Kings Lose a Battle in Calgary, 11-4

Welcome back, Rollie Melanson. How’s the knee after a couple of weeks off?

That was the least of the King goalie’s worries Monday night. More disturbing was the barrage of pucks that came flying at him in the third period of an 11-4 loss to the Calgary Flames at the Olympic Saddledome.

Melanson said it was “one of those nights when you just try to get out of there with your life.”

With a shrug, he added: “I just barely did that.”

Melanson didn’t get much help from his teammates, but he held steady until the third period. That’s when the Flames took 21 shots and scored a team-record 7 goals, 2 by Jiri Hrdina, who completed the first hat trick of his career.

The sellout crowd of 20,002 delighted in the Kings’ frustration as the Flames avenged a 6-5 overtime loss at the Forum on Oct. 8.

The fans enjoyed the show as Larry Playfair of the Kings expressed his displeasure at being banished to the penalty box late in the game by throwing a box of pucks onto the ice. And they delighted in watching linesman Shane Heyer hitch a ride to the Kings’ bench by holding the shirttail of a very angry Marty McSorley, who had been just been given a 10-minute misconduct for his part in a third-period melee.

While Heyer was discussing the situation with McSorley, King Coach Robbie Ftorek added his opinion. The Kings ended up with a bench misconduct.

In all, it was not a banner night for the Kings, who fell to 4-2. They will take a 2-game losing streak Wednesday to Edmonton, where Wayne Gretzky, Mike Krushelnyski and McSorley will return for the first time.

The Kings lost the last game of their home stand to the Philadelphia FlyersSaturday night when goalie Glenn Healy came under fire in the third period. Melanson--who had not played since the opener against the Detroit Red Wings, when he sprained his left knee--got much the same treatment.

Melanson gave up 3 goals within a 60-second span early in the third period. Brad McCrimmon put in a rebound at 1:01, Hrdina scored on the rebound of a shot by Hakan Loob at 1:36 and Joe Nieuwendyk slapped in a 25-footer at 2:01 to make it 7-3.

Joe Mullen added the Flames’ 8th goal on a power play at 9:17. Then Mark Hunter and Perry Berezan scored within a 7-second span to make it 10-3 with 5:03 left before Bernie Nicholls scored the Kings’ final goal of the game.

Trailing, 10-4, the Kings started to show their frustration with fights, puck-throwing and the airing of opinions.

Hrdina completed his hat trick at 19:05, long after the outcome was decided.

Asked why he had left Melanson in goal, Ftorek said: “When I look at how the goals were scored, I have to consider whether or not it was the goalie’s fault. I have a soft spot for goalies. Just because they are the last line of defense doesn’t mean they have total responsibility for every goal.”

Pulling his notepaper from his pocket, Ftorek said: “We had a 4-on-4 situation off a bad pass from the offensive zone, there was a scramble, a short-handed goal, a rebound shot, another rebound shot, another rebound shot . . .

“If they are goals that a goaltender should, quote unquote, save, that’s one thing. I didn’t think that was the situation.”

Melanson faced 40 shots, and Mike Vernon, starting in goal for the Flames (who had used Rick Wamsley in the loss at the Forum) faced 32 from the Kings.

As usual, the Kings gave up the first goal of the game. Berezan skated at Melanson from the left side and put the puck into the right corner of the net at 3:16. McSorley tied the score with a slapshot from the right face-off circle for a power-play goal at 15:08.

But the Kings didn’t get out of the period with the tie. With 15 seconds left, Gary Roberts flipped a short shot through a crowd in front of the Kings’ net to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. Gretzky tied it, 2-2, with a left-handed slapshot from the left point while the Flames were down by 2 men at 3:05 of the second period.

But Doug Gilmour put the Flames ahead, 3-2, with his first goal of the season, poking in a nice pass from Nieuwendyk on a power play at 5:04. And Hrdina extended the lead to 4-2 when he connected after a series of shots at Melanson.

But Dean Kennedy brought the Kings back within a goal, 4-3, before the period ended.

And then things got crazy.

“We lost, 11-4, and we aren’t that bad a hockey team,” McSorley said. “That’s awful. That’s brutal. That bugs me. . . . If it doesn’t bother you, something’s wrong.

“We played 2 good periods of hockey. That doesn’t mean we’re 1 period away. It means we’re some tough games away. Cohesiveness away. We have to re-evaluate what happened and adjust. We have to take a loss like this as a personal insult. We have to really hate it. We have to sit and let it hurt a little.

“And then we have to come back and rebound in the next game.”

King Notes

Monday night’s game was the second of 8 games between these teams this season. . . . The Kings’ scoring streak of 177 games is the longest current streak in the NHL. . . . King defenseman Jim Hofford was placed on waivers Monday and sent to the team’s New Haven affiliate. . . . King defenseman Ken Baumgartner and Flame left winger Gary Roberts dropped sticks and gloves in the corner and squared off for the first real fight of the Kings’ season near the end of the second period, and then King defenseman Marty McSorley and Flames left winger Tim Hunter tangled in the third period. . . . King defenseman Wayne McBean had to buy 23 tickets to the game Monday night to take care of his family and friends. His father, Bryan, is a Calgary police officer.