Gretzky, Kings Fall Short, 3-2, in Minnesota

Bernie Nicholls scored what could have, would have, maybe even should have been the tying goal for the Kings on a power play that Coach Robbie Ftorek and goalie Glenn Healy had waited all night to spring on the Minnesota North Stars.

But because an apparent goal by Wayne Gretzky earlier had been disallowed after officials ruled that he had put the puck in the net with his skate, not his stick, it was just another goal for the league’s leading goal-scorer.

Nicholls’ goal made it close, but the North Stars won the game, 3-2, Saturday night at the Met Center.

The Kings finished their trip with a record of 3-2 and an overall record of 21-12-1.

The North Stars, who had not won in their last 5 games, were overjoyed to squeak past the Kings and raise their record to 10-16-6.

Only once before this season had the Kings been held to 2 goals and had Gretzky been held scoreless, and that was a game the Kings lost at Vancouver, 5-2.

The television replay seemed to back up Gretzky’s contention that although the puck did hit his skate as he broke toward the goal, with 8 minutes 51 seconds left in the game and the North Stars up by 2 goals, it bounced off his skate, and he used his stick to put it in the net.

Gretzky argued in vain with the officials, who finally ruled no goal.

Gretzky said: “(Referee Dave) Newell said that he was blocked and didn’t see it. The linesmen stated to me that they weren’t 100% sure, but they thought it went off my skate. I don’t think they should make the call if they’re not 100% sure. But it’s one of those things. It’s a judgment call.

“That’s not what cost us the game.”

There was another argument to be made--that even if the puck did go off his skate, as he was striding full-speed toward the goal, he had not kicked or directed it in. A puck that glances off a skate, without the help of the person wearing the skate, is still a goal.

Ftorek discussed the call with Jim Christison, a supervisor of officials, after the game. And owner Bruce McNall of the Kings suggested that maybe it is time for the Board of Governors to institute some use of instant replay.

After Gretzky’s goal was disallowed and the Kings were still down, 3-1, with time running out, they went to their ace in the hole. They challenged the width of goalie Kari Takko’s stick.

Healy, who was not in the nets for the Kings Saturday night, still found a way to contribute. During the pregame warm-ups, he eyed Takko’s stick, concluded that it was illegal and told Ftorek.

It was up to Ftorek when to make the challenge. He asked for the stick to be checked at 13:52 of the third period, and Healy was right. The North Stars were hit with a 2-minute penalty.

Nicholls scored with just 12 seconds left in the power play, getting an unassisted goal on a slapshot from the left circle at 15:40.

That left the Kings with more than 4 minutes to score the tying goal, and they had plenty of chances but didn’t convert.

Gretzky took a pretty good shot at Takko out of a face-off with 8 seconds left on the clock, and the rebound bounced out invitingly. But North Star defenseman Curt Giles cleared the puck from in front of the goal, and the Minnesota victory was saved.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the Kings’ rookie goalie, took the loss after facing 46 shots.

“I thought the goaltenders on both sides did a good job,” Gretzky said. “A lucky bounce here or there could have made the difference. But I don’t think we played as well as we could have . . .

“I think this game was a little bit of a learning experience for us. Last night (in a 6-4 victory at Detroit), it was like a playoff atmosphere. We have to learn that we can’t have any kind of a letdown. . . . Every game is a pressure game for us. The other teams are all up for us. We don’t get a night off.

“Minnesota didn’t get off to a good start, and we beat them earlier. But that didn’t mean we could come in here and it would happen again. I think that’s a good lesson for us.”

Minnesota had not won in its last 5 games.

The North Stars have not scored on a power play in their last 9 games, but they have scored 5 short-handed goals during that time. Against the Kings, all of their goals were at even strength; they were 0 for 3 on power-play opportunities.

The Kings, who are not a particularly good power-play team, either, scored both of their goals on power plays.

Luc Robitaille gave the Kings a 1-0 lead just 1:24 into the game after Musil was called for holding. Dave Taylor shot the puck toward the net, and Nicholls passed it across the front of the net to Robitaille, who poked it in.

That lead held until the start of the second period when, at 2:01, the puck bounced high and Marc Habscheid knocked it down for the goal that evened the game at 1-1. At 9:42, the North Stars took a 2-1 lead when Bob Brooke took a pass from Neal Broten, skated at Fitzpatrick from the left and shot the puck between Fitzpatrick’s legs.

Takko had to make some great saves to protect the North Stars’ lead in the second period, even though the North Stars outshot the Kings, 21-11. For the game, the North Stars outshot the Kings, 46-34.

Brian Bellows gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead just 2:42 into the third period, skating at Fitzpatrick from the left side and putting the puck into the right side off the net.

King Notes

Dale DeGray, who suffered a slight concussion in the Kings’ game at Detroit Friday night, sat out Saturday night, although he said he was feeling fine. . . . Dennis Maruk played for the North Stars for the first time since he broke his kneecap last Feb. 20. . . . North Star defenseman Frantisek Musil suffered a broken foot when he got in the way of a shot by Bernie Nicholls. . . . Wayne Gretzky, his mother, his sister and an aunt returned to Los Angeles on owner Bruce McNall’s plane right after the game Saturday night because Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones, is expected to give birth within the next day or 2. Ultrasound tests have the Gretzkys expecting a girl.