Kings Lose, 6-3, Drop Into Tie for Fourth : Whalers Send L.A. Reeling to Its 8th Defeat in Last 11 Games

Forward Sylvain Turgeon scored twice Saturday to lead the Hartford Whalers to their fourth straight National Hockey League victory, a 6-3 decision over the Kings.

The Kings, 2-8-1 in its their last 11 games, fell into a tie with Vancouver, which beat Minnesota, for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Smythe Division and will play at Buffalo tonight to close out a five-game trip.

Hartford, which has won eight of its last 10 games, moved into a tie with the Buffalo Sabres for the fourth and final playoff berth in the tight Adams Division.

The Whalers reversed a two-goal deficit early in the second period en route to two club records--36 wins and 74 points. Hartford goalie Mike Liut made 25 saves.

Hartford took a 3-2 lead in the second period as Mike McEwen, Turgeon and Paul MacDermid scored within a 4:09 span. Kevin Dineen added his 26th goal, Turgeon completed his 11th multiple-goal game and John Anderson added an empty-netter with 55 seconds remaining in the third period.

Stewart Gavin set up McEwen at 1:48 and was joined by Dave Babych when Turgeon hit his 43rd of the season on a power play at 5:36. MacDermid snapped the tie 21 seconds later as he beat the defense to a loose puck and caught Melanson out of position.

In the first period, it took the Kings just three shots in 7:15 to enjoy a two-goal advantage. Jim Fox stole the puck at center ice and beat Liut at 2:25 on the game’s first shot. Bob Mongrain scored on a low shot from the low left circle to make it 2-0.

Jay Wells added a power-play goal in the third period for the Kings.