Reinforcements Give Kings a 5-4 Win : Hockey: Allison, Krushelnyski return to combine for winning goal against Canadiens.

Mike Allison, recently returned from conditioning with the Kings’ minor league club in New Haven, Conn., and Mike Krushelnyski, back for his first game since breaking his wrist in the season opener, worked together Saturday night to give the Kings the winning goal in a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Krushelnyski, who scored earlier when the Kings seemed to be in control, fumbled the pass that Allison sent to him from behind the net, but he managed to pull it in and send it back to Allison, just to the left of the Canadien net, for a quick shot past Montreal goaltender Patrick Roy with under six minutes remaining.

The victory broke the Kings’ four-game losing streak and saved them from the humiliation of losing a three-goal lead and the game for the second straight time. Mats Naslund, Russ Courtnall and Stefane Richer scored three quick goals for the Canadiens in the third period to tie the game, 4-4, and set the stage for a rerun of the Kings’ collapse Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames.

“If we had lost another game like that, I think we would have started to doubt ourselves,” Allison said. “We’ve been struggling, but this time we fought back. We didn’t let it slip away.”

The Kings had not won at home since beating Detroit in their first home stand. The long-awaited victory earned a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum.

The Kings (8-10-0) moved into a third-place tie with the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division.

Montreal could have taken sole possession of first place in the Adams Division with a victory. But they remained in a tie with Buffalo at 11-8-2.

Montreal Coach Pat Burns said: “We are not the same team we used to be. There are (five) guys who were in our lineup last year--Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Brian Skrudland, Mike McPhee and Claude Lemieux--who are not with us now. Everybody is talking about beating a big team like Montreal. Look on the other side. There’s a lot of talent there.

“They’ve got more scoring power than we’ll ever have. They are a time bomb waiting to go off. And when they do--look out.”

One of Burns’ former players--Robinson--signed with the Kings in July.

But Robinson did not prove to be the difference Saturday night. It was Krushelnyski, back on a line with Allison and Wayne Gretzky, a combination that worked well last season.

Gretzky said: “Mike Krushelnyski is a real good hockey player. . . . We miss him when he’s not in the lineup.”

King Coach Tom Webster said: “Having Mike back gives us the depth we need with three lines. That line played together last year and I felt I had to get them together again to generate some offense.

“It was important to get Mike back, and it was also important that (goaltender Mario) Gosselin got a big win for us.”

Gosselin was thrilled that the Kings backed him with five goals. “We got five goals tonight against the best defensive team in hockey,” Gosselin said.

“I have played against them, maybe, 20 times, but this was the first time with the Kings. It was very good to get the win. It was good to win the first time I played for the fans here in the Forum. It was good because the game was on TV back in Canada, and it was the first time for my mother to see me play for the Kings.”

Needless to say, he was very happy with Allison’s goal.

“When it was 4-1, I got excited for the game to be over, and I lost my concentration a bit, but I never lost belief that they could score more goals,” he said. “I knew we still had 10 minutes to go. . . . This was a big game. After losing four straight, to beat a team as good as Montreal? This was a big game.”

The Kings took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Luc Robitaille and Krushelnyski, and increased the lead to 3-0 in the second on a goal by Bob Kudelski before the Canadiens scored their first goal.

Gretzky, who leads the NHL in scoring with 35 points, had assists on the Kings’ first three goals.

Gretzky was double-shifting. He was skating on the Allison-Krushelnyski line and, at times, in place of Steve Kasper on the line with Kudelski and John Tonelli.

Gretzky set up the first goal when he took a pass from Bernie Nicholls along the right side boards and sent a centering pass to Robitaille, who shot the puck past Roy.

On the second goal, Gretzky passed the puck to Steve Duchesne for a slapshot through the slot that Krushelnyski tipped in.

On the third goal, Gretzky sent the puck out front to Kudelski.

Montreal’s first goal, at 15:44 of the second period, was the result of a nice feed from Shayne Corson, a no-look pass that he sent behind his back to Courtnall for the scoring shot from the right circle.

Robitaille scored his second goal at 18:50 of the second period, beating Roy with a breakaway shot that went between Roy’s pads as he dropped to his knees.

King Notes

King General Manager Rogie Vachon said that he received a phone call from Montreal’s general manager, Serge Savard, asking if the Kings would be interested in retired defenseman Rick Green if Green were to make a comeback. Vachon is not counting out the possibility, but, he said, “It would depend on what they were asking for him.” Green, 33, played six seasons with Washington and seven seasons with Montreal before retiring. Unlike Brian Benning, an offensive-minded defenseman who joined the Kings from St. Louis Friday, Green is a traditional defenseman.