Kings Melt Ranger Defense, 6-4, After Miami’s Warm Embrace

Mike Krushelnyski, Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake scored power-play goals 3:29 apart in the second period to lead the Kings past the New York Rangers, 6-4, Friday night in the first NHL game played in Miami.

Miami hopes to obtain an NHL franchise. The game drew a sellout crowd of 14,596, but problems with the ice at the Miami Arena led to the third period being cut to 15 minutes.

“A lot of players were hitting cement,” said Krushelnyski, who led the Kings with two goals. “You lost the edge. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”

But Wayne Gretzky, who pleased the crowd by setting up all three power-play goals, said the evening wasn’t a total failure.

“It’s happened in NHL cities,” Gretzky said of the ice problems. “It’s not disappointing. The fans were tremendous. They were as good as anywhere I’ve been. Somebody in Florida is going to get a franchise, I hope. It would be nice for hockey.”

Miami is one of nine cities that have applied for an expansion franchise.

Krushelnyski gave the Kings the lead 2:01 into the game, but the Rangers got goals 29 seconds apart from Steven Rice and Kevin Miller for a 2-1 lead after one period.

Bob Kudelski tied the score 3:30 into the second period with a power-play goal. But Brian Leetch put the Rangers back ahead at 4:17 and John Ogrodnick made the score 4-2 20 seconds later.