Kings’ Mistakes Lead to Fourth Loss in Row, 6-1 : Los Angeles’ Defense Is Not Only Beaten but Even Scores a Goal for the Jets

King Coach Mike Murphy was outside the locker room, telling reporters why the defense was not responsible for the team’s 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Friday night, while defenseman Steve Duchesne was scrunched into his cubicle in the locker room, saying how the King defense played “awfully.”

It was the kind of night in which the Kings couldn’t get anything straight--even disagreeing on the reasons for the mistakes that led to their fourth consecutive loss.

Finally, it mattered little. The Kings (22-26-6) continue to slip into disorganized, mistake-prone hockey, and the reasons for it multiply with each game.

Murphy offered a few suggestions.

“I don’t think we looked organized on the ice tonight,” he said. “We played a scrambling game. We couldn’t complete passes.

“We weren’t skating tonight. I thought Winnipeg looked like they were the hungrier team. They were winning the races to the puck, they were winning the battles for the puck. They were fighting off their checks.”

The Kings were fighting off the Jets in the King zone all night. A crowd of 13,168 in Winnipeg Arena saw a typical Jet game of fast skating and hard checking.

Fast skaters put pressure on defenseman, especially if defending forwards don’t protect their zone. Thus, although the defensive pair of Duchesne and Dean Kennedy were on the ice for half of the Winnipeg goals, theirs were not the only defensive mistakes made.

The first Winnipeg goal came on the Jets’ second shot of the game, halfway through the first period. Before that, the Kings had played well. The goal seemed to deflate them.

“We’d play well, then they’d score. We play well again, then we give up another giveaway goal,” was King winger Jim Fox’s analysis.

The first giveaway came at 17:33 in the second period, when the Jets’ Mario Marois lured Kennedy and Duchesne out of position and passed to an uncovered Doug Smail, who scored.

The Kings might have counted themselves fortunate to have held the Jets, at 30-20-5 one of the strongest teams in hockey, to two goals in the first period. If only it had ended there.

Misfortune struck early in the second period. In a four-on-four, and Dave Ellett charging with the puck right at King goaltender Rollie Melanson. Melanson challenged the Jet defenseman and came out of his crease.

Ellett took the puck behind the net and Melanson followed, checking Ellett into the boards. But not before Ellett had thrown the puck at the net from an awkward angle.

Duchesne, who was defending the net, quickly slapped the puck into his own net.

“I scored my goal tonight, that was the worst,” Duchesne said. The rookie had been playing well this season, a pleasant surprise for the Kings. They especially liked his ability to score, getting 24 points in 48 games.

Friday night, Duchesne played like a rookie.

“Nobody was in front, so I tried to put the puck in the corner (along the boards),” he said. “Tonight, I was caught a couple of times up (ice). I’ve got to start playing more defensively. You start getting confident and start thinking about putting the puck in the net. I’ll have to play more defensively.”

Duchesne got beat again soon after that, on a goal by Dale Hawerchuk, and the Jets went up 4-0. That’s the way the second period ended.

Murphy had seen enough. After two periods of playing juggled lines--Dave (Tiger) Williams played on Marcel Dionne’s line, while two rookies, Luc Robitaille and Jimmy Carson, became linemates--Murphy restored the lines to their former selves.

Even though the Kings were minus three regulars because of injuries, the lines Murphy tried “were not effective,” he said.

“There wasn’t much harmony out there,” Murphy said. “I guess that’s my fault for changing lines.”

King forward Bob Bourne said it wasn’t the juggled lines that were the problem.

“I don’t think it’s that big of a difference,” he said. “Personally, I like to change lines, it gives me a lift.”

The only lift the Kings got was Carson’s power-play goal at 6:11 of the third period.

The Kings were poor on the power play, converting only one of six. In addition, it was a rare night in which the Kings were out-shot--31-22.

King assistant coach Phil Myre counted 18 scoring chances for the Jets, 9 for the Kings.

Goals from Jim Nill and Paul MacLean ended the scoring.