Welcome Mat Missing as Blues Rebuff Kings

Regardless of how inviting the destination may be, there’s a certain amount of peril built into any trip that begins with a visit to the in-laws.

And although it would be grossly unfair to blame the Joneses of Bridgeton, Mo., for the Kings’ 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues Tuesday night, nonetheless it was not a happy night for their son-in-law, Wayne Gretzky, and his teammates on the first leg of what could have been a pleasure cruise.

Gretzky went without a point for only the fourth game this season, and the Kings could never catch up against a team they had dispatched with ease less than a week before in Los Angeles.

The Blues, who had gone three months without beating anybody in the Kings’ division, the Smythe, and had only won once in their last six games, period, scored the only two goals of the third period to throw an immediate snag into the Kings’ itinerary.

Not long after Luc Robitaille launched a rolling puck off a Gretzky feed that tap-danced along the goal line but never crossed it, Tony Hrkac jammed home a rebound past King goalie Mark Fitzpatrick at 12:24 of the third period, one of three goals the Blues scored from point-blank range but the only one of 17 shots to escape Fitzpatrick in the final period.

That gave St. Louis a 4-2 lead, and Herb Raglan added an empty-net goal with 36 seconds left to complete the night’s frustration for the visitors. Even the normally unflappable Gretzky was seen throwing a forearm at the back of St. Louis’ Doug Evans.

Evans thought nothing of it, but teammate Gordie Roberts couldn’t resist taking a verbal jab.

“I think Gretzky’s got to realize checkers have a job to do, too,” Roberts said. “We’re not fans. We’re not going to sit and watch him do whatever he wants to do.

“We respect what he’s done. He has to respect what we do.”

Then again, Roberts allowed, maybe Gretzky doesn’t.

“He has a way of getting the last laugh,” acknowledged Roberts.

With consecutive games against three struggling teams--the Blues, the New York Islanders, and the Hartford Whalers--the Kings, who had been unbeaten in five games, figured to fatten up on this trip, at least until next Tuesday, when they visit the Washington Capitals, the first-place team in the Patrick Division.

Instead, they received a rude reminder that no one likes to be considered a soft touch--especially in front of the home fans, in this case, 17,408 at the St. Louis Arena, including 18 guests of Gretzky and his wife, Janet Jones.

“We have to realize that every team wants to beat us,” said Gretzky, who had a stiff back even before he picked up a St. Louis shadow, Rick Meagher.

“The way we’ve played so far this season, we’ve had some success, we’ve gained some respect. Now there are no off-nights.”

The Kings fell behind, 2-0, on first-period goals by Peter Zezel and Gino Cavallini.

Steve Duchesne got one of those back with his 16th goal at 1:57 of the second period, when he worked a pretty give-and-go with Igor Liba on a power play.

But St. Louis took a two-goal advantage again when Todd Ewen slid a backhand pass to Tony McKegney for a short putt past Fitzpatrick at 12:24 of the period.

Bernie Nicholls made it 3-2 at 16:01 with his 46th goal of the season, when he snapped a shot over the shoulder of Blue goaltender Vincent Riendeau on the short side. The goal, in Nicholls’ 46th game, kept alive the center’s hope of joining the select few who have scored 50 goals in 50 games or fewer.

Maurice (Rocket) Richard was the first to do it, in 1945. Gretzky has done it three times and Mike Bossy and Jari Kurri once each, and Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh is a goal away from doing so, too.

“It would be a great thrill to be one of five guys in the history of the game (to get 50 in 50),” Nicholls said. “And if you’re scoring goals, you’re helping the team. That’s the bottom line.”

The bottom line Tuesday, however, was that there would be no more scoring for the Kings. Riendeau, who made 30 saves, saw to that, with a little help on Robitaille’s line-hugger.

“I talked to the goal judge. He said it was half in and half out for sure,” Robitaille said. “We had a lot of chances. It was just one of those nights.”