Kings Lose Opener, 4-3, as Defense Is No Match for Blues

Starting their 20th season in the National Hockey League, the Kings have gone a long way toward establishing a tradition.

Now, if only they could abandon it and begin another.

In Thursday night’s opener against the St. Louis Blues at the Forum, the Kings picked up where they left off last season--with a loss. Their 4-3 defeat before 8,403 fans was simply a replay of many King games from the last decade.

“It’s the same thing as last year,” said Coach Pat Quinn, at a loss to explain how a team with so much talent is unable to put together a cohesive attack. “We have a good team on paper. We have guys who can do it. But for some reason some guys black out. We need consistency.”

Instead, what Quinn is getting is a consistently porous defense and an offense that can’t get started because of consistent turnovers.

As in years past, the Kings played well in two periods and poorly in the other. They allowed leads of 2-0 and 3-2 to get away.

As Quinn had hoped, the Kings came out in a fighting mood, slamming the Blues into the boards and forechecking strongly. It was not long before they were penalized, defenseman Jay Wells being called for high-sticking.

The Blues got off only one shot during the power play, however, and goaltender Darren Eliot, the only bright spot for the Kings, had no trouble making the save.

St. Louis was not to be intimidated, and King defenseman Garry Galley was soon helped off the ice after taking a stick to the nose.

On his return from the locker room, Galley picked up the loose puck where teammate Morris Lukowich had left it and fired home the game’s first goal, beating St. Louis goaltender Rick Wamsley. “Morris was still on his skates, and I guess they (the Blues’ players) thought he’d still go,” said Galley, a slice of surgical tape across the bridge of his nose. “They all went after him. It was kind of like the Red Sea parted.”

The Kings squandered a power play in the first period. In fact, for 1:18 Los Angeles had a five-on-three advantage and still could not score. Mark Hardy got off two hard shots from the blue line, but aside from that, the Kings were stymied.

Then the combination of Luc Robitaille and Marcel Dionne suddenly clicked.

Robitaille, the French-speaking rookie, has found a warm spot on the King’ line beside Dionne, his idol. In fact, Robitaille is boarding with Dionne and his wife, Carol.

The roommates connected for the Kings’ second goal in the first period. Dionne dug the puck out of the left corner and flipped it around the boards to Robitaille on the right side. Wamsley had come out of the goal to thwart Dionne, and that gave Robitaille a clear shot from in front of the net.

Leading, 2-0, after one period, the Kings fell apart in the second.

“Just like last year, we had two good periods and one lapse,” center Bernie Nicholls said.

The Blues came out in the second period playing like the Kings did in the first--skating aggressively, handling the puck well and setting the pace. The Kings, meanwhile, came out looking like the Kings of a year ago--listless--and the Blues took control by scoring four goals in the period.

St. Louis scored right away on a 2-on-1 break, with Larry Playfair the only King defenseman back to help. Right wing Mark Hunter shot a pass to Federko, who scored from directly in front of the goal. Eliot had no chance.

A similar defensive breakdown led to the Blues’ next goal. The Kings lost the puck when a Jay Wells pass was intercepted by St. Louis left wing Brian Sutter, who sent it to right wing Greg Paslawski. His shot from the left side went between Eliot’s legs. That tied it at 2-2.

“We were too conservative coming out in the second period,” Quinn said. “They increased their forechecking. Their very first goal was scored on some defenseman trying to hotdog a little bit when we had a 2-0 lead. One stupid little play can have the effect of swinging it (the direction of the game).”

The Kings regained the lead when center Jimmy Carson won a draw in the St. Louis zone, and Lukowich cleared it from behind the Blues’ goal. Dave Taylor collected it on the left side and fired it just inside the right post.

Another defensive lapse soon led to another easy goal for St. Louis, however. Wells’ pass missed his teammates and found Federko, who backhanded it into the net.

The Blues went ahead, 4-3, at the end of the period on a power-play goal by Ferderko.

Still behind by a goal, the Kings managed a small spark late in the game. Taylor picked up the puck directly in front of the St. Louis goal and forced Wamsley to make a sliding save.

Typically for the Kings, it was a goal that almost was.

“I had the opportunity,” Taylor said. “But the puck got caught in my skate. By the time I got it out of the skate, I wasn’t able to get off a good shot.”

Sounds like something that might have happened last season.

King Notes Rookie Jimmy Carson, at 18 years 2 months, became the youngest ever to play for the Kings. . . .Marcel Dionne’s first assist gave him his 1,600th point. He is second on the all-time list to Gordie Howe, who had 1,850.