Sykes’ 2 Goals Help Kings Beat Quebec

Phil Sykes scored two goals, one of them while Los Angeles was shorthanded, to lead the Kings past the Quebec Nordiques, 5-4, Tuesday night.

It was the Kings’ second victory in as many nights over the top two Adams Division teams. They won their first game at Montreal in seven years Monday night, beating the Canadiens, 3-2, in overtime.

The Kings moved into third place in the Smythe Division, one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, who are tied for fourth. Vancouver lost at Hartford, 5-4, Tuesday night.

Sykes scored his second goal of the night at 9:27 of the third period with teammate Bryan Erickson serving a hooking penalty to give the Kings a 5-3 lead.

Erickson was still off the ice 19 seconds later when Quebec’s Dale Hunter scored his second goal of the night to pull the Nordiques back within a goal.

Jay Wells, Joe Paterson and Dave Taylor also scored for the Kings.

Steve Patrick and John Anderson were the other two Nordiques to beat King goaltender Bob Janecyk.

The Nordiques, returning from a successful four-game trip, wasted little time in giving their fans something to cheer about as Patrick opened the scoring 3:37 into the game. Patrick’s goal was his first since Quebec acquired him from the New York Rangers for Wilf Paiement two weeks ago.

The period then developed into a wide-open skating affair, with little hitting and few penalties to interrupt the action.

Quebec had a couple of excellent chances to increase its lead, but Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny failed to connect on breakaways midway through the period.

The Kings did not get many chances to beat Quebec goalie Mario Gosselin, but they took advantage of their best one as Paterson picked up a loose rebound and flipped it home at 11:55 of the first period.

The Kings, who lost to the Nordiques, 5-2, last Wednesday at the Forum, struck quickly to go ahead in the second period as Wells drilled a low slapshot from the point past Gosselin at the 14-second mark.