Kings’ Latest Bid for .500 Goes Down in Flames : Calgary Scores Twice in the Third Period to Win a Back-and-Forth Game, 5-4

An early-season theme to Coach Pat Quinn’s postgame remarks used to be that the Kings had been working hard and soon the hard work was going to pay off.

It came true, just as Quinn had said. Then Quinn and his players began to say, as they accumulated their modest pile of wins, that the team’s next goal was to reach .500. They talked about this for some time.

Now they are back to the hard-work speech, and reaching .500 is just another frustrating, unachieved goal.

The hard-working Calgary Flames denied the Kings their midseason chance at .500 Thursday night, winning a back-and-forth game, 5-4, before a crowd of 16,798 at the Saddledome.

Not much harm was done as the Kings (18-20-4) remained in fourth place in the National Hockey League’s Smythe Division, two points behind Winnipeg. The Flames, meanwhile, solidified their hold on second place, seven points ahead of Winnipeg, and raised their record to 24-16-1.

“It’s frustrating right now,” Quinn said. “We’ve been a good team and we know we’ve played well. I don’t want to make a mental thing out of it, but when it’s within our grasp, it’s been snatched away.”

The Kings had leads of 3-2 and 4-3 but couldn’t hold them. The Flames tied the score at 4-4 only 19 seconds into the third period on a slap shot by Al MacInnis that King goaltender Rollie Melanson said he never saw.

Joe Mullen capitalized on a scramble in front of the net to give the Flames the winning goal at 4:48 of the period. It was his 22nd goal of the season.

The Kings had a power-play chance after that but failed to score. Their third-ranked power play drew a blank in five tries.

Bernie Nicholls had a good scoring chance with 1:25 left in the game. His shot, like the Kings’ shots all night, was a good one but not good enough.

The game was fairly even after the first period. Each team had scored--Dale Degray for the Flames and Dean Kennedy for the Kings--and both had mounted tight-checking defenses.

The Kings were starting to slip, however, as evidenced by giveaways in their zone, an old trait. Rookie defenseman Steve Duchesne, who has played above expectations, was having particular trouble controlling the puck.

The Flames didn’t wait long to jump on that weakness. They began to pick off stray King passes in the first period and continued through the second.

“This is one club that can jump up on you,” Quinn said. “I’ve heard people say that if you make a mistake, this is the best team there is at getting up on you.”

Hard work and simple doggedness kept the Kings in the game. They scored first in the second period after Bernie Nicholls fed Jim Fox and Fox took off with the puck on the right wing.

Fox lured Rejean Lemelin 10 feet out of the Calgary goal, faked a shot and scored into an unprotected net at 1:15.

But at 2:30, with the King defense drawn out to the points, Hakan Loob scored to tie it, 2-2.

Lemelin appeared to be falling apart when, at 14:34, he gave up a goal on a slapshot by King defenseman Grant Ledyard. It was the second goal that had gone through Lemelin’s legs. The 3-2 King lead lasted less than a minute as the the Flames mounted a three-on-one rush that found Kennedy as the lone King skater in front of the net. Gary Roberts brought the puck in for Calgary and waited until Melanson had sprawled across the crease to protect the net, then flipped the puck in at 15:38.

It was just one in a series of instances in which the Kings were caught with most of their team up-ice while the Flames were attacking.

The Kings got the lead back during the second period on another lapse by Lemelin that enabled Dave (Tiger) Williams to score at 16:30. But the 4-3 edge was the Kings’ last lead of the game.

King Notes Once again, King Coach Pat Quinn’s name has surfaced in connection with a job on another team, this time involving the position of general manager with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks (12-25-4) are in last place in the Smythe Division and looking for help. After Thursday night’s game, Quinn said he had been contacted by a reporter from Vancouver earlier in the day, then added: “I have a contractual and moral obligation to the management and players of the Los Angeles Kings. The future is something that I can’t comment on. I’m busy now. I’ve got a job to do.” Quinn, in his third year with the Kings, did say that it has been part of his goal to be a general manager.