Birthday Boy Gretzky, 29, Tries to Skate Out of Slump : Hockey: Lemieux a point back in scoring race. Coach prescribes rest, but Great One says he’ll work harder.

The Great One turned 29 years old today, and he’s looking more like The Tired One these days.

Wayne Gretzky admits it, but he says he’s not over the hill.

“Everybody gets a little bit tired,” Gretzky said. “I’ve just got to play that much harder and work my way out of it.”

Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings came to Edmonton Thursday night to play his former Oilers teammates, and he did not look like the same No. 99 who became the NHL’s all-time leading scorer earlier this season.

The man widely considered hockey’s greatest player is worn out, on the ice and off. He seems frustrated and is losing his grip on the NHL scoring lead as Mario Lemieux closes in.

In a wide-open game Thursday night in which the Kings lost 7-6 to the Oilers, Gretzky did not get a single point.

He also was shut out Tuesday night in Vancouver and even in the high-scoring NHL All-Star game Sunday in Pittsburgh.

“I’ve played a lot of hockey,” Gretzky said. “But I’ve played a lot of hockey over the years. I’m going to have a couple of off-nights. I’m going to have times where I’m not going to play 100%, but you’ve just got to play through it.”

Lemieux had a goal and three assists Thursday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Detroit 5-3, cutting Gretzky’s lead in the NHL scoring race to one point, 98-97.

Kings Coach Tom Webster said there’s no doubt Gretzky has lost some of his zip because of the amount of ice time he’s put in.

“It’s taken its toll,” Webster said. “That’s why in the early going (Thursday night) I was trying to get four lines out there as much as possible to save him. But when you’re killing that many penalties, it’s tough. And he plays the power play on top of it.

“He plays a lot of hockey. That’s why I’ve got to start getting four lines going now, to try and get him as much of a rest as possible.”

Gretzky said he would worry if he wasn’t getting any chances. But he had plenty of opportunities in the 3-3 tie against Vancouver on Tuesday night.

“I’m really disappointed in myself tonight,” he said then.

Dealt to Los Angeles in August, 1988, in one of the biggest deals in sports history, Gretzky has continued to have some of his most emotional moments on his old stomping grounds.

He dominated last year’s All-Star game in Edmonton.