KINGS GIVE FANS A GREAT OPENING ACT L.A. SPREADS AROUND SCORING IN EASY WIN KINGS 4, PHOENIX 1.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

The only thing more stirring than saluting Wayne Gretzky was beating him.

The Kings knew opening night was the time to retire the No. 99 jersey of their greatest player. But now that Gretzky is part-owner of the hated Phoenix Coyotes, the Kings quickly rolled up the red carpet Wednesday night and got down to business.

Their 4-1 victory in front of an overflow crowd of 18,260 at Staples Center that included former owner Bruce McNall and popular ex-King Luc Robitaille was just the way they drew it up in training camp.

They got a goal from Eric Belanger, who was impressive in his debut as the second-line center. Ziggy Palffy and Mathieu Schneider added a goal and an assist apiece. Jason Allison had two assists and Ian Laperriere, seeing his first action since undergoing abdominal surgery eight weeks ago, added the final goal.

The Coyotes, one of the NHL's surprise teams last year in Gretzky's first season as owner, got a goal back late in the second period by Danny Markov. But the Kings' defense held Phoenix's top free-agent signee, Tony Amonte, without a shot and goaltender Felix Potvin, who struggled in the first two months last season, made 25 saves to earn the victory.

Wearing the silver and black uniforms fashioned during Gretzky's eight memorable seasons in Los Angeles, the Kings looked a lot like the team that went 7-1 during the exhibition schedule that included two victories over Phoenix.

But Wednesday was the real thing, and it was particularly gratifying since Phoenix had a huge impact on the Kings last season.

The Coyotes went 3-0-1-1 against L.A., including four overtime games. The only game that wasn't was a 4-0 shutout loss late in the season when the Kings were sliding down the playoff seeding chart.

But the most painful game was a 6-5 loss Feb. 8 in Phoenix after a Palffy hat trick gave the Kings a 4-0 lead.

The two teams each finished with 95 points, but the Coyotes won the tiebreaker based on the head-to-head records. They finished sixth in the West and drew San Jose in the first round, a team the Kings went 4-1 against during the regular season. The Kings were faced with mighty Colorado in the first round and lost to the Avalanche in seven games.

The distraction of Gretzky's 20-minute pregame ceremony seemed to steal the opening night adrenalin from both teams.

The first period was scoreless, but there was a hint with two minutes remaining that Belanger was on his game. He skated in on net and fired a shot that was stopped by a sprawling Sean Burke.

Belanger, hoping to make the jump from the energy line to the Kings' secondary offensive unit, didn't stop there.

At the 6:32 mark of the second period, Belanger took a pass from chneider and beat Burke in close on a backhander.

Less than six minutes later, the Kings made it 2-0 when Palffy took advantage of a two-man advantage and fired at a wide-open empty net.

It hardly seemed fair since the Kings had the NHL's best power play unit last season.

The play began when former King Kelly Buchberger and Sergei Nazarov were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Both went after the Kings' new defenseman, Brad Norton, who pummeled Buchberger during last Thursday's exhibition game in Oklahoma City.

They were whistled off and the Coyotes nearly killed the penalty. But Palffy took a pass from Jason Allison in front and beat Burke easily.

The Kings went flat in the final two minutes of the second period. Markov skated through four players and beat Kings goaltender Felix Potvin at 18:18.

The Kings got a scare when Adam Deadmarsh was whistled off for interference with 53 seconds remaining, but got through the period and quickly killed the penalty to open the third.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Kings' Mikko Eloranta, center, falls to the ice in the Kings' 4-1 season-opening victory over Phoenix on Wednesday at Staples Center.

(2) The Kings' Jason Allison, left, battles for the puck with Phoenix's Paul Mara on Wednesday.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer