Kings Disappoint Sellout Crowd With 7-3 Loss : 16,005 See Edmonton Win Easily Without Gretzky and Three Other Regulars

It was a game that on the face of it had little meaning to either team, but only the Kings took that sentiment to heart Saturday night.

They have known for a week that they’ll be in the playoffs, where they will meet these same Edmonton Oilers. Still, in their last home game of the season, the Kings signed off on a sour note with a 7-3 loss before a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum.

The game held little suspense, Edmonton scoring two goals in the first 42 seconds.

The Kings (31-40-8) met the weakest Oiler team they’ve faced this season. Not dressed for Edmonton were the National Hockey League’s top scorer, Wayne Gretzky (a toenail problem of some kind), All-Star defenseman Paul Coffey (sore back) and veteran defenseman Randy Gregg (dislocated shoulder). In addition, Grant Fuhr, the Oilers’ No. 1 goaltender, was given the night off.

But it was the Kings who actually took the night off, against the team that is tuning in to their weaknesses. Ostensibly, this should have been the occasion for the Kings to establish some sort of bridgehead against the Oilers (50-24-6).

What the Kings established at the outset Saturday night was that they intended to play Edmonton’s offensive-minded game.

Oddly enough, the six-goal first period was not unexpected. What was unusual was Edmonton’s quick 2-0 lead.

The Oilers unsettled the Kings when Kent Nilsson scored 12 seconds into the game as goaltender Rollie Melanson was chasing the puck behind the net. The Oilers came right back with another goal 30 seconds later, again by Nilsson.

He had three points in the game for the Oilers, as did Glenn Anderson.

The action didn’t settle down after that. The pace remained wide open, which suited the Oilers more than the Kings.

The King offense was working, however. Los Angeles scored just seconds after they came off a power play. Bernie Nicholls took a pass from Steve Duchesne and put it high into the net for the Kings’ first goal.

Then at 5:46, defenseman Jay Wells carried the puck into the zone for the Kings, and Jimmy Carson fired at the net. Carson’s shot hit Dave Taylor in the back, but Luc Robitaille put in the rebound to tie the score.

The Oilers then scored on a King power play. Dave Hunter’s short-handed goal gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead and much of the momentum.

Esa Tikkanen scored a power-play goal at 17:45 to end the scoring in the first period.

In the second period, the Oiler forwards put pressure on both the King defense and goaltender Melanson, while the King offense was sloppy handling the puck in the King zone.

After Sean McKenna gave the Kings a momentary sense of ease by scoring on a backhander at 0:37, the Oilers answered with a goal by Reijo Ruotsalainen 21 seconds later to restore their two-goal edge.

Despite lightning line rushes, the second period slogged along in sluggish fashion, due to scuffles that seemed to break out after every few minutes.

Edmonton applied what turned out to be the finishing touches on its victory as Jeff Beukeboom and Craig MacTavish scored to move the Oilers ahead, 7-3, going into the final period. Edmonton scored its 7 goals on only 15 shots in the first two periods.

King Notes

King forward Bryan Erickson was hit by a high stick and left the game briefly in the second period to receive stitches over his left eye. . . . The Kings have allowed 14 short-handed goals this season, 7 by the Oilers. . . . The Kings will finish the regular season in Vancouver tonight.