Gretzky Is 25 Going on 40 After 5-2 Win : Kings Beaten as Oiler Star’s Scoring Streak Leads Into Birthday

Center Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates his 25th birthday today, but playing the Kings enabled him to get an early present Saturday night.

Gretzky scored one goal and assisted on another by Mike Krushelnyski to extend his scoring streak to 39 consecutive games as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Kings, 5-2, before 17,368 fans at the Northlands Coliseum. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Gretzky at the end of the game.

“I turned pro when I was 17, and I’ll be 25 tomorrow--time goes by pretty quick,” Gretzky said. “Everyone has birthdays, so it’s nothing special. I’m going to spend a nice, relaxing day in Chicago (where the Oilers play Monday) watching the Super Bowl.”

Said King Coach Pat Quinn: “We gave Wayne a present the last time we played them. He must have had 72 points in that game.” Quinn was referring to a 9-4 loss to the Oilers on Dec. 20 in a game in which Gretzky had six assists.

Gretzky has scored 33 goals and had 75 assists during his streak, the longest in the National Hockey League this season and the second longest in league history. Gretzky set the record by scoring in 51 consecutive games in the 1983-84 season.

Asked about his current streak, Gretzky said: “When you get a streak going, you’ve got to be lucky. This has been easier for me than when I had my first streak. You can’t be worried about it. If I get it, I get it.

“Streaks are fun. When they end, it takes the pressure off.”

Earlier this week, Gretzky was booed by fans here after the Oilers had lost two straight games.

“If Wayne Gretzky skates on the ice, he should never be booed,” Edmonton Coach Glen Sather said. “He’s going to be immortal some day.”

Gretzky isn’t the only Oiler working on a streak.

Defenseman Paul Coffey assisted on a second-period goal by Mark Napier to extended his scoring streak to 28 games, the longest ever by a defenseman. Coffey has scored 16 goals and had 39 assists during his streak. However, he has just one point in each of his last four games. Only two players in NHL history have put together a streak that matched or bettered Coffey’s--Gretzky and Guy Lafleur. Lafleur, a former Montreal star, also had a 28-game streak.

“He’s going through what I went through when I had my first streak,” Gretzky said of Coffey. “He’s getting superstitious. . . . But I don’t think any defenseman (in the future) is ever going to break Paul’s streak.”

Said Coffey: “It’s getting a bit nerve-racking, if that’s the right word to use.”

The Oilers led, 2-0, after the first period, outshooting the Kings, 10-6. Glenn Anderson scored Edmonton’s first goal on a power play with 12:10 left in the period. Anderson has 32 goals this season, including 11 power-play goals.

Gretzky scored his 38th goal of the season off a nice pass from right wing Jari Kurri with 4:12 left in the period.

The Kings didn’t have a shot on goal in the first 7 minutes 36 seconds of the game.

“We had a fair second period, but we quit challenging them in the third,” Quinn said. “We don’t have much to be happy about.”

Right wing Dave Taylor scored a power-play goal on a rebound of a shot by Marcel Dionne as the Kings closed the score to 2-1 at 2:41 of the second period. Taylor’s shot was deflected into the net off Edmonton goalie Andy Moog.

However, the Oilers scored two quick goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third period.

Krushelnyski scored on a rebound of a shot by Gretzky with 3:03 left in the second period. King goalie Darren Eliot made a glove save on Gretzky’s shot, but the puck came out to Krushelnyski, who was 10 feet in front of the net, and it went in off his shoulder for his 10th goal of the season.

The Oilers scored again just 24 seconds later when Napier got his 14th goal of the season.

Oiler center Mark Messier and King defenseman Mark Hardy scored third-period goals.

King Notes The Kings (15-26-6) have lost two straight games. However, they remained in a third-place Smythe Division tie with the idle Vancouver Canucks. Both teams have 36 points. Edmonton leads the division with a 34-11-4 record and 72 points. . . . Center Len Hachborn, who has missed six straight games with a groin injury, has been sent down to the Kings’ minor league team at New Haven, Conn. . . . The Kings play the Flames at Calgary Monday night and return to Los Angeles for a game against the Minnesota North Stars Wednesday night at the Forum.