Kings Blow 3-0 Lead, Settle for 5-5 Standoff With Explosive Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers, when they send wave after wave of line rushes down the ice, are the most dangerous team in the National Hockey League. They are sneaky and slick and so fast that when that offensive machine commences to roll, it leaves flattened teams in its wake.

The Kings were pancake-thin after allowing five goals in the second period Sunday night against the Oilers. But they regrouped and managed a 5-5 tie in overtime in front of 16,846 in Northlands Coliseum.

It was the second time the Kings (3-8-1) have surprised the Oilers (8-4-1) this season. When the Kings beat the Oilers, 7-6, in Los Angeles Oct. 19, it was explained away as an early-season lapse.

This time, the slump-ridden Kings tied the division leader in a game that was as wide open and untamed as the first meeting. There was little to explain away in Sunday’s game.

This time, know only that each team did what it is noted for: The Kings lost leads of 3-0 and 4-2 and, despite fine hockey for two periods, were blown out in one. The Oilers were cooly efficient in the five-goal second period but distracted and ineffective on defense the rest of the time.

“We got into what was a pretty good first period,” King Coach Pat Quinn said. “They (Edmonton) weren’t any hell at the start. We were exactly the opposite in the second period. They were setting up line rushes. As a result, we turned a 3-0 lead into one point. It would have been a big lift to take two points out of here.”

The game was notable in its glimpse at what could be for the Kings. After suffering five straight losses, three of them to teams they should have beaten, Sunday’s game revealed what can happen when the defense doesn’t make mistakes and the front line plays as a unit.

The Kings played like that in the first period.

As is their habit, the Kings scored first. Luc Robitaille scored a power-play goal at 7:52 and then Dave Taylor scored a short-handed goal at 10:11. Taylor scored again when his shot from the right point ricocheted off Wayne Gretzky’s stick and into the goal to give the Kings a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period.

It was a thin cushion for the onslaught the Kings knew would come.

It did come, in waves. Line after line came down the ice in perfect formation, passing and dazzling as they went.

Gretzky is the master at dropping passes in just the spot where he knows his linemates will be a split second later. Gretzky had three assists , giving him 25 for the season, far and away the most in the league.

Gretzky’s line was responsible for four of the Oilers’ five goals in the second period.

“We play them enough to know that when they get down, that’s what they’re going to do,” King goaltender Darren Eliot said. “They put on a line rush, we fell for that.”

Eliot had a superb night. He faced 21 shots in that second period, 41 on the night. That, while playing with a bruised muscle he injured when the tip of a skate dug into his back in the first period.

Eliot had to work harder because the Oilers controlled the puck virtually the entire period.

“In the second period we played that old, wide open game that we’ve been trying to get away from,” Quinn said. “You don’t play that kind of game against Edmonton and get away with it.”

The Kings did get away with two goals in the period, another from Robitaille and one from Marcel Dionne. Robitaille had two goals and one assist in the game and is the leading rookie scorer in the NHL.

Sunday night he was playing against his former boss, Gretzky. The team Robitaille played for in juniors last season is owned by Gretzky.

The Oilers replaced starting goaltender Andy Moog, who had had allowed 5 goals in 19 shots, with Grant Fuhr in the third period.

Fuhr had hardly any work to do as the Kings got off only six shots in the third period and two in the overtime.

The Kings killed one power play in the third, against a team that is ranked No. 1 in power play percentage. The Kings were better Sunday night, converting on three of five opportunities whereas the Oliers converted one of six.

The two King shots in overtime were more than the Oilers could manage.

King Notes

Dave (Tiger) Williams, who had strained his back at Montreal and did not play against Quebec, returned to the lineup . . . Bryan Erickson (knee) is still out. “We don’t expect him for a while,” Pat Quinn said . . . The loss of Erickson has forced Quinn into stringing together some odd lines. Defenseman Larry Playfair has been playing at left wing. Williams, a left winger, played Sunday night at center, while Luc Robitaille played at right wing instead of left. . . . Dave Taylor’s short-handed goal in the first period was the first the Oilers have allowed this season. . . . Edmonton has not lost at home this season. . . . The Kings travel to Calgary where they will play the Flames (4-7) tonight. Calgary is third in the Smythe Division while the Kings are fourth.