Dallas Stymies Kings, 5-1

The Kings’ recent goal-scoring run came to a screeching halt Saturday night against the defensive-minded Dallas Stars at the Forum.

After scoring 14 goals in their two previous games, the Kings were overmatched by Dallas’ special teams as the Stars scored four power-play goals and one short-handed in a 5-1 victory before 13,492.

The Kings, who still lead the NHL in goals with 72, just could not shake free against Dallas’ tight defense. In losing for only the third time in their last 10 games, the Kings managed only 19 shots on goal, defenseman Garry Galley accounting for their only score.

“We did a lot of standing around. . . . We just didn’t have the same hustle or desire,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, who canceled the team’s scheduled off day and will make them practice today.

“I wish someone could explain to me how up to this date, this was one of our most important games and how [we had players] not come out and compete.

“[Dallas] had guys who were willing to pay the price more than we did.”

Yanic Perreault, who had scored five goals in the Kings’ victories over Vancouver and San Jose, was held scoreless and Kings rarely threatened Dallas goaltender Ed Belfour, who improved to 8-3.

Pat Verbeek, Jamie Langenbrunner, Benoit Hogue and Joe Nieuwendyk scored on the power play and Mike Modano added a short-handed goal for the Stars, who extended their unbeaten streak against the Kings to nine games. The last time Dallas lost to the Kings was April 3, 1995.

“We feel that when we play against teams that are good offensive teams, when we think in terms of checking people, our focus is strong,” Star Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We go out to check and our offense is a reflection of our defense.”

Saturday night’s game against Dallas (11-4-6) was considered a good test for the Kings, who dropped to 9-8-4.

“A lot of teams in the league, like us and a team like Boston, which also finished bad last season, are going to be looked at for a while,” defenseman Rob Blake said before the game. “[Other NHL teams] see us doing good right now but they want to see where we are at 40 games, 60 games and 80 games. That’s one thing we have to keep in mind, we’re doing good [after 21 games] but we have to keep getting better.”

Dallas scored its first power-play goal 9:14 into the game after Perreault was caught on a line change and was called for interference. Hogue slid a pass from behind the Kings’ goal to Verbeek, who scored from outside the left post on Dallas’ second shot on goal.

The first period ended with each team recording four shots on goal, but the Stars took a 2-0 lead early in the second period on their second man-advantage. With the Kings’ Sean O’Donnell off for hooking, Dallas scored with 14 seconds remaining on its power play when Langenbrunner knocked in a rebound after a shot by Nieuwendyk at 2:38.

The Kings finally got the crowd into the game when they scored nearly five minutes later. Galley cut the deficit in half at 7:13 on their third power play. It was Galley’s fourth goal and Jozef Stumpel recorded an assist. Stumpel, with a team-high 24 points, has scored in five consecutive games.

Any hope for a King comeback, however, was dashed later in the period when Hogue chipped in a shot by Modano past King goaltender Stephane Fiset, who finished with 19 saves. Hogue’s power-play goal gave the Stars a 3-1 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the period but they weren’t finished.

With the Kings on a power play, Dallas’ Jere Lehtinen skated in front of Blake and passed to Modano on a three-on-one break. Modano easily finished the play with his 10th goal of the season with 46 seconds remaining in the period. It was the second short-handed goal the Kings have surrendered in their last three games.

Dallas closed out the scoring in the third period when Nieuwendyk scored his team’s fourth power-play goal at the 17:45 mark.