Kings Can Put Flames Out for the Count : NHL playoffs: With a 3-1 lead in series, they will try to dethrone the Stanley Cup champions in Game 5 tonight at Calgary after record-setting victory.

A smile crossed the face of King Coach Tom Webster Wednesday afternoon as he talked about his club while gazing out the window of the team’s new 727 jet at the snow-capped Canadian Rockies below.

And why not?

This was a man sitting on top of the world.

A few months ago, the mere thought of flying seemed impossible for Webster. Never mind the ridiculous thought of flying to Calgary with a three games to one lead over the defending Stanley Cup champion Flames in a best-of-seven, opening-round playoff series.

Yet here was Webster, bringing his team into Game 5 tonight, coming off a 12-4 victory, the second highest winning total in NHL playoff history.

Perhaps owner Bruce McNall need not have bought this $5 million plane for his team. At least not for this trip to Calgary.

They were flying high without it.

When the Kings came to Calgary in February, Webster wasn’t even with them. He was back home, facing ear surgery.

A similar ear ailment forced him to resign his head coaching job with the New York Rangers in 1987 because of an inability to withstand the air pressure of flight.

This past February, everything seemed up in the air-his health, his coaching future and his team. Even his judgment was questioned after he played a key role in the controversial trading of Bernie Nicholls to the New York Rangers for Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom.

The credit for Webster’s successful ear surgery goes to the wonders of medical science.

But what wonders have turned the Kings, fourth in the regular season in the Smythe Division with a 34-39-7 record, into a club on the brink of eliminating the Flames, Smythe winners for the third straight season?

Webster thought for a while before answering, staring at the thick clouds outside as if they held some mysterious answers.

“I think the players have sacrificed,” he finally said. “Nobody is worrying any more about getting 30, 40 or 50 goals. They are not playing selfish any more. They are not worried about ice time or any personal goals. They are giving it up for the playoffs.”

Kind of a left-handed compliment, but Webster even saw some good in the back injury that sidelined Wayne Gretzky for the first two games of this series.

“Everybody realized they had to rise to a higher level, to assume more leadership,” Webster said. “And even now that he is back, they are still assuming a larger role.”

Nothing particularly incisive, but no one seems to have a definitive answer as to what has turned this team around.

During the regular season, they were miserable at times on defense. Their offense disappeared on occasion. As did their specialty teams.

They were shut out twice by Calgary and stumbled into the postseason with a one-for-19 success rate on their power play.

“We’d love to know the difference between this and the regular season,” Gretzky said. “We’d bottle it up and save it for next year. And Calgary would probably bottle it up and throw it away.”

Yet Gretzky, Webster and the rest of the Kings made a point of tip-toeing around the subject of Calgary’s flameout.

They chose instead to dwell on a year ago when the Kings became the sixth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-1 deficit, doing so to beat the Edmonton Oilers in the opening round of the playoffs.

“It can be done,” Gretzky said. “We have to play this next game like it’s Game 7.”

That’s fine with Webster.

“We have to stay on an even keel,” he added. “I can’t get too excited anyway because of my ear problem. The doctor told me to avoid stress.”

That was pretty hard to do when Nicholls was blasting him publicly over the trade. With first Granato, then Sandstrom, then Gretzky injured, there was little Webster could do to respond.

But now, the three of them playing together have responded explosively. The line of Granato, Sandstrom and Gretzky had two hat tricks and 15 points between them Tuesday, giving the trio 16 goals and 22 assists in five games.

“We’re going to get better as we go on,” said Gretzky, surely striking fear into the hearts of defensemen everywhere. “We’re still feeling each other out. If we’re healthy and play a full year, I might take another run at 200 points. They are that good.”

King Notes

Defenseman Tim Watters was left home with an ankle bruise. He might be ready for Game 6, if necessary. Defenseman Tom Laidlaw remains out indefinitely with a back injury. A third defenseman, Bob Halkidis, stayed home with a sore shoulder. . . . Suddenly short of defensemen, the Kings have called up Eric Germain, who played this year for their New Haven farm team. . . . The only team to score more goals in a playoff game was Edmonton, 13-3 winners over the Kings three years ago. . . . Faceoff tonight in the Olympic Saddledome is set for 6:30 PDT.