Frolov Is Kings’ Standard-Bearer

DALLAS —  For NHL teams based in Detroit and Denver, fifth place in the Western Conference is an outrage, an insult, a sign of the hockey world run amok.

For a team on its way to setting the standard for man-games lost to injury, it would have been more than acceptable. An accomplishment, perhaps.

The Kings couldn’t quite reach that point Wednesday against the Dallas Stars, but their one-game trip wasn’t a total waste of airfare and hotel rooms, either.

The Kings and Stars, one point away in the standings, didn’t settle any differences in a 1-1 tie, as Alexander Frolov made sure the Kings didn’t lose with a fine individual effort at 14:05 in the third period before a crowd of 18,011 at American Airlines Center.

Frolov broke through two Stars at the blue line, deked a pass down low in a two-on-one to get Sergei Zubov out of the way, and finished with a wrist shot over Marty Turco’s shoulder, erasing a 1-0 deficit and moving the Kings into seventh place in the West with 19 games left.

A victory in regulation would have moved the Kings to fifth, but they weren’t bad-mouthing a tie against a team that was on a 6-0-3 surge at home.

“Let’s face it,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. We’ve been laying it on the line for months. We’re going to have to lay it on the line to the end.”

It’s a concept that might look less cheery if not for backup goaltender Cristobal Huet, who played a second consecutive solid game in relief of injured Roman Cechmanek.

Huet and Turco each stopped 26 shots, one--upping each other throughout the game. Huet stopped four shots in overtime, including a pad save on Pierre Turgeon’s wraparound with 45 seconds left.

Huet has stopped 47 of 48 shots in the Kings’ last six periods, including a 3-0 victory Monday over the Nashville Predators.

“When we’ve needed somebody to step up, somebody’s stepped up,” Murray said. “It’s a necessity. If [Huet] doesn’t, we lose.”

Frolov also felt the need to dial it up a notch after four consecutive games without a point, his longest such streak of the season. In the Kings’ victory over Nashville, Frolov didn’t even have a shot.

“I was really trying to score [Wednesday],” Frolov said. “Even if you don’t score for a few games, no way you can stop skating. Only one thing you can do ... step up.”

The Stars stepped up at 10:21 of the second period.

Jason Arnott won a faceoff at the right dot, Teppo Numminen skated slowly toward the net with the puck and passed back to Brenden Morrow atop the right circle for a wrister that beat Huet between the pads for a 1-0 lead.

“We didn’t do a good job on our faceoff coverage,” Murray said.

But the Kings, as has been their pattern, didn’t suffer a severe letdown. They have lost 520 man-games to injury and are closing in on the Boston Bruins’ unofficial mark of 573 man-games lost in 1991-92, but they showed on-ice resiliency throughout Wednesday’s game.

Sean Avery blocked a shot with his side in the first period, limped to the bench and returned for his next shift. Defenseman Tim Gleason took a puck in the jaw on a Dallas dump-in, was helped off the ice by two teammates and returned later in the second period.

The move up to fifth in the standings, or better, would have to wait for another day, another game, but a tie against the Stars was acceptable.

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Cechmanek probably will not be ready for Saturday and Sunday games against the Mighty Ducks. Cechmanek, out because of a groin pull since Feb. 18, is eligible to come off the injured reserve list today. Dallas center Mike Modano left in the first period because of a slight groin strain. He logged only 3:01 of ice time.