Kings’ Slide on Ice Continues Against Whalers, 6-3

Kevin Dineen, the talented, young Hartford Whaler who has been slumping since last season, looked nothing less than brilliant Saturday night as he broke out with not just his first goal but two more after that for a hat trick in a 6-3 victory over the Kings.

Noting the crowd of 15,535 at the Civic Center--the first sellout of the season and, with some newly constructed seating areas the Whalers’ biggest crowd in history--Dineen said: “Let’s face it, the (Kings) brought the fans in tonight, but maybe now we’ll start winning some fans back. It’s getting colder out there. It’s hockey season. Maybe I’ll start getting hot.”

And Whaler teammate Scott Young said: “I know (Wayne) Gretzky fires up his own team, but he also fires up the guys he plays against, too. We were excited to play against him. Especially the younger guys. I was all fired up. Gretzky gets you going.”

Considering the Kings’ dismal effort, it was generous of the Whalers to be speaking of Los Angeles and its leader in such respectful tones.

Without laughing.

It got so bad Saturday night that the game ended with the Kings skating with three players to the Whalers’ five as a result of a slashing call against goalie Kelly Hrudey followed by a roughing call against Hrudey. Followed by--after the final buzzer--a 10-minute misconduct against Gretzky for throwing his stick and a 10-minute game misconduct for whatever he had to say about it.

With all the fights, the game dragged on, and the Kings ended with a total of 87 penalty minutes, more than double their previous high this season.

The Kings were assessed three bench minor penalties, two for too many players on the ice and one because Bernie Nicholls refused to go directly to the penalty box after a high-sticking call.

The Kings dropped under .500 for the first time since the spring of 1988, and the Whalers went over .500 for the first time since January of 1988.

The Kings will take a 7-8-0 record into Buffalo for a game tonight against the Sabres.

The loss to the Whalers was downright embarrassing.

In the midst of all that venting of frustration, the Kings were outshot, 33-23, and went one for eight on the power play while giving up four power-play goals on 11 chances.

King Coach Tom Webster said: “We’re all getting to the (frustration) point right now with the way we’ve been playing. It certainly hasn’t been fun . . . It just gets more frustrating each day . . .

“The difference in tonight’s game was the specialty units. They capitalized on our power play. They’re strong, they go to the front of the net, they get their shots through. We’re on the outside getting shots, but then we’ve got nobody to pick up any rebounds. . . .

“You can see what happened at the end of the game. You take unnecessary penalties and you do things out of character.”

Webster was sitting with his coaches in a quiet room adjacent to a quiet room full of Kings after the game. He said he really hadn’t said much to the team.

“There’s only so many times you can yell. There’s only so much you can do as a coach. . . . This is not the time to look at everyone else. Look at yourself. If you’re a goal scorer, score goals. If you’re a banger, bang. If you’re a grinder, grind. Do what got you here.”

Which is exactly what Dineen finally did.

Dineen had missed the first five games of the season with back spasms and a subsequent adverse reaction to medication. He had been back for 10 games, in which he had just six assists.

He was concerned that Whaler fans would think that he was being complacent after signing a four-year contract for $500,000 a year. Dineen didn’t want anyone saying that he was taking the money and sitting back.

Well, they won’t be saying that now.

The 25-year-old right winger, who led the Whalers in scoring last year, found the form he had before trailing off toward the end of the season.

Dineen’s first goal was his first in 10 games dating to last season, a season in which he had 45 goals and 89 points to lead the Adams Division.

Dineen also led his team in power-play goals last season with 20. Against the Kings, he had two power-play goals. Dineen and Young had given the Whalers a 2-0 lead before Nicholls scored off a pass from Gretzky in the first period.

Steve Duchesne tied it off a pass from Nicholls early in the second period on the Kings’ only power play. But Dineen’s second-power play goal, after a tripping call on Duchesne, put the Whalers up again.

John Tonelli gave the Kings their final goal at 12:51 of the second period, falling to his knees in the slot as he fired the shot past goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz.

It wasn’t so bad when Pat Verbeek scored to give the Whalers a one-goal lead less than a minute later, but when Dineen scored his third goal--shorthanded and with six seconds to play in the second period--that was deflating. Dineen had lost defenseman Larry Robinson and was all alone in front of Hrudey.

The Kings didn’t score in the third period.

Although Mike Liut is one of the league’s best goaltenders at the moment, the Whalers started Sidorkiewicz against the Kings.

No problem for Sidorkiewicz.

Whaler Coach Rick Ley said: “I thought we played very well. You have to play well to beat a team with that talent . . . They have a little bit of everything. That’s a pretty good hockey team. But we showed grit. Our role players made a great showing. We showed the L.A. Kings that we can play.”

King Notes

Wayne Gretzky played 35 minutes 37 seconds Saturday night, a long stretch. . . . The Whalers have won five of their last six. . . . Kevin Dineen’s father, Bill, is a former Whaler coach. . . . Although goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz had a record of 1-4-0 and a 5.00 goals-against average going into Saturday night’s game, he is 2-0 against the Kings through last season.