Kings rally for record win

When the Kings stepped onto the ice at Staples Center on Saturday afternoon, they were greeted by a sellout crowd waving signs that read “We Believe.” When they skated off 2 1/2 hours later, they left to a raucous standing ovation.

But the big news is what happened in between, when the Kings rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3, setting a franchise record with their ninth consecutive win.

Which, according to Coach Terry Murray, is nothing more than a good start.

“I know the [NHL’s] undefeated record is 35 games,” he said with a grin. “So we’ll see.”

The Kings would have to go unbeaten into the postseason to match that record, set by the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers. But given the way they came back Saturday against a team that has reached the last two Stanley Cup finals, anything seems possible.

“We have a lot of confidence right now. And we know that if we stick to our game, most times we’re going to be successful,” said forward Michal Handzus, who scored the game-winner with 2 minutes 21 seconds left in the final period.

“It was been our attitude this year that we are never out of a game,” forward Dustin Brown added. “Especially with the way things are right now.”

Consider the way things were after one period Saturday. With Jonathan Quick having given up three quick goals -- the first two coming 16 seconds apart -- Murray said he was on the verge of pulling his red-hot goalie. But he pulled himself instead, walking out of the locker room between the first and second periods, leaving his players alone with their thoughts.

“The stuff that was talked about between periods in the locker room amongst the players, I’m not privy to it,” he said. “I said my piece and walked out. They had to reorganize their own thoughts and get back and play the right way.”

That took about 10 minutes, with Scott Parse setting up the first of four unanswered Kings goals by taking the puck away from the Red Wings in their own end, skating behind the net and dumping it to Alexander Frolov, who chipped it in off the left post.

“We just wanted to try to score the first goal and go from there,” said Handzus, who got the Kings’ second score five minutes later when Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard lost control of the puck in the crease, allowing Handzus to poke it under his pads and into the net.

Ryan Smyth then tied the score 94 seconds after that, chopping the puck through a mass of bodies after Wayne Simmonds had put it on goal from the left faceoff circle.

But if there was a signature goal for the unselfish Kings it was Handzus’ game-winner. The play started with Frolov digging the puck out in the corner, stick-handling through two defenders and shooting a pass to Parse, who banged it toward Howard.

“Those two guys did a great job,” Handzus said. “They stayed on the puck. They battled. They won the battles. I had . . . pretty much an empty net. So the credit goes to those two guys.”

Handzus also had an assist for his second consecutive three-point game, helping the Kings rally from a 3-0 deficit to win for the first time since last March. And they did it despite the fact Anze Kopitar, their leading scorer, was held without a point for the first time since mid-January.

Yet even that’s a good sign, Kopitar said.

“It shows how deep we are,” he said. “It just shows how everybody can score, how everybody can contribute. That’s what good teams need.”

Which is one reason why Murray isn’t willing to settle for nine straight wins.

“It’s a very satisfying win, absolutely. To see the players dig in. And they’re really starting to play hard for each other,” said Murray, whose team has come from behind to win six times in their record streak. “Everybody kept going. That’s the desperation, that’s the perseverance that you have to continually show.

“It just shows to me the young group’s really starting to come together. And the character that’s now starting to come into the locker room.”

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