Kings Assured of Finishing Above .500 After 4-3 Win Over Canucks

Before the season opened last fall, new Kings Coach Pat Quinn said he had two goals--making the National Hockey League playoffs and finishing above .500 for the first time since 1981.

The Kings clinched a playoff berth last month to complete the first part of the plan.

And they accomplished their other goal Friday night when they beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, before 13,241 fans at the Pacific Coliseum to assure themselves of a .500 finish for only the seventh time in 18 years.

The Kings (34-32-13) will play the Canucks (25-46-8) again tonight at the Forum in the regular-season finale.

“Tonight’s game was very satisfactory from the standpoint that we set a lofty goal of finishing over .500 at the start of the season, and we got it,” Quinn said.

“It wasn’t pretty. I didn’t like the way we played. The second period was as poorly as we’ve played all year.”

The Kings played like they were looking ahead to their first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, which opens next Wednesday. The Canucks, who have the fourth worst record in the NHL, are one of five teams that failed to make the playoffs.

“I think we played a (bleep) game,” King left wing Dave (Tiger) Williams said. “I felt the first 40 minutes were brutal on our part. We played for 20 minutes and won the game.”

Leading, 1-0, after Terry Ruskowski scored the first of his two goals on a power play when he deflected a shot from the point by Brian Engblom past Canuck goalie Richard Brodeur at 3:47 of the first period, the Kings went to sleep in the second period, getting just four shots on goal.

The Canucks scored two straight goals to go ahead, 2-1, early in the third period on shots by Jean Marc Lanthier and Gary Lupul.

But Ruskowski, playing his second game at center on a line with right wing Steve Shutt and Williams, tied it at 2-2 when he put in a rebound of a shot by Brian MacLellan with 12:54 left in the third period.

Dave Taylor moved the Kings in front when he scored his 39th goal of the season off a pass from Craig Redmond with 4:16 left.

Marcel Dionne, who also got an assist on Taylor’s goal, climbed out of a third-place tie with Phil Esposito on the all-time NHL list. Dionne has 876 career assists.

The Kings scored again just 47 seconds later when rookie defenseman Ken Hammond got his first NHL goal on a long shot as Dionne screened Brodeur out of the play. Hammond was signed by the Kings last Tuesday after leading RPI to the NCAA title last weekend.

“I was pretty happy,” Hammond said. “I didn’t really have to do much work. MacLellan made a nice pass, and Taylor and (Jim) Fox did the work clearing out the area in front of the net.”

The Canucks pulled Brodeur in the final minute for an extra skater, and the move paid off when Peter McNab scored with 43 seconds left. But it was too late to change the outcome.

Williams was the big story before the game. He was making his first appearance in Vancouver since being acquired by the Kings March 18. Williams was a Canuck mainstay for five years until he was traded to Detroit last summer.

And Williams, who makes his off-season home here, is apparently still popular. There was a “Welcome Back, Tiger” sign hanging from the balcony, and he received a good hand when he skated onto the ice before the game. Williams’ autobiography, which has been on the best-seller list in Canada for the last six months, sold about 12,000 copies in British Columbia.

King Notes

Goalie Richard Brodeur was voted the Canucks’ MVP by the media. Doug Lidster received the unsung hero award from the Canucks’ booster club and was also voted the most valuable defenseman. . . . The Kings’ team awards will be announced at tonight’s game.