Kings Remain in Rut With Tie : Hockey: Los Angeles is 1-6-2 in its last nine games after finishing in a 3-3 deadlock at Vancouver.

The Kings got the first look at their future Tuesday.

It looked a lot like their past.

In their first period since trading Bernie Nicholls to the New York Rangers last Saturday in a bid to shore up their defense, the Kings gave up three goals to the Vancouver Canucks, the second worst team in the NHL.

But then, Tomas Sandstrom, one of the two players obtained in the trade, became acclimated and the Kings came back to salvage a 3-3 tie before a sellout crowd of 16,123 at the Pacific Coliseum.

It’s a start. Sandstrom, playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mikko Makela, contributed one assist.

The other new King, Tony Granato, sat out with a groin injury.

“I thought Tomas played extremely well,” Gretzky said. “He’s got exceptional speed. I think he’s going to create a lot of openings for me. Besides that, he’s a pretty big boy and he plays aggressive.”

The Kings (21-21-6) are ahead of only Vancouver (14-27-9) in the Smythe Division. They had won four of the five previous games against the Canucks, the other also ending in a tie.

The Canucks scored first after Trevor Linden dug the puck out from behind the net. Petri Skriko wound up with it in the slot and the fifth-best goal-scorer in Canuck history put the puck past goalie Kelly Hrudey at 9:05.

The Kings tied the score, 1-1, at 10:25 on a power play.

Gretzky passed to Sandstrom at the blue line. Sandstrom whipped the puck to John Tonelli in the left circle. Tonelli, spotting Brian Benning open near the right post, got the puck to him through two defenders. That left Benning with an easy five-foot shot for his sixth goal. Half of those have come on power plays.

Sandstrom later marveled about playing with Gretzky, the greatest scorer in league history. “I’ve just got to get open,” Sandstrom said, “because he’ll get you the puck. It’s unbelievable to play with a guy like that.

“For sure, I was nervous. It takes a while to get used to playing on a new line.”

At 14:14, Vancouver moved back into the lead after Marty McSorley lost the puck behind the Kings’ net.

Steve Bozek recovered it and slid it to Ronnie Stern in the slot. McSorley skated furiously back to his defensive post, but he got there an instant too late, Stern putting in his first goal of the season in this, his 10th game.

Vancouver added to its lead at 17:16 when Vladimir Krutov, a transplanted Russian who finished second in the Soviet League in scoring last season, got his ninth goal for the Canucks.

He didn’t need much help on this one, carrying the puck across the blue line on the right side before scoring on a rising shot from about 25 feet.

The Kings came back to tie with two second-period goals.

Jay Miller got the first at 3:26 after Vancouver goalie Steve Weeks stopped a backhand shot by Bob Kudelski with his glove. Then came every goalie’s nightmare as Weeks appeared to lose sight of the puck after swatting it up in the air.

Miller, coming in from the right side, had no trouble finding it. Or shoveling it past the helpless Weeks for his sixth goal.

The Kings tied the score when Larry Robinson brought the puck down the left side, passed it to Steve Kasper and then got it back to score from about 20 feet at 11:59, his sixth goal to even the game at 3-3.

That’s the way it ended, thanks in large measure to Weeks, who faced 36 shots. Hrudey faced 25.

Kings Notes

King defenseman Larry Robinson, in the middle of a fight between the two clubs late in the second period, was slapped with a game misconduct, resulting in an automatic ejection at 18:33. . . . Bernie Nicholls, No. 9 with the Kings, will continue to wear that number with the New York Rangers. The number had belonged to Ulf Dahlen in New York, but he gave it up for Nicholls. . . . Wayne Gretzky’s 14-game scoring streak came to an end Tuesday, although he had several chances to keep it going. Gretzky missed on one breakaway. On two other occasions, he made great feeds to teammates, one to Robinson, the other to Marty McSorley. But neither could convert. . . . Both the new Kings, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato, arrived in Vancouver Monday in time to practice with their new teammates. . . . It was hoped that King defenseman Tom Laidlaw would be back on the ice Tuesday night after missing one game with a knee injury. Laidlaw tried skating Monday in practice, found he wasn’t ready and went home for further treatment. . . . Right wing Dave Taylor played Tuesday, making his first appearance since being sidelined with a groin injury 16 games ago. . . . Center Mike Allison missed his fourth game with a back injury.