Kings Down Whalers, 5-2; Williams Gets Record 7-Second Goal

There’s no place like home for the Kings.

After losing all five games on their recent Canadian trip, the Kings opened a six-game home stand against the Hartford Whalers Saturday night at the Forum.

Dave (Tiger) Williams scored just seven seconds into the game, the fastest goal in team history, and the Kings went on to beat the Whalers, 5-2, before 11,240 fans.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Williams said of his goal. “If I would have been two seconds faster, it would have been broken the National Hockey League record (for the fastest goal at the start of a game).”

Said Hartford goalie Mike Liut: “I didn’t see it (the puck) as it came out of the (background) uniform. I didn’t pick it up in time. When I finally saw it, it was too late. I thought it was going to sail over the top of the net, when I finally got sight of it. He got it up over my shoulder.”

The Kings (23-27-6) have won as many games as they did last season.

It was the second time this season that the Kings have broken a long streak against Hartford. Los Angeles snapped an eight-game winless streak by beating the Whalers, 4-3, on Nov. 8 at the Forum.

Veteran center Marcel Dionne had two goals and one assist to lead the Kings. It was the third time this season that Dionne has scored twice in one game.

Dionne, who suffered a minor injury to his left hand against the Whalers, broke his two-game scoreless streak with two first-period goals.

“The power-play (unit) was struggling, but it came through with three goals,” Dionne said. “It was very important for us to break the streak and come back with a win. There’s nothing like sweet home.”

Rookie Luc Robitaille had a power-play goal and assisted on another by Bryan Erickson and on Dionne’s first goal.

Center Bernie Nicholls and defenseman Jay Wells had two assists apiece.

The Kings, who have the best power play in the NHL but have been struggling in recent games, regained their old form.

“We were sharp on the power play and it won the game for us,” King Coach Mike Murphy said.

Goalie Roland Melanson allowed two goals on 34 shots en route to winning his first game since Jan. 21. Melanson is 11-12-4.

Stewart Gavin scored an unassisted goal for Hartford late in the first period and assisted on a second-period goal by Sylvain Cote.

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Whalers (29-22-6), who have one-point lead over Montreal in the Adams Division.

The Kings, who had scored just 11 goals in losing their last five games, started fast, scoring twice in the first 1 1/2 minutes and adding a third goal before the Whalers could reply.

In fact, Los Angeles had seven shots on goal before Hartford even got off its first shot on the net 6:40 into the first period.

Williams’ goal off the opening faceoff was his 12th of the season. He has been on a hot streak lately, with two goals and five assists in his last nine games, and this one broke the club record of 12 seconds held by Dave Taylor.

Nicholls, who assisted on Williams’ goal along with defenseman Dean Kennedy, extended his point-scoring streak to nine games, the longest for a King this season. Nicholls has scored five goals and assisted on eight others during the streak.

Dionne made it 2-0 when he scored his 22nd goal of the season 1:29 into the game off a pass from Wells, and Erickson added a power-play goal at 15:53 to make it 3-0.

The Kings had been struggling on their power play, scoring on just four of their last 21 chances before Erickson’s goal.

The Whalers cut the margin with 49 seconds left in the period when Gavin beat Melanson for an unassisted goal.

Hartford further closed the gap when Cote scored on a rebound of a shot by Gavin 5:29 into the second period.

Dionne’s second goal, also on a power play, came during a pileup in front of the Whaler net at 18:13 of the third period and gave the Kings a 4-2 lead. Jim Fox and Nicholls assisted.

King Notes

King defenseman Larry Playfair will have to undergo surgery on his left knee on Thursday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood and will miss the rest of the season, the club announced. Playfair hurt the same knee last season and missed the last 17 games of the season. He reaggravated the injury twice in December and missed 11 games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery. He returned to the lineup on Jan. 28 but was hurt again on Jan. 31 in Montreal. King team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo said it usually takes one year of rehabilitation after this type of surgery. . . . The Kings play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday at 1:05 p.m. at the Forum.