Oilers End Two King Streaks : Hockey: A seven-game unbeaten string and a four-game winning skein at Forum are stopped in Edmonton’s 7-6 victory.

When asked, on the eve of Thursday night’s game, if it seemed to be getting easier to play against his former teammates, Wayne Gretzky explained that it is never easy to play the Edmonton Oilers.

“It’s still hard,” Gretzky said. “I think it’s hard for everyone. Every game is like a playoff game. It’s either a one-goal game or a tie game. It’s physical and fast. It’s not easy.”

He was right.

Played before a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum, the ninth sellout of the season, it was a one-point game, a 7-6 victory for the Oilers that included an empty net goal by Edmonton’s Craig Simpson with 53 seconds left and a goal 17 seconds later by the Kings’ Bernie Nicholls.

The loss ended the Kings’ seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) and the team’s four-game winning streak at the Forum.

The Kings’ record dropped to 12-11-1 as they stayed in third place in the Smythe Division. The Oilers’ record improved to 12-10-5 as they stayed in second place, still a point behind first-place Calgary and three points ahead of the Kings.

“It’s a huge, huge win for our hockey team,” Olier Coach John Muckler said. “It’s been great. We’ve won three consecutive games on the road, after losing the first one, and any time you can do that, you must be doing something right.”

King goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who had played such a big role in the team’s strong streak, was trailing by four goals and had given up six goals on 20 shots when he was pulled with 7 minutes 7 seconds to play in the second period.

When Mario Gosselin took over, the Oilers had so dominated the period that the Kings had taken only two shots to that point.

“We certainly let (Kelly) down,” the Kings’ Tom Laidlaw said. “We didn’t help him at all.”

But the Kings did regroup right after that.

It was with Gosselin in goal that the Kings fought back for two quick goals late in the second period to cut the Edmonton lead to 6-4.

Luc Robitaille scored early in the third period to put the Kings within a goal.

“We almost made a game of it in the second half,” King Coach Tom Webster said. “But we had dug ourselves a pretty good hole. We showed some character and fought back, but we couldn’t get out of the hole. . . .Grant Fuhr gave up some goals, but then he just shut the door again. He’s one of the best in the game.”

The way Fuhr saw it, the Kings got a couple of “cheap” goals early, but things worked out down the stretch.

Of the King comeback, Fuhr said: “(John) Tonelli scored and then I gave them a bad one right after that (to Mike Krushelnyski) and I think I got them back in the game. That gave them a little bit of life. We should have won 7-2, but we’ll take 7-6. It’s still a win.”

Robitaille had made it 6-5 with just over 15 minutes to play, and the score didn’t change until the final minute, when Webster pulled Gosselin in favor of an extra attacker and Simpson scored on the empty net. Back it went to a one-goal game, though, when Nicholls poked a loose puck past Fuhr with just 36 seconds to play.

Getting three points for the Kings in his first game with the team was forward Mikko Makela, who said: “Those were lucky points. I never even made a play. But I’ll take them.”

That’s what happens when you play on a line with Gretzky.

Makela was on the ice with Gretzky and Krushelnyski on their first shift, and he scored his first point as a King on their second shift.

Makela, who was acquired Tuesday night in a trade that sent defenseman Ken Baumgartner and center Hubie McDonough to the Islanders, was threatening to match his 20-game total of five points with the Islanders.

It was a tough night for Hrudey, who gave up his first goal just 29 seconds into the game when Mark Messier bounced a puck off Hrudey’s skate that landed in the net.

The Oilers extended the lead to 6-2 in the second period before the change of goaltenders and the start of the Kings’ rally.

Gretzky was in the penalty box for hooking when Simpson scored on the power play at 6:16 of the second period. Petr Klima scored another power play goal for the Oilers on a rebound of a shot by Steve Smith. Muni scored his second goal of the night unassisted to end the game for Hrudey.

Tonelli started the Kings on their comeback at 15:19 with a shot from the left circle, and Krushelnyski followed, just 30 seconds later, with the wrap-around goal to put the Kings back within two. Makela got the assist.

Of Makela, Gretzky said: “I thought he played pretty well, with a great deal of speed. He’ll only get better when he’s more comfortable with the team.”

Makela admitted to being a little nervous in his first outing, “with all these big stars” but he said he and the rest of the team would make it work.

“We have to make it work,” he said. “This could be a good trade for me. You never want to get traded, but I wasn’t going well in New York. I was lucky to get to a team like the Kings.”

King Notes

In a trade of players currently on American Hockey League rosters, the Kings sent Phil Sykes from New Haven to Moncton in exchange for Winnipeg’s Brad Jones. . . . Thursday night’s sellout was the eighth straight for the Kings at the Forum. . . The Kings play at the Forum Saturday night against the New York Rangers and Monday against Khimik, a team from the Soviet Union. . . . The seven-game unbeaten streak that the Kings took into Thursday night’s game was better than any streak last season, when the Kings had three five-game unbeaten streaks