Kings Keep Glimmer of Hope

Goaltender Jamie Storr came within an eyelash of a shutout and Ryan Flinn and Eric Belanger scored goals for the Kings, who did their part Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Montreal in front of an announced Staples Center crowd of 18,118.

But even with the win, the Kings are still eight points behind Edmonton for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and with only 14 games remaining, they will have to decide really soon if they want to make a deal or two before Tuesday’s NHL trade deadline.

“For the last month or so, it’s been a little strange because guys have been wondering what’s going to happen,” said defenseman Aaron Miller, one of the Kings often rumored to be involved in a trade. “It’s definitely a topic....Guys discuss it but come game time, it’s all business. It may be tough to deal with and different guys may react in different ways, but you can’t let it distract you.”

After struggling in home losses to the Mighty Ducks and Oilers this week, the Kings did a good job of sticking to their game against Montreal. Storr finished with 27 saves and the Kings’ offense did just enough to live another day.

“We were better tonight [at the start] than we were in our other two games this week, but I still think we have yet to play up to the standard we were playing at about 10 days ago,” Coach Andy Murray said. “I thought we got better as the game went on. I thought we played more our style and were better defensively.”

The Kings, who lost at Montreal in November, jumped to an early lead against the Canadiens, thanks to an unlikely source in Flinn, who scored his first NHL goal.

Playing in his 15th career game, Flinn may have been in the lineup because of his fighting ability, but he looked like a premier power forward on his first-period goal.

With teammate Brad Norton setting up the score with a perfect cross-ice pass into the crease, Flinn redirected the puck past goaltender Mathieu Garon into the net 2:40 into the game to give the Kings a 1-0 lead. Rookie Jerred Smithson picked up a secondary assist on the play for his first career point.

“I’ll take them anyway I can get them,” Flinn said. “The highlight was the beautiful pass from Norton. But it was like everything that I’ve ever dreamed of. The feeling after I scored was so special and to get two points, makes it even sweeter.”

The Kings didn’t score their second goal until 12:20 into the third period when Belanger gathered in a great pass from Mikko Eloranta to score his 12th goal this season.

“Mikko made a great play to get it to me and I saw an opening with my backhand,” said Belanger, a Montreal native. “I’m pretty happy to score against the Canadiens. It’s a great feeling to score against a team I watched so much growing up.”

Storr, who came within one second of recording his third shutout and 16th of his career, was at his best in the second period, when he made a glove save on a Marcel Hossa breakaway, and in the third, when he swatted away a point-blank attempt by Doug Gilmour.

“The main objective for us is to win and when that happens, it really doesn’t matter if you get a shutout or not,” Storr said. “We have to keep finding a way.”