STARS COME TO PLAY GARON, ROENICK HELP KINGS TO WIN VS. DALLAS KINGS 1, DALLAS 0.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The Kings' playoff hopes are in peril. Some might even say they will need a miracle to make it.

And if what happened Saturday night didn't quality as a miracle, well, it was pretty close.

Mathieu Garon, maligned after a month of mostly terrible play in goal, stopped all 27 shots he faced, and Jeremy Roenick, hobbled and unproductive for most of the season, scored the lone goal Saturday as the Kings earned a huge 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars in front of 18,118 at Staples Center.

``Every game is a playoff game for us now,'' said Roenick, whose goal, midway through the first period, held up. ``We put ourselves in this (bad) position and now we have to get out of it.''

The Kings stopped a three-game losing streak and got some help in the Western Conference.

Eighth-place Edmonton lost and ninth-place San Jose lost in overtime, so the Kings pulled within three points of the Oilers and into a virtual tie with San Jose, although the Sharks have two games in hand.

``If we don't play better, it's sayonara for us,'' Roenick said. ``We played a strong, gritty defensive game and Mathieu Garon was great when we needed him to be.''

It wasn't all sunshine for the Kings. They failed on all seven of their power-play chances and beat a Dallas team that played without Bill Guerin, Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov, but then again, the Kings were without Derek Armstrong, Eric Belanger, Pavol Demitra, Nathan Dempsey and Aaron Miller.

Belanger was a surprise scratch, caused by an apparent concussion he suffered Thursday in Edmonton, but Roenick, a member of the Kings' walking wounded, picked up the slack.

Roenick is played with a chip fracture in his right ankle, an injury that was supposed to sideline him for at least another week. But Roenick returned on Wednesday, playing through what he described as significant pain, and he rested the ankle by not participating in Saturday's morning skate.

``If he plays like that, he can take all of them off,'' interim coach John Torchetti said.

Roenick, with his $4.9 million salary, had contributed only eight goals and 10 assists entering Saturday, but he came through with an inspired game at both ends of the ice, and got rewarded for his effort.

Sean Avery started the play behind the net and fed a centering pass to Roenick, who beat Dallas goalie Johan Hedberg 10:21 into the game. Four of Roenick's goals this season have come against Dallas.

Garon entered the game having allowed at least four goals in seven of his past eight starts, and even though backup Jason LaBarbera looked solid in a loss to Calgary on Wednesday, Torchetti stuck with Garon. He, and the Kings, were rewarded with Garon's seventh career shutout.

``I thought our guys competed and played hard,'' Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. ``We knew we were playing a team that had their backs against the wall but we couldn't get the puck in the net. That is how the game goes sometimes.''

The Kings' defense has severely let Garon down at times recently, but even without Miller and Dempsey, the unit performed well, and the Kings killed all five Dallas power-play opportunities.

``It's a big win, but we still have seven games and it's going to be a battle to make the playoffs,'' Garon said. ``But if we keep playing like this, it's going to be easier.

``I don't want to focus on myself. At this point of the season, it's all about the team.''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The Kings' Jeff Cowan, left, delivers a check to Dallas' Steve Ott during the second period Saturday.

Niklas Larsson/Associated Press