KINGS SURPRISE WINGS (AND EVERYBODY ELSE) : KINGS 4, DETROIT 2.

Byline: Roger Phillips

Maybe the Kings should play the Detroit Red Wings every day.

They lose consistently to lesser teams in the NHL, but give them a meeting with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and the Kings suddenly come alive.

Two weeks ago, they beat the Red Wings in overtime in Detroit.

Tuesday night, the Kings came alive again, ending a losing streak of four games losing streak with a crucial 4-2 victory before a crowd of 13,741 at the Forum.

The Kings (24-36-5) got timely goals, key saves, and an outstanding effort from their penalty killers, especially during the first 12 minutes of the third period, when they were clinging to a one-goal lead and playing eight of those minutes shorthanded.

The victory enabled the Kings to remain within seven points of San Jose, which holds the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Rob Blake, Doug Bodger, Ian Laperriere and Russ Courtnall (an empty-netter in the final minute) scored the Kings' goals, and Stephane Fiset stopped 38 of Detroit's 40 shots.

Almost as significant as the victory was the spirit shown by a Kings team so often lacking that quality this season. The Kings gave a 60-minute effort, and showed a willingness to take punishment as well as dishing it out.

Laperriere was at the focal point of much of the second-period action, both before and after his goal.

Before his goal, he served a stint as a punching bag for Darren McCarty, accepting a punch to draw a penalty. Sixteen seconds after his goal, Laperriere fought Aaron Ward to a standstill, rallying impressively after some early difficulties. Joining in the fun, Mattias Norstrom won a wrestling match with fellow Swede Tomas Holmstrom later in the second.

Taken individually, the displays of emotion and discipline might not have amounted to much. Taken in total, it means the Kings still have hope in the season's final 17 games.

Blake's goal was his fourth in the last seven games, and came when he alertly jumped on a Detroit turnover and blasted a 45-foot slap shot from above the right faceoff circle that beat Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood to the glove side 2:46 into the game.

Fifteen minutes later, four seconds after the Kings had survived a harrowing shorthanded situation in which the Wings controlled the puck for almost the entire two minutes, Bodger made it 2-0, beating Osgood with a shot from the top of the left circle off a Courtnall pass. It was Bodger's second goal of the season, and his second in as many games.

But the Kings could not escape the period with the two-goal margin intact. With 7.2 seconds left in the opening period, Fiset misplayed a long shot by Martin Lapointe, the puck trickling beneath him. Bodger was in position to clear the puck, but before he could do so, Igor Larionov reached around from behind the net and tapped it in.

Larionov tied the score with his second of the game and 13th of the season 6:51 into the second period, beating Fiset with a 40-foot slap shot after Slava Kozlov stripped Blake of the puck in the Detroit zone.

But unlike so many other games this season, the Kings didn't allow a momentary setback to crush them.

Instead, they withstood the change in momentum and got a break when a point-blank shot by Kirk Maltby rang the crossbar and bounced out with 8:24 left in the second period.