentlemen, introducing your NHL scoring leader, Ziggy Palffy, a King who leaves both goaltenders and the good citizens of greater L.A. scratching their heads.

Next to The Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Avenue, Palffy is the Southland's best-kept secret. The right winger has been producing points at a pace that would make the UCLA football team envious.

He has been more dominant an offensive presence than Shaquille O'Neal (who is only fourth in scoring in the NBA) and as constant as Southern California's weather.

His delivery has been as crisp as Bob Miller's.

Palffy is the shooting star that is lost in L.A.'s crowded sky.

The Elias Sports Bureau did the math for us; in the first 50 days of the 2000-2001 season, Palffy has led the league in scoring or had a share of the lead 38 days.

Palffy entered the Kings' game Thursday against the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils with 11 goals and 29 points. If he were any hotter, saying his name would burn your tongue.

Right now around these parts, only the Cal State Northridge men's basketball team is in the same stratosphere.

In a victory over Colorado last Saturday, Palffy scored a power-play goal off Patrick Roy that was so spectacular it ought to have set off a laser light show instead of a single flashing red bulb.

From 25 feet out, Palffy sent a screaming slapshot into the tiny space in the upper right corner of the net that wasn't filled by Patrick, the patron saint of padded goaltenders. And for his next trick, Palffy will wedge a Humvee into parking space marked ``Compact car only.''

Palffy's prolificacy is a surprise only to those who haven't been paying attention. He has been yielding points at a brisk clip for five seasons now, since his first full league tour with the New York Islanders in 1995-96 (he collected 87 points in 81 games).

At Palffy's current pace (not that we're putting any pressure on him to maintain it), he'd finish with 113 points, the most by a King since Wayne Gretzky's 130 in 1993-94. That's assuming Palffy can stay out of harm's way, which isn't easy given opponents look at the 33 on his back and see a bull's-eye.

The native of Slovakia wishes he could slip under the radar of opposing skaters as easily as he has that of greater L.A. He has noticed he's being checked a little harder since he strung together 11 points in an eight-game stretch between Oct. 21 and Nov. 5.

That could be worrisome considering Palffy missed 18 games last

season, his first with the Kings, with a back injury and a shoulder sprain.

But unlike his fast start this year, his physical woes last year can be looked upon as an anomaly; in his first three full seasons in the league, Palffy averaged 81 games (he sat out 32 games in 1998-99 while locked in a contract dispute with the Islanders).

If he can stay healthy, there's no telling how long Palffy's highlight reel might run. He has hands that were born to cradle a hockey stick and he puts the zig in Zigmund with his skating style.

``I don't think Ziggy knows how good he can be,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``The question is whether he wants to know. Does he want to extend himself to the point where (greatness) is expected of him all the time?''

That's the problem with raising the bar. People expect you to clear it every night. Sometimes every shift.

``If you play at a certain level, if you find a comfort zone and stay there, there's not much risk of failure,'' Murray said. ``The great players extend themselves, knowing they may fail.''

Palffy's below-sea-level profile in L.A. could prove a godsend in the long run. If Angelenos can't identify him, how are they going to hound him? Palffy is free to have his success and enjoy it, too.

``It's hard to explain,'' Palffy said when asked to explain his scoring tear. ``It's just happening. I'm really surprised. It makes me more confident.''

But no more familiar a face.

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Photo: The Kings' Ziggy Palffy (kneeling), celebrating yet another goal against Colorado last week, is the NHL's leading scorer so far for the 2000-01 season.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press