Kings Must Wait for Playoff Party : Hold Those Ticket Requests; L.A. Loses to Islanders, 6-2

The Kings announced Wednesday that, had they beaten the New York Islanders Wednesday night, playoff tickets would have gone on sale this morning.

But then, perhaps wishing to give their ticket office a few more days to gear up for the frantic rush, the Kings lost to the Islanders, 6-2, and again failed to nail down a playoff berth.

To make matters worse, Los Angeles, which already had four regulars out of the lineup, lost three more during the game, played before a subdued crowd of 11,297 at the Forum.

Phil Sykes strained his neck in a first-period collision with the Islanders’ Denis Potvin; Tom Laidlaw bruised his tail bone when hit by a second-period shot from teammate Bob Bourne, and Larry Playfair bruised his left shoulder when checked into the boards in the second period.

None of the Kings returned.

“Obviously, we don’t want injuries at any time of the year,” Coach Robbie Ftorek said. “We certainly don’t want them at the end of the year.”

The Islanders inflicted little damage on the Kings’ playoff hopes, although the loss again dropped L.A. 15 games below .500.

The Kings will still clinch a playoff berth the next time they win, or the next time the Vancouver Canucks lose. The Canucks, who equaled their longest winning streak of the season when they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night for their second consecutive victory, will face the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night. The Kings will take on the Blackhawks Saturday night.

The Islanders, who are playing for higher stakes, moved into first place in the competitive Patrick Division for the first time since Jan. 7. The victory was the Islanders’ third straight and extended their unbeaten streak to four games.

They have outscored their last three opponents, 17-3.

“It was a bigger game for them than it was for us,” King goaltender Rollie Melanson said, “but in the last 10 games of the season, you’d like to put forth a better effort.

“We had a bad night. We were flat. We had no spunk at all.”

Bryan Trottier, who had two goals, gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 5 minutes 31 seconds of the first period, working his way into the crease in front of defenseman Dean Kennedy and taking a pass from Brent Sutter, who fed his teammate from the right circle.

“There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded tiger, and right now these guys are wounded tigers,” Trottier said of the Kings. “These guys are struggling, they’re fighting for every point they can get.”

Steve Duchesne pulled the Kings even at 15:41, taking a feed from Dave Taylor, who dug the puck out of the left corner, and scoring on a 30-foot shot from the left circle.

It was only the second goal allowed in 183 minutes 22 seconds by the Islanders, who made up a 3-0 second-period deficit in a 3-3 tie with the Washington Capitals last Friday night, then shut out the Winnipeg Jets Sunday night and gave up only one goal in a victory over the Minnesota North Stars Monday night.

The Islanders reclaimed the lead at 18:45 of the first period. When the puck squirted loose from a goalmouth scramble, Brad Lauer punched it into the net from less than a yard out.

In the second period, when the Islanders outshot the Kings, 16-8, Pat LaFontaine and Trottier scored to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead. LaFontaine scored on a rebound at 7:13 after Melanson had stopped a shot by Derek King and a rebound attempt by Alan Kerr. At 8:35, Mikko Makela carried the puck around the Kings’ net and fed a back-handed pass in front to Trottier, who scored his 29th goal of the season from the bottom of the slot.

Luc Robitaille’s 45th goal cut the Kings’ deficit to 4-2 at 1:30 of the third period, but Kerr then broke loose on a breakaway and scored for the Islanders only 47 seconds later.

At 12:23 of the third period, Brent Sutter re-directed a shot by Potvin to put the Islanders ahead, 6-2.

King Notes

Bruce McNall and Jerry Buss signed the papers Wednesday officially transferring Buss’ 51% ownership of the Kings to McNall and making McNall sole owner of the franchise. . . . McNall will speak at a meeting of the Kings’ booster club tonight at 7:30 at the Culver City Ice Arena, 4545 Sepulveda Blvd. The meeting is open to the public. . . . Denis Potvin of the Islanders, who will retire at the end of the season, was honored in a pregame ceremony. Potvin, the all-time scoring leader among NHL defenseman with 1,051 points, was given a briefcase by the Kings. He plans to sell commercial real estate. . . . Gerald Diduck of the Islanders required five stitches to close a cut below his right eye after being involved in a first-period fight with Ken Baumgartner. . . . Jay Wells has missed six straight games and 16 of 18 with a groin injury.