Kings Retaliate With Fists and Goals, 8-1 : Whalers Take Run at Janecyk, Touching Off Third-Period Explosion

After losing 9 of their first 11 games this season, the Kings finally exploded Saturday night against the Hartford Whalers.

The Kings scored eight unanswered goals, including six in the third period, and routed the Whalers, 8-1, before 12,024 fans at the Hartford Civic Center Arena.

What triggered the blowout? The Whalers violated one of hockey’s unwritten rules by taking a cheap shot at the opposing goalie, in this case Bob Janecyk.

With 4:13 left in the game and the Kings ahead, 4-1, Hartford left wing Torrie Robertson took a run at Janecyk, hitting him from behind.

Janecyk was behind the net trying to clear the puck when he was knocked to the ice by Robertson.

Defenseman Al Tuer, playing in his first game after being called up from the Kings’ minor league team at New Haven, Conn., went after Robertson. Robertson got a five-minute penalty for charging and a five-minute penalty for fighting, and Tuer got five minutes for fighting. Janecyk had to leave with a back spasm but said after the game that the injury wasn’t serious. “Robertson ran me,” said Janecyk, who had an excellent game, giving up one goal on 22 shots. “I had my back turned to him when he hit me. I got up and I had pain in my back when I skated to the bench. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I left.

“The game was over long before he hit me. That was the worst thing about it. I don’t know what he was trying to prove.”

Said Robertson: “I barely touched him. There wasn’t even going to be a penalty until the guy (Tuer) jumped on me. He put on a show and he fell and hit his head. He must have tried to show off.”

Tuer had two black eyes after his fight with Robertson: “I got a black left eye in a fight last week (with New Haven),” he said. “I got the other black eye tonight. I was just doing my job. You’re supposed to do that (retaliate) when the goalie gets hit. Goalies aren’t fair game.”

The Kings went a step further when left wing Dave (Tiger) Williams charged into Whaler goalie Steve Weeks with 1:47 left in the third period, touching off another fight.

Whaler defenseman Ulf Samuelsson got into the act, taking on Williams, and an all-out brawl ensued.

Williams, the NHL’s all-time leader in penalty minutes, received two five-minute penalties for fighting and a game misconduct. Weeks drew a two-minute penalty for slashing and five minutes for fighting; his penalties were served by Mike Zuke. Samuelsson drew a game misconduct for being the third man in the fight.

“If they’re going to (bleep) around with our goalie, we’re going to run their goalie,” Williams said. “He (Weeks) slashed me and he opened himself up. . . . He couldn’t stop anything with his stick, so he thought he’d use it as an ax.”

Asked if he thought that Williams was trying to get even, Weeks said: “I don’t think of it that way. Williams went into the crease, and I slashed him.”

King Coach Pat Quinn said: “Robertson made a cheap play. It was an Eastern League play, and the Eastern League (a minor league) is no longer around. It was bush-league hockey. There’s no place for it in our game. The unwritten law is that you don’t touch the goalie. He (Robertson) should have had a deliberate match penalty for intent to injure.”

Asked about Williams charging into Weeks, Quinn said: “I didn’t see it. But I’ll tell you one thing, it’s tit for tat. If you want to play cheap, hopefully we’ve got a team that can play cheap, too.”

Said Hartford Coach Jack Evans: “Williams made a deliberate attack on our goalie.”

The Kings scored five goals in a span of 5:37 in that wild third period. It was a team record for the fastest five goals in one period.

The six third-period goals by the Kings tied the team record for most goals in a period. The Kings also tied a team record for the biggest winning margin on the road.

Defenseman Jay Wells scored two goals in the third-period blitz and had one assist. It was the first time in his career that he has scored two goals in one game, and the first time he has scored three points in one game.

“I’ve never had three points in a game ever in my career, even when I was playing junior or pee-wee or on the pond behind my house,” Wells said. “I don’t know how to act because I’ve never scored this many points before. Maybe I should ask Marcel (Dionne) how to act.”

Right wing Anders Hakansson, who was moved to center, scored two goals; Craig Redmond, Paul Guay and Bernie Nicholls scored one each, and Dave Taylor got his 275th career goal, moving him into a second-place tie with Butch Goring on the Kings’ all-time list behind Dionne.

Dionne, who was moved from center to right wing because the regular right wing, Jim Fox, was ill, had two assists. Dionne made a pretty backhand pass to set up Redmond’s goal, and a rinkwide pass to set up Wells’ first goal. Williams and defenseman Brian Engblom also had two assists apiece.

Asked about the switch to right wing, Dionne said: “I played right wing in 1975-76. When you’re not going well, you’ve got to try and do something, and tonight it worked.”

King Notes The Kings end their trip tonight with a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum. The Kings then open a five-game home stand Wednesday night against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers at the Forum. . . . Hartford defenseman Sylvain Cote suffered a hyperextended left elbow during a third-period collision with two players.