GARON SPARKS KINGS GOALIE HAS BIG NIGHT IN VICTORY OVER ST. LOUIS.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND  Staff Writer

Much has changed for the Kings in the past 12 months, but a sense of deja vu lingered in Staples Center on Saturday night when goaltender Mathieu Garon led the Kings onto the ice for pregame warmups.

Garon spent much of last season locked in a competition with Jason LaBarbera over who would be the Kings' No. 1 goalie. The effort proved futile, as neither goalie ever established himself fully, and during the summer the Kings acquired veteran Dan Cloutier to remove any question of a goalie controversy.

Or did they?

After Cloutier allowed four goals in a season-opening loss Friday, the Kings turned to Garon to complete their set of back-to-back games. It's standard practice in the NHL, and Garon looked strong as the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in their home opener in front of a crowd of 18,118.

``We play 14 games in 26 days (to start the season), so we're going to need both goalies to be good,'' Kings coach Marc Crawford said. ``Any time you win 30 games in the National Hockey League (in one season) like our goalies have, you have to feel good about putting either one out there.

``Mathieu made some tough saves when they were taking some chances in the third period.''

Anze Kopitar, who scored two goals in his NHL debut Friday, followed up with three assists against the Blues. Lubomir Visnovsky scored a second-period power-play goal, his second of the season, to put the Kings up 1-0 and Alexander Frolov broke a 1-1 tie when he scored with 3:49 left in the second period.

Michael Cammalleri scored 14 seconds into the third period for a two- goal Kings lead and Brent Sopel capped the scoring with 4:36 remaining on an assist from Kopitar.

``I feel comfortable on the ice,'' Kopitar said. ``I haven't had any problems with the speed of the game. I was (in training camp) last year, so that made it a lot easier.''

Kopitar, a 19-year-old center, continues to impress. He played 20 minutes, 44 seconds, most among Kings forwards, and is already a staple on the power-play and penalty-kill units.

``He's a big-time talent, no doubt about that'' Crawford said, ``and he's very teachable. You tell him something and he goes out and does it just the way you told him.''

Kopitar's effort made the night easier for Garon, who stopped 35 of 36 shots.

There's little doubt that Cloutier, barring injury, will be anything but the Kings' No.1 goalie for the entire season, but Saturday's game gave Garon an opportunity to show what he could do.

``It felt good,'' Garon said. ``The guys did a great job killing penalties in front of me. I just want to go out there and play well and we'll see what happens. Both goalies are going to have to be good.''

It's already been a challenging calendar year for Garon, who played adequately last season, with a 3.22 goals- against average in 63 games, but not enough to prevent the Kings from trading for Cloutier.

Garon didn't even enter camp as the clear No. 2 goalie. LaBarbera played like an elite NHL goalie at times last season but Garon's $1.2-million salary made him a tough sell in trade talks.

It wasn't all about money though. From the first week of training camp, Crawford spoke glowingly of Garon's effort and gave him almost as much work as Cloutier in preseason games.

As training camp closed, the Kings placed LaBarbera on waivers and assigned him to their American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H., which assured that Garon would be sticking around.

The start to Garon's 2006-07 season couldn't have been much easier. St. Louis generated only four shots in the first period Saturday and had only one shot until a power play in the final minute.

At the 11:48 mark of the second period, with the Kings 20 seconds into a power play, Alexander Frolov fed a pass from the St. Louis end line to Visnovsky, whose slap shot from the slot beat Manny Legace.

The advantage didn't last long. The Kings' Brian Willsie took an interference penalty, and just 1:19 after Visnovsky's goal, Martin Rucinsky scored on a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Frolov scored with 3:49 remaining to give the Kings to lead for good at 2-1.

Note: The Kings made only one lineup change Saturday, defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky played, and enforcer Raitis Ivanans sat. The Kings dressed seven defensemen instead of the usual six.

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The Kings' Brent Sopel celebrates with teammates after scoring during the third period.

Edna T. Simpson/Staff Photographer