Fuhr Is Out, but Ranford Is in a Groove

Grant Fuhr, once described by former teammate Wayne Gretzky as the world’s best goaltender, was not in the nets for the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night at the Northlands Coliseum.

But that was of no help to the punchless Kings. They put 25 shots on goal against Bill Ranford, who turned all of them back.

The Oilers’ 7-0 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Smythe Division final playoff series was Ranford’s first postseason shutout and only the third playoff shutout for the four-time Stanley Cup champions.

Said Fuhr, who had the other two but will not play again this season because of a shoulder injury: “You can’t play any better than (Ranford has) played. They needed good goaltending and he’s giving it to them.”

Ranford was especially effective in the first 20 minutes.

“I would think the (scoring) opportunities were about the same in the first period, but Billy came up with the big saves and we came out with a 2-0 lead,” Oiler Coach John Muckler said. “And then when L.A. didn’t come back after we killed some penalties in the second period, we dominated.”

But Ranford took little credit for shutting down the NHL’s second-best offensive team.

“It was a breather and it just so happened that I got the shutout,” he said. “I didn’t even care. It wasn’t on my mind. What’s important is the win and we were just able to relax and play a disciplined game.”

But Oiler defenseman Charlie Huddy said of his 23-year-old teammate: “I can’t say enough about the way Billy has played in the playoffs. Everybody was on top of him after that first game (a 7-5 loss against the Winnipeg Jets last week), but he has rebounded and he’s starting to prove that he’s among the league’s upper echelon.”

With Fuhr limited to 11 appearances this season because of an appendectomy and a shoulder injury, Ranford was 24-16-9 with a 3.19 goals-against average as the Oilers established a club record by allowing only 283 goals during the regular season.

Still, the Oilers hadn’t started a playoff game without Fuhr in almost three years before Ranford started Game 1 of a Smythe Division semifinal series against the Jets, and Ranford obviously was nervous.

After the 7-5 defeat in which he often was so out of position that he was forced to make acrobatic saves even on routine shots, he was widely criticized by the Edmonton media and the demanding Oiler fans.

But when the Oilers won the series with a 4-1 victory in Game 7 Monday night, Ranford was called a hero in headlines the next day.

“He might have been a little tight,” Fuhr said of Ranford’s Game 1 performance last week, “but he has settled down.”

Much to the Kings’ chagrin.

When Bernie Nicholls was traded by the Kings to the New York Rangers in mid-January for Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom, he placed most of the blame on Coach Tom Webster of the Kings.

Nicholls called it “a dumb deal.”

Earlier this week, after the Kings eliminated the Calgary Flames from the playoffs, Nicholls was quoted in the National as saying, “What is surprising is that the Kings could be coached into playing some defense.”

But Nicholls denies the report.

“I never said that,” Nicholls said.

“Whatever game plan Tommy Webster came up with, they played to perfection. Nobody thought they could play defense, because they had never played it before. People have got us bickering back and forth, but that’s not the case. The trade is done. It’s over, and I’m happy for them.”

Webster said he’s tired of the coast-to-coast verbal exchanges.

“He has gone to another hockey club, and the trade was great for both teams.

“But, (Nicholls) is a good person, and I wish him well.”

Times staff writer Steve Springer contributed to this story.