Kings Are Beaten in Edmonton, 4-1

Although he probably could have used two or three times as many, Edmonton native Kelly Hrudey requested only eight tickets for his debut Friday night as the Kings’ No. 1 goaltender.

“I didn’t want to rock the boat,” he said.

It’s probably just as well because Hrudey and his new teammates were treated rudely by the Edmonton Oilers, who held Wayne Gretzky scoreless and beat the Kings, 4-1, before a crowd of 17,503 at the Northlands Coliseum.

Gretzky, who was held without a shot on goal for the first time this season, has yet to score a goal against his former teammates, and the Kings are 1-4 against the Oilers, their probable first-round opponents in the National Hockey League playoffs, which start in less than six weeks.

Not even the fine play of Hrudey, who was acquired Wednesday in a trade with the New York Islanders, could help the Kings, who haven’t won a regular-season game at Edmonton in more than two years, losing six and tying one since last winning at the Northlands Coliseum on Jan. 7, 1987.

This one started to slip away in the first two minutes, when the Kings were penalized because Coach Robbie Ftorek sent out a different starting lineup than the one that had been announced.

The two-minute bench minor wiped out a power play.

It only got worse for the Kings after that. They gave up two power-play goals and a short-handed goal and failed to score during seven manpower advantages of their own.

Hrudey gave up two goals in the first 10 minutes, including one on a shot that he probably should have saved, and said later that he was so nervous and unsure of himself that he didn’t feel comfortable in his skates.

“It felt like I had foreign objects on my feet,” said Hrudey, who later settled down and made several nice saves while facing 34 shots.

Hrudey, who flew from New York to Los Angeles Wednesday and then from Los Angeles to Edmonton Thursday with his new teammates, appeared anxious even before a low-key practice Friday morning.

“I can’t wait to get this first game over with and start to feel more acclimated,” he said.

Hrudey said it would be wrong for the Kings to think of him as a savior, although Gretzky reportedly helped initiate the trade when he cornered Islander General Manager Bill Torrey at the All-Star game 2 1/2 weeks ago and inquired about the goaltender’s availability.

“I’m just another piece in the puzzle,” Hrudey said. “It’s a team game. Obviously, we’re a highly talented team, but we have to play as a unit and we have to show some chemistry because as I look around the (locker) room, there aren’t a lot of guys who have been in this organization a long time.”

Does he feel pressured?

“Who doesn’t,” said Hrudey, who is expected to provide a missing link for the Kings. “There’s been a lot of hype. As much as you try to block it all out, you can’t. You’re always going to be subject to it.”

Especially now that he’s with the Kings, who have given up more goals than all but two other teams in the league.

Hrudey found out why in a hurry, when Edmonton’s Craig MacTavish stole the puck from King defenseman Steve Duchesne along the right boards in the Kings’ zone. MacTavish fed the puck to Charlie Huddy, whose shot from the top of the left circle deflected off Hrudey’s pad and trickled into the net.

The short-handed goal--Doug Halward was in the penalty box for hooking--gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead just 6 minutes 8 seconds into the game.

Edmonton made it 2-0 at 9:53, again taking advantage of a mistake by the Kings. Actually, it was a pair of mistakes.

First, a bench minor for having too many players on the ice gave the Oilers a power play. Then, Gretzky was unable to control a clearing pass in the Kings’ zone. The puck glanced off his skate and was chased down by the Oilers’ Jimmy Carson, who quickly passed to Esa Tikkanen.

Tikkanen, streaking in from the right side, took the pass, juked Hrudey with a pretty move and tapped a short shot into the net.

That goal, however, made up only part of Tikkanen’s contribution. Described by Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season as the NHL’s premier checker, Tikkanen this time hounded Gretzky, his former linemate, holding him without a point for only the sixth time in 61 games.

How would Gretzky rate him?

“By his performance tonight, he’s got to be one of the best,” Gretzky said. “He shut me down.”

And the Oilers shut down the Kings. The first period ended with the Kings trailing, 2-0, and in serious trouble. Edmonton is 17-0-1 this season in games it has led at the end of the first period.

Dave Taylor finally scored for the Kings at 8:56 of the third period, but that only cut their deficit to 3-1. A power-play goal by Jari Kurri, who scored from in front off a pass by Mark Messier, had given the Oilers a 3-0 advantage at 5:02 of the second period.

King Notes

Glenn Healy, suddenly the Kings’ No. 2 goaltender, on reports that teammate Wayne Gretzky initiated the trade that brought Kelly Hrudey to the Kings from the New York Islanders: “I’m not going to hold it against Wayne. It disappoints me that 25 wins, with (18) games still to go, isn’t enough. But when everything is all cut and dried, if it brings us the Stanley Cup, I’m not really going to mind so much. But it is discouraging.” Only Mike Vernon of the Calgary Flames and Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers have won more games this season than Healy, who is 25-16-2. Mario Lessard established a club record when he won 35 games for the Kings in the 1980-81 season.