Kings Play Giveaway Against the Wrong Team

‘Tis the season to be jolly.

In keeping with the Christmas spirit, the Kings gave the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers three gift-wrapped, shorthanded goals Friday night.

Right wing Jari Kurri scored four goals and had two assists as the banged-up Oilers embarrassed the Kings, 9-4, before 17,114 fans at the Northlands Coliseum.

Defenseman Paul Coffey had three goals--one shorthanded--and one assist. It was his fourth career hat trick.

Oiler center Wayne Gretzky extended his scoring streak to 24 consecutive games with six assists. Gretzky, who normally plays 20 to 24 minutes a game, played 32 minutes against the Kings because the Oilers are hurting due to injuries to key players.

“We played well tonight. The three of us (Coffey, Kurri and Gretzky) know exactly where each other is going to be. We play a lot on instinct,” Gretzky said.

Gretzky has 16 goals and 45 assists for 60 points during his current streak. He leads the National Hockey League in scoring with 21 goals and 65 assists in 34 games this season.

“They were awesome tonight, but our team looked like they had never seen them play,” King Coach Pat Quinn said. “It was a terrible display of play without the puck. We gave it away all night long.

“I’ll say that, in the while I’ve been here, it was the worst exhibition of play. A lot of people on our team didn’t come to play tonight. We were hoping for one of those no-touch games.”

Asked if he’s frustrated because of how poorly the Kings have played this season, Quinn said: “Are you kidding? It’s been a whole fall of frustration. We could play our best and still lose to this club. But to come in here and play like we did is unacceptable. The score could have been a lot worse.”

Kurri scored shorthanded goals in the first and second periods. He also had a power-play goal late in the second period and a third-period goal. It was the third time he has scored three or more goals in one game this season and the 17th time he has done it in his career.

Kurri has a 12-game streak in which he has scored 18 goals and 8 assists. He has scored 28 goals this season, second only to Tim Kerr of the Philadelphia Flyers, who has has 29.

“Wayne and I had a special feeling out there tonight,” Kurri said. “We had a lot of fun tonight.”

Coffey scored one goal in the first period and added two more in the third period, including a shorthanded goal. He has a 13-game scoring streak, with 8 goals and 18 assists.

“We had a lot of chances against Washington and we didn’t score,” Coffey said. “Tonight, we made good on our chances.”

Said Oiler Coach/General Manager Glen Sather: “They (Gretzky, Kurri, Coffey) played well tonight. They were throwing it around as well as I’ve ever seen them.

“I played Gretzky more than he normally plays, but with the lineup we have, we had to use him on faceoffs.”

After the score was tied at 1-1 in the first period, the Oilers scored four goals to take a 5-1 lead in the second period before the Kings rallied to cut it to 5-3. But the comeback was shortlived as Edmonton scored four straight goals against King goalie Darren Eliot.

Edmonton has the best record in the NHL this season, 24-6-4, while the Kings have the second-worst mark, 8-20-4.

The Oilers are 3-0-2 against the Kings this season.

Center Bernie Nicholls had two goals and two assists for the Kings. Marcel Dionne scored a power-play goal, and Dave (Tiger) Williams had a goal and one assist.

Edmonton was missing five players because of injuries and a suspension.

Mark Messier has been out since he suffered a hairline break in his left foot in a game against the Kings Dec. 3; Esa Tikkanen is out for a month after he broke a bone in his right foot Dec. 10; Craig MacTavish missed the game with a charley horse in his left leg suffered Dec. 15, and Mike Krushelnsyki suffered a sprained knee Dec. 8 and will be gone for two to three weeks.

The NHL office announced Friday that Oiler wing Glenn Anderson has been suspended for eight games for a stick-swinging incident with Dave Silk of the Winnipeg Jets Dec. 13. Silk was suspended for six games. Anderson was the Oilers’ second leading scorer with 24 goals and 26 assists in 31 games.

As if Edmonton didn’t have enough problems, wing Dave Hunter is out on bail after being sentenced to four months in jail last Tuesday when he was convicted of drunk driving for the third time.

Hunter’s lawyers are appealing the sentence, and he started the game against the Kings.

Hunter got a five-minute match penalty late in the game after a fight with Phil Sykes of the Kings.

The Kings play the Vancouver Canucks tonight at 7:30 at the Forum.

King Notes A fan behind the Oiler bench was ejected with 47 seconds left in the game after he threw a soft-drink cup at Wayne Gretzky. As the man was being escorted out of the arena, another fan threw a punch at him. . . . The Oilers traded center Mark Habscheid and a couple of minor leaguers, defenseman Emanual Viveiros and left wing Don Barber, to the Minnesota North Stars for right wing Gord Sherven and minor league center Don Biggs Friday. Sherven was drafted by Edmonton in 1981, attended North Dakota University for two years and played for the Canadian Olympic team in 1984. He played 37 games for the Oilers last season before he was traded to Minnesota for Terry Martin and Mark Napier. Sherven had no goals and two assists in 13 games with Minnesota this season. Biggs was Minnesota’s ninth choice in the 1983 draft. He was the leading scorer for the North Stars’ minor league team at Springfield, Mass. He will report to the Nova Scotia Oilers.