Kings, Undermined by Own Sins, Have the Devils to Pay in 5-3 Loss

It’s not the season for it, but the Kings have been leaving gifts around their own nets for opponents in the National Hockey League.

In Thursday night’s game, the Kings presented the New Jersey Devils with three goals, courtesy of mistakes. The Devils were obliging in their acceptance and added two goals they had to work for in a 5-3 win before a crowd of 5,313 at Brendan Byrne Arena.

The Devils, who have a 4-3 record, were glad for the charity. After winning their first three games this season, they had lost the next three. On top of that, they had developed the same dreaded allergy the Kings have--every time they held a lead, they’d break out in a rash of mistakes.

The Devils are better now, but the Kings are looking sick again.

“We are more giving games away then getting whipped in them,” said King Coach Pat Quinn, whose team’s record is 3-5. “I keep talking about turnovers. They are our nemesis. I think it’s guys not recognizing danger. They are trying to make too perfect a play. A lot of times, it’s the same guys. A good play doesn’t have to be special.”

New Jersey’s first goal came on a King defensive error. Steve Duchesne lost the puck in the King zone to New Jersey’s Aaron Broten on the right side. Broten made a perfect pass to Pat Verbeek, who scored at 3:59 of the first period. The Kings tied it at 7:10 as Garry Galley took a pass from Morris Lukowich and scored from the top of the slot.

The Devils got another gift when a shot by Broten skidded off Galley’s stick for a goal that gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead near the end of the period.

Although the Kings never led in the game, they were playing in that tentative, conservative style they use when they do have a lead. That was the essence of the second period.

The Kings scored on a power play to make it 2-2, their only goal in seven power play opportunities, Lukowich converting on a pass from Jimmy Carson at 3:04.

The disappointing aspect of that goal, and the entire interlude, was not what the Kings got but what they gave away. Because of penalties on New Jersey, the Kings had not just the usual 5-on-4 advantage but also had 4-on-3 and 5-on-3 situations and still could not score. In fact, they could not keep the puck.

“The possession game is killing us,” Quinn said. “I don’t know what to do about it right yet. On their third and fourth goals, when it was crunch time, we had possession of the puck both times.”

Those New Jersey goals came in the third period, when the Devils outscored the Kings, 3-1. That followed the pattern New Jersey has set this season; the Devils have outscored opponents in the third period, 12-5.

The first New Jersey goal in the third period was set up by a King error. “Typical, in a 2-2 hockey game we turn the puck over at mid-ice,” Quinn said.

The Devils’ Doug Sulliman took the loose puck, set up at the left point and scored as the puck passed by King defenders at 6:46. Until that time, the Kings had taken only two shots on goal in the period.

Greg Adams’ goal at 12:04 gave the Devils a 4-2 lead and broke the Kings’ back. Adams beat Duchesne and defenseman Larry Playfair on a slap shot from the right point.

Luc Robitaille scored at 17:08 to buoy the Kings for a short time. But after the Kings pulled goaltender Rollie Melanson with 50 seconds left in the game, Verbeek’s shot from the blue line slipped into the empty net.

“The biggest hump that I see we have to get over, is to play with a one-goal or two-goal lead,” Playfair said. “We’re playing pretty well. We’re still making mistakes that we should be past now.

King Notes The Kings have put themselves in a hole, losing the first two games of a seven-game trip. Worse, the Rangers and Devils were teams the Kings had real chances of beating. From now on, it gets difficult. The Kings play the New York Islanders Saturday night. . . . The Devils are the youngest team in the NHL, their average age being 24.3 years. The Kings, however, have the youngest player in the league in 18-year-old Jimmy Carson.