Nicholls’ Stick Taken Away, but He Scores 3 as Kings Win

The Philadelphia Flyers stole Bernie Nicholls’ favorite stick Tuesday night. They asked the officials to take it away from him and they did.

Nicholls was not pleased with this “theft,” as he saw it, and put his second-most favorite stick to work by scoring his second hat trick of the season while leading the Kings to a 6-1 victory at the Spectrum.

The sellout crowd of 17,423 was frustrated by the Kings, who earned a rare victory here and killed 8 of 9 Flyer power plays. The fans were also angry with the Flyers, who played an uninspired and uncharacteristic game with key players out of the lineup.

The Kings, however, were primed for the game, taking an early 2-0 lead behind 2 goals by defenseman Steve Duchesne. Luc Robitaille scored in the second period to make it 3-1, and then Nicholls went on a run of 3 goals in a 3-minute 17-second stretch in the third period.

Nicholls’ run-in over his stick may have sparked his late-game surge. The Flyers were in the midst of their fourth power play in the first period when the officials, at the request of the Flyers, asked to examine Nicholls’ stick. They discovered the blade was too wide--too high from top to bottom.

That penalty, which also carries a $200 fine, gave Philadelphia a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Kings snuffed that out in impressive fashion, especially given that the Flyers’ power play had been second in the league going into Tuesday night’s game. The Kings are third in penalty-killing.

Nicholls was surprised the stick was questioned, particularly so early in the game. Calling for a stick measurement is considered a last-ditch ploy, one that can backfire.

If the Flyers had been wrong, and the stick had shown a legal measurement, they would have lost a player and, in this case, negated their man advantage.

For his part, Nicholls suspected foul play. He suggested that a Flyer spy had infiltrated the Kings’ locker room during the pregame skate and measured his stick on the sly.

“They took my stick, they stole it earlier,” Nicholls said. “That’s the stupidest rule. I know it was just a hair over. It was my favorite stick.”

Maybe so, but Nicholls adjusted well to its understudy. In so doing, he also shored up his position as the league’s leading goal scorer.

Other Kings bolstered their statistics--goaltender Glenn Healy, who faced 33 shots, leads the league in wins with 12, and Duchesne’s pair of goals keeps him as the second-leading scorer among defensemen.

The Kings (14-7) have won 7 of their last 8 games and moved into sole possession of second place in the Smythe Division, 3 points behind the Calgary Flames. The Flyers (9-13-1) are tied for third in the Patrick Division.

King Coach Robbie Ftorek was pleased with the win in a notoriously tough arena.

“When you come into Philadelphia, it’s a game of its own,” Ftorek said. “We played a good game tonight, as good as we’ve played all season. But remember they are a better team than they had out there. Some of their guys are missing.”

Ron Sutter, Dave Poulin and Ilkka Sinisalo are injured for the Flyers.

It was clear almost from the start of Tuesday night’s game that the Flyers weren’t all there. The first shot of the game could have served as an omen to the Flyers--or a sign of glad tidings for the Kings. Wayne Gretzky’s first shot on goal, and the first shot of the game, did not go into the net, but the red-goal light swiveled around, stunning the crowd. It was an inadvertent light, but it stunned the Flyers, too.

What else could describe Philadelphia’s reaction to the Kings’ onslaught in the early going?

Los Angeles scored first, at 13:20 in the first period. The goal came at the end of power play No. 2 for the Flyers and caught them in a line change.

Ron Duguay carried the puck toward the Flyers’ zone then peeled off and passed to John Tonelli. He gave it to Duchesne, who shot the puck between Philadelphia goaltender Ron Hextall’s legs.

Duchesne’s second goal was short-handed and set up by the same two players. He lured Hextall out of the crease and tapped the puck easily into the net.

“It’s a great feeling,” Duchesne said. “Everybody is just so confident now. Even if we make a big mistake we know we will come back.”

King Notes

The Kings play at Detroit tonight. . . . King defenseman Dean Kennedy played his first game since suffering a concussion Nov. 10. He missed 4 games. . . . Bernie Nicholls’ hat trick was the 12th of his career. . . . Doug Crossman, acquired from the Flyers on Sept. 29, was roundly booed each time he touched the puck. “I expected it,” he said. “There’s a lot of orange and black blood up there.” . . . The Kings last beat the Flyers on March 19, 1987, 5-2.