Lowly Maple Leafs Hand Kings 4-3 Loss

Goalie Tim Bernhardt was cut by the Kings when he tried out as a free agent in training camp last September.

“I was as good as anyone in camp, but I wasn’t good enough,” he said. “But I think they made the right choice because I didn’t play as well as I had to to earn a contract.”

However, Bernhardt was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played for the Maple Leafs’ minor- league team last season.

In his first start against the Kings, the 26-year-old rookie came back to beat them, 4-3, Wednesday night before 8,443 fans at the Forum.

The loss dropped the Kings (17-18-9) below .500 for the first time since Nov. 13.

It was Bernhardt’s second National Hockey League win. He was in the nets when the Maple Leafs beat the Vancouver, 5-3, last Sunday. Toronto hadn’t won back-to-back games since its first two games this season.

Maple Leaf owner Harold Ballard was one of the first to congratulate Bernhardt after the game.

After giving up Marcel Dionne’s 610th career goal early in the first period, Bernhardt shut down the Kings for most of the night as the Maple Leafs scored four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead going into the third period.

Asked why the Kings cut Bernhardt, Kings Coach Pat Quinn said: “It was a management decision. He was very competitive at our camp, but we were in a situation where we already had three goalies.”

Kings right wing Dave Taylor made it close by scoring two third-period power-play goals, the last with 13 seconds left in the third period.

Taylor scored his second goal after Bernhardt received a two-minute penalty with 1:13 left for using an illegal stick.

Quinn said the Kings noticed that his stick was too long earlier in the game. “We weren’t really looking for it, but when we got down to the desperation stages we were looking for anything,” he said.

Said Bernhardt: “They must have known about it when I was with them in training camp. It was an eighth of an inch too wide at the very top.”

Said Toronto Coach Dan Maloney, a former King: “I find it hard to believe that L.A. has to resort to that kind of stuff.”

Right wing Rick Vaive led the Maple Leafs with two goals, scoring in the first and third periods.

“This was a huge game,” Vaive said. “It was a big win for us in Vancouver the other night, but this one is bigger because it’s the first time since the beginning of the season that we have won two straight games.

“I think that the secret tonight was that we had 20 guys playing. The last time we were in this building (a 7-0 loss Nov. 3) we didn’t exactly have 20 guys playing.”

Toronto rookies Bill Kitchen and Ken Strong each scored their first NHL goals.

The Maple Leafs have the worst record in the NHL this season (8-30-5), but the Kings, who had beaten Toronto in two previous games this season, played down to their level.

The Kings started quickly, as Dionne reached another milestone in his 13-year career when he scored a power-play goal 2:37 into the game to move into a third-place tie with Bobby Hull on the all-time NHL goal-scoring list.

Gordie Howe, who played for 26 seasons, is the NHL leader with 801 goals, followed by Phil Esposito with 717.

Dionne received a standing ovation from the fans after his big goal.

“I don’t really care. Milestones are stressed too much,” Dionne said. “There are so many other things we have to do.

“It’s back to the drawing board. I’m sick and tired of hearing about how the team has to pull together. Who’s we? There are so many individuals here and they have got to dig deeper and pull this team up. This team has got to learn that we’ve got to start doing individually.”

It was a costly loss for the Kings. Center Doug Smith will be out for at least three weeks with a knee injury, the team announced after the game. Smith suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee when he was checked by Toronto defenseman Borje Salming at the blue line in the third period.

Left wing Brian MacLellan also suffered a deep bruise on his right knee when he was hit by a loose puck. However, he maybe be able to skate in a couple of days.

And things don’t get any easier for the Kings, who have lost two straight. They close out a four-game homestand against the New York Islanders Saturday night then play the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers Monday night at Edmonton.