Kings Lose Opener in a Big Way : NHL playoffs: Oilers get the jump in a hurry and don’t let up, 7-0. Gretzky is held shotless. It equals the second-worst playoff loss in Los Angeles history.

Beware Los Angeles, the Kings, those cads in skates, could be at it again.

All through their history, their pattern has been the same: Win your hearts in the first round and break them in the second.

Once again this season, the Kings bumped off the Stanley Cup champions in the first round, beating the Calgary Flames in six games, to start visions of a Stanley Cup of their own dancing in the collective heads of a city.

Then they promptly fell apart in Game 1 of the second round, getting blown out by the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night, 7-0, bringing back visions of another nightmarish finish.

Admittedly, it was only one loss in a best-of-seven series. But the contrast to the Calgary series was stark.

From utter delight to utter domination in 60 minutes.

From miracle shots, double overtimes and a scoring explosion of 12 goals in one game to no goals, no momentum and no emotion.

This is a club that has reached the second round 15 times in its history and never gone further.

But few--if any--King teams have ever plummeted so far, so fast, from one of the brightest wins in club history, the 4-3 double-overtime victory over Calgary in Game 6, to one of its bleakest playoff performances.

This was the second-largest margin of defeat ever for the Kings in the playoffs. The 1987 team lost to Edmonton, 13-3.

Three other times the Kings have lost in the playoffs by seven goals--in 1980 to the New York Islanders, 8-1; in ’81 to the New York Rangers, 10-3; and in ’88 to Calgary, 9-2.

“We should be embarrassed,” King defenseman Larry Robinson said. “We were simply out-played. We’d better wake up or this will be a short series.”

The Oilers were also riding an emotional high coming into this game, having overcome a 3-1 deficit to beat the Winnipeg Jets in seven games.

They were able to sustain their euphoria with a pair of first-period goals, two more in the second period and three in the final 20 minutes.

The Oilers made the most of the least, scoring their goals on only 23 shots. The Kings actually emerged on top in that category, getting two more shots on goal than the Oilers.

It was their only victory of a long night at the Northlands Coliseum before a crowd of 16,778.

Todd Elik was asked what happened.

“You saw it,” he replied. “It’s hard to explain. I hope we can do what we did against Calgary and bounce back. We knew they were going to come out with speed.

“If (goalie) Kelly (Hrudey) hadn’t been out there, it might have been 25-0.”

Hrudey stopped two breakaway shots, one by Mark Messier and one by Esa Tikkanen.

But Messier got one past Hrudey and Tikkanen scored twice, giving him a club-leading six goals in the playoffs.

But perhaps Tikkanen’s greatest contribution Wednesday was in maintaining his role as Wayne Gretzky’s shadow, keeping a stick in The Great One’s face and a body in his path, hounding him whenever the puck came his way.

It worked. Gretzky failed to get a single shot on goal. Nor did Tomas Sandstrom or Tony Granato, the other two members of his celebrated line, a line that scored 15 points in one game against Calgary.

“I don’t think Gretz had the jump he usually has,” Edmonton Coach John Muckler said. “You know he’s going to get better. You have to give credit to Tik. But, we still have to fear Wayne. He’s still the greatest player in the world. We know he’ll break free sooner or later.”

The other Edmonton goals were scored by Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Martin Gelinas and Joe Murphy.

“They looked a little tired,” Edmonton’s Craig Simpson said. “I don’t think this is a barometer of how this series is going to go. I think they looked a little sluggish.”

The Oilers were clearly the better skaters this night, blowing past the Kings several times to score.

“They were that good and we were that bad,” said King Coach Tom Webster, who had spent the last few days trying to channel the wave of emotion triggered by the series victory over Calgary.

“The game is played with emotions. The game is played with intensity. Today, we probably lacked all of it. The other team showed it.

“Now we know how Calgary felt. This is no time to get down. It’s time to regroup. We’ll be back. There’s too much character in that locker room not to.”

King Notes

In the wake of the firing of Philadelphia Flyer General Manager Bobby Clarke, two names have surfaced as possible successors, according to a high-placed NHL source. Calgary Flame Coach Terry Crisp, who may lose his job after losing to the Kings, and Edmonton Coach John Muckler are the reported candidates. . . . Denis Morel, the official involved in the controversial non-goal by Calgary’s Doug Gilmour in Game 6 of the Kings series, had considered moving to Calgary from his current home in Quebec. But now, he told a Montreal paper, he’s afraid he wouldn’t be welcome.

Oiler scout Lorne Davis, who watched the entire Kings-Calgary series, was asked to name his personal pick for MVP. His choice: Marty McSorley. . . . The Kings and Oilers have split their previous four playoff series, the Kings winning in 1982 and last season, the Oilers in 1985 and ’87. . . . Two Soviet players drafted by the Oilers last summer, Anatoli Semenov and Sergei Yashin, have been flown to Edmonton to watch the rest of the playoffs and get acclimated to the NHL.