Kings Leave St. Louis Players Blue With 7-6 Win : L.A. Scores Four Goals in Final Period; Team’s Ignoble Rally-less Streak Ends

The Kings, who figured to make the National Hockey League playoffs in spite of themselves, actually aided their cause Sunday night with a stirring 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Rallying from a 6-3 third-period deficit, the Kings scored four unanswered goals in the last 17 minutes to pull out the improbable win before a crowd of 10,253 at the Forum.

Steve Duchesne capped the comeback, taking a pass from Luc Robitaille and scoring from the middle of the slot with 3:36 remaining. His 25-foot shot trickled off the glove of goaltender Darrell May and rolled into the net.

“I was in the slot and I saw Luc behind the net,” Duchesne said. “I knew he was going to get it to me.”

The frantic rally gave the Kings their first victory in 35 games this season in which they have trailed going into the third period. They were 0-31-3 in such situations.

It also moved the Kings eight points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks in the race for fourth place and the final Smythe Division playoff spot. The Canucks, losers Sunday night to the Buffalo Sabres, are winless in their last 11 games.

And, of course, it ruined a big offensive night for the Blues, who got three goals from Bernie Federko and two from rookie Brett Hull.

In an attempt to bolster their offense, the Blues last week traded All-Star defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley to the Calgary Flames for a pair of wingers, Hull and veteran Steve Bozek.

“We had become very predictable on offense,” General Manager Ron Caron said of the Blues, who have been outscored this season, but are still second in the Norris Division with a 31-33-6 record.

But, if the third period was any indication, the Blues may have given up too much defensively.

Federko called the Blues’ collapse “uncalled for” and said: “We just totally fell apart. . . . We thought it was going to be easy after we got ahead, 6-3. We thought the game was over.

“I hope everyone in here learned a lesson that you can’t do that. They’re known for scoring goals and if we expect to get the lead and just do nothing and expect them to roll over and die, we’ve got another thing coming.”

The Blues squandered the lead almost as quickly as they had built it.

They scored five unanswered goals in a little more than 20 minutes, opening a 6-3 advantage on Hull’s second goal at 2:28 of the third period.

Only 32 seconds later, though, Mike Allison, who wasn’t even expected to play until Jim Fox bruised his right knee in warmups, took a pass from Tom Laidlaw and scored a goal that seemed to spark the Kings, who had been badly outplayed to that point.

The Kings didn’t score again, though, until Robitaille converted a pass from Jimmy Carson with 9:10 left. But Dave Taylor then pulled the Kings even with 5:18 left, batting out of the air the rebound of a shot by Lyle Phair.

“I had a good feeling about the third period,” said King Coach Robbie Ftorek, who was said to be somewhat irked at the end of the first two.

Said Duchesne: “He was so (angry). We just came out so flat.”

Hull scored his 27th goal--and first in three games for the Blues--at 12:22 of the first period, but the Kings erased the 1-0 deficit at 13:45 after Bernie Nicholls knocked the puck loose from Gaston Gingras, knocking it to Robitaille, who scored his 42nd goal from the left circle.

The Kings took the lead less than two minutes later, getting a goal from Craig Laughlin. Carson’s 45th goal put the Kings ahead, 3-1, only 40 seconds into the second period.

The Blues, though, needed only 3:06 to wipe out the deficit.

Federko scored his first goal on a breakaway at 2:22. At 3:46, King goaltender Rollie Melanson lost control of the puck as he attempted to clear it from behind the net. Gino Cavallini scored for the Blues on a rebound.

Federko then scored again after a shot from the left side by Gingras made its way through Melanson’s legs and caromed off the right post out to Federko on the right side.

Midway through the second period, the Blues had outshot the Kings, 32-10.

Federko scored his third goal with 7:43 left in the period, taking a pretty pass from Mark Hunter and deflecting it into the net.

King Notes

General Manager Rogie Vachon said the Kings may appeal the five-game suspension levied by the National Hockey League Friday against Bernie Nicholls for swinging his stick at Ulf Samuelsson of the Hartford Whalers last Wednesday night in the Kings’ 5-4 loss at Hartford, Conn. “We’ll decide in a few days,” said Vachon, who added that if they do appeal, the Kings would probably request that the length of the suspension be reduced. If the Kings don’t appeal, the suspension will start Friday. . . . Ken Hammond, checked into the boards in the first period, left the game with a sprained right knee and did not return. . . . Jay Wells has missed 12 of the Kings’ last 14 games with a groin injury. . . . The Kings and Vancouver Canucks play a home-and-home series this week, meeting Wednesday night at the Forum and Friday night at Vancouver.