MESSIER MESSES WITH HUET'S DREAM STAR STOPPED EARLY, NOT LATE; KINGS FALL TO NEW YORK IN OVERTIME N.Y. RANGERS 3, KINGS 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Back on a cold morning in France some years back, a young goalie named Cristobal Huet no doubt dreamed of the day when he might make a breakaway save on an NHL legend.

Huet now has a name to go with that fantasy, as he made a flawless save on Mark Messier in the first period Tuesday. But Messier got his revenge later with a third-period goal, and Tom Poti scored in overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Kings in front of 18,542 at Staples Center.

The Rangers are viewed as massive underachievers, with their immense payroll and featuring one of the most talented lineups in the NHL.

And if there's any one group in the league proving that team play, not star power, wins games, it's the Kings, and the contrasting teams put on a good show that featured plenty of wide-open play.

Messier made amends 8:47 into the third period, in a delayed-penalty situation. Huet made the kick save on a close-range shot but couldn't cover the puck, and an unmarked Messier knocked in the rebound.

Poti scored 39 seconds into overtime.

Those goals dulled Huet's big moment, which came 14 minutes into the first period and prevented a major momentum shift.

The Kings were on the power play when, during a neutral-zone scrum, a Ranger found Messier alone. Messier skated in and went to the backhand, but Huet slid across and knocked the puck away.

After that, the Kings were impressive on a penalty kill and Ziggy Palffy put the puck through the legs of another legend, Brian Leetch, and nearly scored a jaw-dropping goal. The work paid off with 53 seconds remaining, when Jozef Stumpel put the Kings ahead with a fluke goal.

Stumpel, who drew the ire of coach Andy Murray because he had scored only one goal in his first 21 games this season, now has scored in two consecutive games.

The Kings are winless in their past six games but have earned points in five. By treading water for the past two weeks, however, the Kings have fallen three points behind San Jose in the Pacific Division.

Things didn't start well for the Kings. They went on a power play 28 seconds into the game and did well, with two shots on goal, but the Rangers scored just five seconds into full strength.

Alex Kovalev was chased into the corner by two Kings, and he flipped a no-look, backhand centering pass to Greg de Vries, who skated in alone and beat Huet with a wrist shot 2:33 into the period.

But in a 4-on-4 situation 92 seconds later, Palffy crossed the blue line and dropped a pass for Martin Straka, who skated in and ripped a slap shot from the faceoff circle and past Jussi Markkanen.

With four minutes remaining, Palffy nearly made every highlight show in America. He skated into the Rangers' zone, one-on-one with Leetch, then cut to the right, put the puck through Leetch's skates and picked it up again. Palffy's backhand shot rang off the far post.

Another skilled play led to a goal, albeit accidentally, in the final minute. Stumpel pulled up inside the blue line and faked a slap shot, then passed toward Luc Robitaille at the far post. But the puck deflected off the stick of Rangers forward Jed Ortmeyer and past the helpless Markkanen.

Neither team scored in the second period, but the Kings were arguably even better than they were in the first. Each team had a power play, but the Kings held the Rangers to five shots for the period.

Markkanen made his first start since Dec. 12 because regular goalie Mike Dunham played Monday night in Phoenix, and Markkanen showed why he has lost just one of his previous six decisions, making several tough scoring chances against a surprisingly prolific Kings attack.

Huet didn't help himself in the third period, when he caused a New York power play. Huet's clearing attempt went into the stands for a delay-of-game penalty. The Rangers had two strong scoring chances during that power play, but Huet made the saves.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Eric Belanger of the Kings is checked into the boards.

(2) Martin Straka celebrates with Ziggy Palffy (33), who scored for the Kings in the first period of Tuesday night's game against the New York Rangers.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News