Kings Are a Bust in Boston, 4-1, as Key Players Come Up Empty

In their only appearance at Boston Garden this season, before a capacity crowd of 14,448, the Kings were a flop.

Come showtime, they were no-shows, and the Boston Bruins rolled up a 4-1 victory.

Wayne Gretzky, coming off a stellar performance in the All-Star game, took just three shots for the Kings and went 0 for 3. Fellow All-Stars Bernie Nicholls, Luc Robitaille and Steve Duchesne were a combined 0 for 5.

Glenn Healy, one of the winningest goalies in the National Hockey League, gave up his first goal when Greg Johnston swooped behind the net and took the puck off Healy’s stick. Don’t ask what Healy was doing back there with a winger flying at him. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Johnston sent the puck out front to Randy Burridge, who sent his first goal of the game--en route to the first hat trick of his career--into an empty net. He scored his third goal when a shot by John Carter glanced off his skate and went into a true empty net in the final minute. In between, Burridge and Glen Wesley ganged up on Healy for a goal with about 7 minutes left in the third period.

As often happens, Healy just wasn’t getting much help as the Bruins outshot the Kings, 32-19.

The Kings have won just four of their last 18 games. They haven’t won on the road since Dec. 23. Since then, their road record is 0-5-3.

With the loss Thursday night, the Kings’ record fell to 28-22-5. That, along with Edmonton’s victory at Philadelphia, dropped the Kings into third place in the Smythe Division.

Depending upon who was asking, King Coach Robbie Ftorek was either a) not going to say that his team wasn’t sharp, or b) frustrated by the fact that things weren’t clicking. But he was consistent in giving Boston credit for playing a sound game.

Bruin left winger Andy Brickley, in particular, played a good defensive game in shadowing Gretzky, taking over where Steve Kasper, now a King, left off.

Brickley said that Boston Coach Terry O’Reilly told him about two seconds before the game that he “would be on No. 99 most of the night.” Although he shared the duty with Burridge, Brickley said he did most of the work.

Brickley said: “They have some players who seem to force themselves to pass the puck to him. My job was to try to stay close enough to discourage that pass and to keep myself between him and our goalie.”

Gretzky did get one beautiful chance to shoot at Bruin goalie Reggie Lemelin, taking a pass from Bob Kudelski and breaking away for a one-on-one. But when Gretzky made his slow-up deke and Lemelin threw himself on the ice, Gretzky’s attempt to sweep the puck around Lemelin and into the right corner of the net left the puck sitting at the right post next to Lemelin’s left skate.

“I thought I made a good move on him, but he made a pretty good save,” Gretzky said. “He beat me cleanly. He beat me fair and square.”

John Tonelli had given the Kings their only goal at 10:49 of the third period, pulling the Kings within 2-1 and avoiding their first shutout since March 12, 1986. Burridge’s second goal made it 3-1 at 13:03. And Gretzky’s chance came just 19 seconds later.

Healy said: “That was a perfect chance to be right back in the game. Sure, I was hoping he’d put it in. But they’re going to stop him sometimes.”

Healy wasn’t going to single out anyone else for blame. And he was perfectly willing to admit that he blew it on the first goal of the game.

“It was a mistake by me,” Healy said. “I’m human. I make mistakes. But I didn’t let it get my confidence down. I’m moving on. I didn’t think one goal would beat us.

“I thought we’d come back and fire a barrage at Reggie, who’s been struggling, even in the All-Star game. We just weren’t firing on all 20 pistons.”

Healy was among the few Kings who braved the locker room while it was still packed with reporters.

Gretzky tried to make his way through without comment. But, of course, he was stopped and questioned by a swarm of reporters.

“Right now, we’re not a team that knows how to win,” Gretzky said. “We’re not playing the kind of game you have to play to win . . .

“We can’t be sitting in the penalty box. We can’t take those unnecessary penalties. We can’t play a wide-open style all the time. We can’t give up unnecessary goals.”

Healy said: “We have to be more disciplined. We get a little aggressive and teams break back on us. Outmanned situations kill us.”

King Notes

Ron Duguay played Thursday night for the first time since he hit his head on the ice Jan. 31 while he was not wearing a helmet. He wore a helmet Thursday and said he would continue to wear it at least until he was sure that the bruise on his head had healed. . . . Bobby Carpenter, traded from the Kings to the Bruins, has not yet played for Boston. He’s still recovering from the thumb injury he suffered while playing with the Kings against Dynamo Riga on New Year’s Eve. . . . The Kings narrowly averted a shutout. The last time they were shut out on the road was Dec. 12, 1985, at Calgary, and that was against current Bruin goalie Reggie Lemelin, who was then with the Flames.