Mistakes Prove Costly to Kings, Who Lose, 5-3

King defenseman Larry Robinson knew there would be nights like this.

Acquired from the Montreal Canadiens to shore up the defense, Robinson had two giveaways that led to back-to-back New York Islander goals in the Kings’ 5-3 loss Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum.

“I didn’t do my job,” Robinson said. “I’ll shoulder the blame for this one, that’s what I’m here for, to keep the goals from going in the net. I should know better.”

After his first giveaway, which led to a goal by Pat LaFontaine, Robinson made another bad play resulting in the Islanders’ fourth goal.

Randy Wood stole the puck from Robinson in the corner, went around the net and fired a shot. Brent Sutter got the rebound and beat goalie Kelly Hrudey to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead.

“I played (Wood) too easy in the corner,” Robinson said. “You’ve got to do the simple things, and I didn’t play my man. I was at fault, plain and simple.”

Trailing by three goals, the Kings scored twice to get back into the game. But Islander goalie Mark Fitzpatrick stopped two point-blank shots by Luc Robitaille in the final 30 seconds, before LaFontaine added an empty-net goal with one second left.

“We can’t give up easy goals like that early on in the game and expect to fight back from 4-1,” Robinson said. “We could have easily pulled it out, and they’d forget all about the two that I gave away. We all make mistakes, and I made two big ones.”

Is Robinson, 38, too old to play as well as he did in Montreal, where he was one of the NHL’s best defensemen?

“I hope not,” Robinson said. “It’s not a question of fatigue. I wish it was because at least I’d have an excuse. There’s no excuses.”

While Robinson accepted the blame for the loss, a couple of former Kings played big roles as the Islanders (16-21-4) beat the Kings (20-16-4) for the second time.

Defenseman Doug Crossman, the player-to-be-named in the trade that sent Hrudey to the Kings, scored twice to lead the Islanders to their seventh victory in eight games.

Crossman has played well for the Islanders, scoring 30 points on seven goals and 23 assists, third best on the team.

Was Crossman angry that the Kings didn’t protect him?

“I wouldn’t say I was mad,” Crossman said. “I didn’t understand what was happening all year last year. They had about 35 players in and out of the lineup and there was no cohesiveness. Everybody was surviving on their own. It was pretty mixed up last year.”

Wayne Gretzky thinks the Kings miss Crossman.

“He’s a good hockey player,” Gretzky said. “Unfortunately it didn’t work out last year for us. We knew how good a hockey player he is. But he didn’t seem to get enough ice time. We miss him.”

The Kings also miss Fitzpatrick.

Sent to the Islanders in the Hrudey deal, Fitzpatrick made 33 saves to get his second victory against the Kings since the trade.

He saved his best stops for the final minute when the Kings lifted Hrudey for an extra attacker.

“He made two great saves, there’s nothing I can say,” Robitaille said. “I shot and two of them he stopped with his glove. He’s a great goaltender. In any other game these two would go in. But I guess we weren’t due to win.

“He had an unbelievable game. That last save I still don’t know how he made it. He was really into his game.”

Said Fitzpatrick of his saves on Robitaille: “I don’t know if they were great saves. They were lucky saves. A couple of times I was down and out on my back and I was fortunate to put my arms up and deflect them.”

Once again, the Kings started slowly.

Trailing 1-0 after Crossman scored on a rebound at 4:01 of the first period, the Kings tied it, 1-1, when right wing Bob Kudelski scored on a backhander.

But the Islanders scored twice against Mario Gosselin. Crossman scored his second goal at 7:18 on a shot from just inside the blue line as a defenseman screened Gosselin.

LaFontaine, the NHL’s co-leader in goals, got his 35th goal at 13:04 of the first period after Pat Flatley striped Robinson of the puck.

King Coach Tom Webster pulled Gosselin, who gave up three goals on 11 shots, and inserted Hrudey at the start of the second period.

But Hrudey didn’t have a chance after Robinson gave away the puck to Wood, who set up Sutter’s goal at 4:07 of the second period.

The Kings, who outshot the Islanders in the final two periods, 27-9, came back as defenseman Brian Benning scored an unassisted goal at 8:07 of the second period and former Islander John Tonelli scored a power-play goal 35 seconds into the third period.

But Fitzpatrick held off the Kings.

“Fitzpatrick stood on his head,” said King center Steve Kasper.

King Notes

Goalie Glenn Healy, one of six former Kings on the Islanders, thinks the Kings are too quick to give up on players. “I don’t want to be critical, but they gave up on a lot of the players,” Healy said. “They gave up on Mark (Fitzpatrick) and they gave up on me. We appreciate all the points we can get, but to get two points from Los Angeles is even better. It’s kind of like we baked a cake and Los Angeles was the icing on the top.” . . . King center Wayne Gretzky, who was scheduled to appear on the “Today Show” this morning, canceled because of a scheduling conflict. . . . The Kings play the New Jersey Devils Thursday at East Rutherford, N.J.