Kings Make It Closer as Flames Win, 6-4, to Lead Series, 2-0

While the Calgary Flames venture south this weekend, a fleet of souped-up tractors will take over the Olympic Saddledome.

In all probability, the tractors won’t encounter a power pull more imposing than that facing the Kings, who lost again to the Flames Thursday night at the Saddledome, 6-4, in Game 2 of their Smythe Division semifinal playoff series.

With the Kings down, 2-0, the best-of-seven series moves to the Forum, where the Kings haven’t won a playoff game since 1982.

“We’ll have to change that,” team captain Dave Taylor said.

The Kings, given a chance to come home for Games 3 and 4 (on Saturday and Sunday nights) with a split, were unable to take advantage of a major high-sticking penalty called against the Flames’ Tim Hunter with two minutes left.

In a fracas away from the play, Hunter inadvertently swung his stick and cut Jimmy Carson on the chin only 1 minute 13 seconds after Paul Fenton, taking the Kings’ first shot of the third period, scored on a breakaway at 16:47 to cut the Flames’ lead to 5-4.

But only a few seconds after Coach Robbie Ftorek pulled goaltender Glenn Healy to give the Kings a two-man advantage, Perry Berezan of the Flames stepped in front of a shot from the right point by Bob Carpenter.

The puck eventually found its way to the Flames’ Gary Suter, whose 140-foot shot into an empty net at 19:26 provided the final margin.

It seemed to be a questionable shot by Carpenter in that situation, but Ftorek declined to question his center’s judgement.

“A shot from the point is not a bad play as long as he gets it through,” Ftorek said. “Bobby thought he could get it through. It’s unfortunate, but Bobby made a decision he thought was right. It turned out the other guy (Berezan) made a better decision on it.”

Carpenter said he was attempting to fire the puck off the end boards.

“When it hit him, I was so surprised,” Carpenter said. “I tried to shoot it to the side of him. He must have come at an angle because he did not stay in the same position as when I put my head down to shoot.”

If the Kings had scored, they would have opened the overtime period with a three-minute manpower advantage.

And of course, they might have been able to steal a victory in a game they never led.

Healy didn’t face anything near the all-out assault that Rollie Melanson experienced Wednesday night during the Flames’ 9-2 rout in Game 1.

Still, the Kings fell behind early, giving up two goals in the first 9:49.

A shot from the top of the slot by Suter at 5:06 was re-directed by Joe Nieuwendyk but stopped by Healy. The rebound, though, kicked out to Paul Reinhart, who was stationed to the right of the net.

With Calgary enjoying a manpower advantage because of a holding penalty against Luc Robitaille, Reinhart scored easily to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

Joe Mullen, with a determined second effort, made it 2-0 at 9:49. After taking a pass at the red line from John Tonelli, Mullen skated down the left side and blew past King defenseman Dean Kennedy, who returned to the lineup after sitting out two weeks with a groin injury.

Mullen’s shot was stopped by Healy, but Healy was unable to glove the puck, which kicked out to the right side. Mullen jumped over Healy to get it and, with his back to the fallen Healy, fell to the ice as he back-handed a shot into the unprotected net.

Asked later to evaluate his team’s goaltending, Ftorek said: “Not good enough because we don’t have any wins.”

Taylor cut the Flames’ lead to 2-1 at 15:13 of the first period, lifting a rebound over goaltender Mike Vernon.

The Flames, though, increased their advantage to 4-1 by scoring twice in a span of 81 seconds in the second period.

At 3:24, with Kennedy in the penalty box for high-sticking Lanny McDonald, Joel Otto scored a power-play goal for the Flames, taking a pass in the middle of the slot from Al MacInnis and firing a shot that caromed off Fenton’s skate and skipped off Healy into the net.

At 4:45, Gary Roberts stole the puck at the Kings’ blue line from defenseman Tom Laidlaw, carried it into the left circle and slid a pass through the slot behind Laidlaw and Ken Baumgartner to Tim Hunter, whose chip shot from the right side put the Flames three goals ahead.

Back came the Kings, though.

Carson scored at 15:34, taking a pass from Robitaille, who emerged from the penalty box in time for Bernie Nicholls to feed him a pass as he skated down the left side. Robitaille slid a pass under the diving Suter and through the slot to Carson, who lifted a shot into the net.

Chris Kontos cut the Kings’ deficit to 4-3 at 19:17, scoring on a rebound of a shot by Bob Carpenter during a 4-on-4 situation that was created by Bob Bourne, who was tripped by Tonelli after gaining possession of the puck during a Calgary power play.

A 30-foot shot by Tonelli from the right circle increased the Flames’ lead to 5-3 at 9:00 of the third period.

King Notes

In the first two games of the series, the Kings have used eight players--forwards Paul Fenton, Lyle Phair, Chris Kontos and Paul Guay, defensemen Ken Baumgartner, Eric Germain and John English and goaltender Glenn Healy--who had never played in an NHL playoff game. . . . Making the playoffs is worth $3,000 per player. Winning a first-round series is worth an additional $3,000 a player.