Kings Can’t Go Another Round : Hockey: Comeback from 4-1 deficit is for naught. Oilers win, 6-5, when Joe Murphy scores at 4:42 of extra period, ending L.A. season.

The season began with the Edmonton Oilers watching as Wayne Gretzky soared past Gordie Howe.

But it ended with Gretzky watching from the stands as the Oilers soared past his Kings, winning, 6-5, in overtime Tuesday night at the Forum on Joe Murphy’s shot at the 4:42 mark of the extra period to sweep the best-of-seven Smythe Division finals.

It began with the hopes that this would be the season for the Kings.

It ended, however, as so many others have for the Kings, the high hopes of an opening-round triumph dashed by a second-round collapse.

But no one could accuse the Kings, or what was left of them at the end, of going meekly.

Despite nine major injuries, it looked as if the Kings were going to pull off another Miracle on Manchester after trailing, 4-1, midway through the second period.

They came up with four goals to lead, 5-4, with 2:55 to play in regulation time.

But then Esa Tikkanen took a shot from the left corner that bounced off one of Marty McSorley’s skates, ricocheted off the left pad of goaltender Kelly Hrudey and dribbled into the net.

Then came Murphy’s game-winner on a rebound.

“The puck just kicked out,” Hrudey said, “Murphy walked into the middle and beat me to the glove side.

“A week ago, it looked like we had so much more hockey to play. Our pride is bruised, but time heals all.”

Even Hrudey’s bruised ribs, an injury that made it difficult for him to even breathe, much less to play.

It wasn’t much easier for Tomas Sandstrom and Bob Kudelski, who were playing with broken fingers that made it difficult for them to even control their sticks.

Gretzky’s back was hurting so bad, he never even made it to the ice.

The Kings were also missing Tom Laidlaw, Tim Watters, Dave Taylor, Rob Blake and Scott Bjugstad.

But the Oilers still couldn’t put them away.

Edmonton scored first when Craig Simpson, with Steve Duchesne on his back, managed to shovel the puck over to Mark Messier as he went down.

Messier slammed it past Hrudey just inside the right post to give his club a 1-0 lead 4:57 into the game.

It was Messier’s fifth goal and 13th point of the postseason.

The Oilers added to their lead at 12:02, Glenn Anderson scoring on a 20-foot shot to Hrudey’s stick side that appeared to hit the cross-bar and ricochet in, just inside the right post.

The Kings might have folded then, their thoughts drifting from high-pressure stick shots to low-key golf shots.

Instead, they got back into the game 4:57 into the second period, using a combination that had yet to score in this series.

Luc Robitaille had seemed to disappear since getting two goals in each of the first two games of the opening series against the Calgary Flames and collecting a total of seven points over the six games.

But Robitaille got his team on the scoreboard 2:44 into the second period Tuesday, passing to Keith Crowder, who had broken free of Jari Kurri on the right side.

Charging the net, Crowder took Robitaille’s pass, but lost his balance. As he fell, however, Crowder still had enough control to shove the puck under Ranford’s glove before sliding into the end boards.

That seemed to spark the sellout crowd of 16,005.

The Oilers did their best to quiet the crowd, scoring twice more to move into a 4-1 advantage.

Mark Lamb shoved a rebound past Hrudey at 8:28.

And Simpson added his team-high eighth goal of the playoffs, bouncing one in off one of Duchesne’s skates at 10:38.

But the Kings came right back at 13:39 when Robitaille went behind the net to dig out the puck and threw it out in front where Kudelski, bad finger and all, scored his first goal of the playoffs from the right side.

Was Ranford a mere mortal after all?

He looked that way late in the period when the Kings tied the score on a pair of goals over a span of 46 seconds.

Robitaille got the first off a pass from Todd Elik on a two-on-one rush at 17:52.

John Tonelli got the second off a pass from Mike Krushelnyski. As Tonelli skated in left to right, Ranford swung around the crease to meet him. But Tonelli waited until the Edmonton goalie had made his move and was spread out on the ice before backhanding in his first goal of the playoffs.

The Kings opened the final period at a disadvantage with Tony Granato finishing up his time in the penalty box for high-sticking.

But the Kings quickly turned it to their advantage, scoring a short-handed goal 1:15 into the period.

Larry Robinson brought the puck down the right side and tossed it in front, where first Krushelnyski, then Mike Allison took pokes at it.

Allison had the better luck of the two, ramming it past Ranford.

“I’m quite proud of my team,” Coach Tom Webster said, “but it just wasn’t in the cards.”

King Notes

Tom Laidlaw has not played since injuring his lower back on March 17. Tim Watters has not returned since bruising an ankle in Game 4 of the Calgary Flames series. Dave Taylor’s final game was the title-clincher against Calgary, the night he bruised a shoulder. Rob Blake and Scott Bjugstad were both sidelined in the second game of this series, each with a sprained knee. . . . In attempting to come back and win the series from a 3-0 deficit, the Kings were trying to equal a feat accomplished twice previously in NHL history, by the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders. . . . The year he coached Salt Lake City, King Coach Tom Webster found himself down 3-0 in a playoff series. His club came back to tie it, only to lose in the seventh game.