Gretzky Gets Off the Deck to Give Oilers Tie

Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers may win awards from the Hockey News for being the best player in the National Hockey League, but he’s never going to win any awards from Ring magazine for being a fighter.

Gretzky was decked by King captain Dave Taylor in an altercation with 9:25 left in the second period of Wednesday night’s game at the Forum. Taylor (6-0, 195) knocked Gretzky to the ice with one punch, a right hook to the side of the helmet.

Most of the fans in the crowd of 10,677 loved it when Gretzky went down.

Edmonton defenseman Steve Smith retaliated and was ejected from the game after receiving a game misconduct from referee Bryan Lewis.

Gretzky wasn’t hurt, however. In fact, it appeared that he was smiling when he got up and skated over to the penalty box to serve a minor for high sticking.

Later, Gretzky came back to hurt the Kings, scoring a goal with 1:40 left in the third period as the Oilers rallied to tie the Kings, 4-4.

He also assisted on a power-play goal by defenseman Paul Coffey that tied the score at 2-2 with nine seconds left in the second period. Gretzky has 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points to lead the NHL in scoring again.

After the game, Gretzky was surrounded by reporters. Asked about the fight, the third of his career, Gretzky said: “I’ll let you ask him (Taylor) and see what he has to say. I got hit on the side of the head.

“I got my face in the wrong position, and he got hold of it with a good punch. The incident is no big thing, the game heated up when it happened.”

Asked why he stayed down so long, Gretzky said: “I was a little dazed. He got me pretty good.”

Said Oiler goalie Andy Moog: “Wayne saw stars when he got hit.”

Taylor said that the incident started when one of the Oilers pushed him from behind.

“It was just a retaliation on my part. I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t know it was Gretzky. I don’t think I hit him that hard.”

But Taylor had to pay the price when he got into a fight with Oiler right wing Dave Lumley at 13:26 of the third period. It touched off a wild brawl that resulted in four players being ejected from the game.

Oiler defensemen Lee Fogolin and Kevin Lowe each received a game-misconduct and a five-minute fighting penalty.

King left wing Phil Sykes and defenseman Dean Kennedy also received game misconduct penalties and five-minute fighting penalties. Taylor and Lumley got minors for high sticking and fighting penalties.

Did the Oilers go after Taylor because he hit Gretzky?

“If you play with fire you get burned,” Lumley said. “It was just in the heat of the moment.

“You’re not supposed to retaliate or you get suspended,” Lumley said with a smile. “I missed Taylor. Fogolin and Kevin (Lowe) hit him.”

Said King Coach Pat Quinn: “The officials were a bloody joke tonight. If you wear stripes you should call the game. Lumley doesn’t get paid for scoring goals, he gets paid for fighting.”

The Kings, who set a team record with 25 shots on goal in the first period, played their best game of the season against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

“The first period seemed like it was about three games ago,” Moog said.

And it looked as if the Kings were going to pull out a 4-3 win after center Bernie Nicholls scored two goals in the third period.

But Gretzky came back to tie the game when he faked out King goalie Bob Janecyk on a breakaway.

“I faked a shot to my left, and when Janecyk went down, I put it in,” Gretzky said. “Our goaltender got us the point. We were fortunate to get a tie.”

Said King goalie Janecyk, who made 28 saves: “Gretzky gave me a deek to the middle, and I went down. He put the puck under my arm. It was a hell of a move, and he beat me.”

The Kings had a chance to win the game with 12 seconds left in the five-minute overtime period, putting pressure on Moog, who was forced to make three tough saves. Moog finished with 45 saves.

“They took three shots,” Moog said. “The first one hit me on the chest and the second one hit my arm. The puck came to rest under me on the third shot.”

The Oilers have a 10-2-1 record, while the Kings are 3-10-1.

“We played well,” Quinn said. “But I’m not happy with the result. If we play that well, we ought to win.”

The Kings led four times in the game, 1-0 after center Marcel Dionne snapped out of a seven-game slump by scoring on a power play at 10:29 of the first period; 2-1 in the second period after Taylor scored his sixth goal of the season on a power play; 3-2 in the third period after Nicholls’ first goal, and 4-3 late in the third after Nicholls scored again.

Center Craig MacTavish and Glenn Anderson also scored for Edmonton.

King Notes Glen Sather, the Oiler head coach and general manager, missed the game because he was on a scouting trip in Europe. Co-Coach John Muckler and assistant coach Bob McCammon, a former coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, ran the team. . . . Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr missed the game after suffering a shoulder injury in a game against Toronto last Sunday. . . . Edmonton defensemen Randy Gregg and Don Jackson also missed the game. Gregg suffered a rib injury in a game against Calgary on Oct. 28 and is expected to miss two to four weeks of action. Jackson returned to Edmonton after suffering a badly bruised right knee in Tuesday night’s game against Vancouver. . . . King right wing Jim Fox missed the game because of illness and a lower back strain. Left wing Lyle Phair was also scratched. . . . Minnesota General Manager Lou Nanne watched the game from the press box. . . . The Kings play the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at the Forum.