Kings Tie the Black Hawks, 4-4, as Sykes Strikes Again

Right wing Phil Sykes has been one of the Kings’ most consistent players this season.

Sykes scored the winning goal with 1:01 left in overtime last Thursday night in the Kings’ 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Sykes scored another big goal Sunday night against the Chicago Black Hawks, as the Kings battled the Black Hawks to a 4-4 overtime tie before before 17,517 fans at ancient Chicago Stadium.

With the Kings trailing 4-3 after the Black Hawks had scored three straight goals, Sykes scored the tying goal on a 15-foot shot off a pass from center Doug Smith with 3:48 left in the third period. Left wing J.P. Kelly also got an assist on the play.

“We had a three on two and J.P. drove hard to the net. Doug stopped and passed it to me on the forehand,” Sykes said. “It was a real big tie for us, but maybe it should have been a win.”

“Sykes may be our most underrated player,” King Coach Pat Quinn said. “In the last 10-game segment he has been playing really well.”

Said Chicago Coach/General Manager Bob Pulford: “Maybe we should have won the game. We made one mistake and they scored the tying goal. We had some bad coverage on Sykes’ goal.”

King goalie Darren Eliot made three big saves with 10 seconds left in regulation on shots by Al Second, Denis Savard and Steve Larmer to force a five-minute overtime period.

Secord drilled a wrist shot and Eliot made the save, but Savard and Larmer were waiting in the crease to put in the rebound. However, Eliot made two spectacular saves on Savard and Larmer.

Asked what happened on the play, Eliot said: “You probably saw it better than I did. . . . This was a big point for us. We came back in the last period of tough road trip.”

Said Secord, who also scored on a first-period power play: “Savard fed me, but the goalie came out and he had a pretty good angle. I didn’t want to shoot too hard and have the puck go around the side of the boards, but I wanted to put it on net for a rebound.”

Chicago had taken the lead with 11:25 remaining in the third period when left wing Ed Olczyk scored on a rebound of a shot by Ken Yaremchuk. Olczyk has a seven-game scoring streak.

Eliot, starting his third straight game in place of suspended starter Bob Janecyk, made a sprawling save on Yaremchuk’s shot, but Olczyk shoveled the puck into a wide open net while Eliot was flat on his back.

“I got a little nervous when I saw the empty net,” Olczyk said. “But it was pretty hard to miss that one.”

The Kings finished their three-game trip with a 1-1-1 record, taking three of six points. They have a 5-14-2 overall record.

The Black Hawks, who are unbeaten in their last four games, are 8-10-3 overall. They moved into a first-place tie in the Norris Division with the idle St. Louis Blues.

The Kings played their best first period of the season, scoring three consecutive goals against Chicago goalie Bob Sauve to take a 3-1 lead into the second period. Sauve was playing in his first game since he pulled his right hamstring on Nov. 2 against Boston.

Center Marcel Dionne had an unassisted goal and one assist and left wing Dave (Tiger) Williams had two assists in the first period. Center Bernie Nicholls scored off a pretty backhand pass from Dave Taylor and defenseman Jay Wells scored his fifth goal of the season on a power play to tie his career high for most goals in one season, set in 1980-81.

“They battled like hell all night long,” Quinn said. “We made a couple of dumb mistakes when it was 3-1 and it cost us a couple of goals.

“But I’m real pleased with the way we fought back. We’re slowly getting better.”

The Kings failed to protect their two-goal lead as the Black Hawks scored two goals in the second period to tie it at 3-3 going into the third period.

Chicago which scored its first goal on a power play in the first period, got another power- play goal to close the score 3-2 with 11:24 left in the second period when defenseman Bob Murray got his third goal of the season. With 15 seconds left in a hooking penalty on Kelly, Murray deflected a rebound of a shot by Larmer into the net. Eliot blocked Larmer’s shot, but the puck came out to Murray and it went into the net off his skate.

Larmer tied it at 3-3 with 4:34 left in the second period when he scored his seventh goal of the season. Curt Fraser set up the goal with a nice pass to Larmer in the slot.

The Kings return home to open a three-game homestand Wednesday night against the Hartford Whalers at the Forum. The Kings play host to the Black Hawks next Saturday and play the two-time Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 3.