STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : A SLIVER OF HOPE : Kings Will Need a Miracle Finish to Overcome 3-0 Lead by Calgary

There is precedent to cite, miracle comebacks to conjure up to prove that it can be done.

During the 1942 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost the first three games of their seven-game series but came back to win four straight to take the series from Detroit. And during the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Islanders lost their first three games, then won four straight to beat Pittsburgh.

So it’s not impossible for the Kings to think that they can rally from this three-games-to-none hole they’ve dug for themselves. It’s not impossible for them to win the last four games and beat the Calgary Flames for the Smythe Division title.

It’s just improbable.

As Wayne Gretzky left the chill of the Kings’ Culver City practice rink after a team workout Sunday, he paused in the noon sun on Sepulveda Boulevard just long enough to put the situation in perspective for the ever-growing media contingent following the Kings.

“It’s the same as in the Edmonton series, when nobody expected us to come back,” Gretzky said. “If we win (Game 4), it’s 3-1 and all of a sudden we’re in the same position we were in before.

“On the other side of it, though, we’re playing a pretty good hockey team that definitely wants to win the Stanley Cup.”

When he had been asked, the night before, if the Kings could match the comebacks of ’42 and ‘75, he had said that the Flames were a little better team than the teams involved in those series.

It was not by accident that the Flames accumulated 117 points in the regular season (54 victories, 9 ties in 80 games).

It’s not a terrible disgrace to lose to this team, although it is surprising to see the Kings going down 1-2-3. And 4?

“I hate where we are right now,” Gretzky said. “But I think we should remember that we have come a long way and done a lot of good things this season. I think we should be proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Then he added: “We still have a long way to go.”

King Notes

Tonight’s game will be televised at 7:30 by Prime Ticket and broadcast by KLAC (570). If the Kings win, Game 5 will be played Wednesday night at Calgary. . . . The highlight of Sunday morning’s practice was a shot by Marty McSorley that was hard enough to break the glass. . . . Steve Duchesne was really being optimistic Sunday morning. When someone said, “Four to go?” Duchesne said with a smile: “Twelve to go to the Stanley Cup.”