It Was Fight Night on the Forum Ice : Hockey: Kings and Oilers set NHL record with 85 penalties in game won by L.A., 4-2. Sandstrom suffers broken bone on right side of face in fight that led to both teams being sent to locker rooms to cool off.

Instead of a faceoff to begin Wednesday night’s game between the Kings and the Edmonton Oilers, there should have been an opening bell.

There were more fists flying than pucks and more time in the penalty box than on the ice on a wild, record-setting, fight-marred night at the Forum that proved that the Cold War in the NHL is a long way from over.

The game?

Oh yeah, they did manage to somehow get one in between the blows with the Kings winning, 4-2, on a night better suited for that King named Don.

Before the bitter evening was over, there was blood on the ice from punches thrown in anger by the players and litter thrown on the ice in frustration by the fans.

“Guess that was a physical game, huh?” said King co-interim coach Cap Raeder. “When you see them pull together in a game like this, it can mean a lot to us at this point in the season. Sometimes, something like this can bring a team closer.”

Asked if it hadn’t gotten out of hand, Raeder did concede, “A little bit.”

The bloody totals were: 44 Oiler penalties for 197 minutes and 41 King penalties for 157. That’s a total of 85 penalties, breaking the NHL record of 84 set in a 1981 game between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars.

The King total nearly doubled their club record for most penalties in a game. That was 25, set in 1979 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

There were two major fights before the first two minutes had been played.

There was one fight that involved eight players, and resulted in Tomas Sandstrom going to the hospital, and 42 minutes in penalties handed out. Sandstrom was later said to have a broken bone on the right side of his face. He is out indefinitely.

It got so bad, the officials sent the teams to their locker rooms with 3:22 remaining in the second period for a cooling-off period after the Sandstrom incident.

King observers thought that had happened before in team history, but no one was sure just when.

There were 21 penalties in the first 20 minutes.

The Kings had 10 penalties for 26 minutes, the Oilers 11 for 28 minutes. But nobody was able to take advantage. The Kings were zero for five on the power play in that first period, the Oilers scoreless in three tries.

The Kings had a two-player advantage twice in the period, one for 25 seconds and another for 1:33, but couldn’t convert.

At times, it got almost comical. Marty McSorley and Kelly Buchberger squared off at one point. The Oilers’ Buchberger dropped his glove and took a fighting stance. But McSorley just skated off, leaving Buchberger standing there gloveless as action resumed.

Eventually, between all the whistles and wrestling, a hockey game did break out.

Just as Mike Krushelnyski broke out of the penalty box.

Krushelnyski was serving two minutes for elbowing, a relatively minor offense on this night.

As the power play expired, Jari Kurri attempted a pass to Charlie Huddy on the point.

Instead, the puck flew past Huddy all the way out to the red line just as Krushelnyski’s time was up.

As he emerged from the the box, he looked like a kid coming downstairs on Christmas morning.

Talk about gifts. He found the puck at his feet and a open path to the net before him.

Krushelnyski skated down and smacked the puck in between Bill Ranford’s legs for his 12th goal at 4:41.

The Kings extended their lead at 10:15 after Sandstrom took a lead pass from Bob Halkidis. Sandstrom skated just past the blue line and fired from about 50 feet out, the puck squirting past Ranford’s pads for Sandstrom’s 27th goal.

It was his eighth since being traded to the Kings from the New York Rangers five weeks ago in the Bernie Nicholls deal.

The Kings got their third goal in the second period. Wayne Gretzky passed from the right side to John Tonelli on the goal line.

With a tough angle, Tonelli spun around and squeezed the puck through Ranford’s pads for his 26th goal.

King Notes

The Kings are expected to recall highly touted rookie goalie Robb Stauber from their New Haven Nighthawk farm club for a look over the weekend against the Winnipeg Jets. He won’t stay long. Anyone not on the New Haven roster by Tuesday would be ineligible for the American Hockey League playoffs. Goalie Ron Scott also figured to be sent down, and still does, but it’s becoming a more difficult choice all the time. Starter Kelly Hrudey, still weakened by a chronic viral infection, has been spending more time on the bench recuperating than in the net, where he has been shaky. Backup Mario Gosselin has also been shaky, but not because of any physical problems. Scott, an emergency fill-in from New Haven, has been the only consistent goalie for the Kings.

The sellout was the Kings’ 25th of the season, setting a team record. . . . King defenseman Larry Robinson was rested for the fourth time in six games. Fellow defenseman Tom Laidlaw sat out with a knee sprain. Also sitting out were Gosselin, Barry Beck, Keith Crowder, Mikko Makela and Jay Miller. . . . Tip-A-King, Sunday’s night’s charity affair for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, netted $137,000. . . . The Kings will hit the road for a week, playing twice in Winnipeg (Friday and Sunday) and once in Calgary (Monday) before returning home. . . . The Kings have 16 regular-season games remaining, six of those at home.