Kings Put Out Lights on North Stars, 5-2 : Hockey: Gretzky has a goal and two assists, but Webster is still unhappy because L.A. is outshot.

You’re the coach of the Kings and you’ve just seen your team beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2. It’s your club’s third victory in a row and the fifth consecutive game without a loss, giving your team a 5-1-1 record, best in the NHL.

You figure to be in a party mood, eager to celebrate, ready to shoot one of those Disneyland commercials.

Uh, not quite.

Coach Tom Webster was shooting darts at his team in the Forum clubhouse Wednesday night, storming out after a few terse remarks to reporters as if his team had just lost its fifth in a row.

His attention was not focused on the final score, but on the shots on goal.

In what is becoming an alarming trend, the Kings had to win despite being outshot. The margin this time was 43-27.

“We won and I am not happy with a few things we are doing right now,” Webster said. “It’s fortunate that we’ve been able to put three wins together like we have.

“I am worried about the shots-against right now. It’s just not a good sign. We’ll regroup and get ready for the next game.”

And with that, Webster was gone, hoping to do a little regrouping himself before facing his team again in practice.

If Webster thinks he has problems, he should spend a little time with Minnesota.

A year ago, the North Stars were threatening to move west.

Instead, the team has gone south, plummeting to the bottom of the Norris Division where only the winless Toronto Maple Leafs have kept Minnesota out of the cellar.

Losing fans, friends and games at an alarming rate, the North Stars found no relief at the Forum, where they lost Wednesday night before a crowd of 12,281.

That must have seemed like an army to the North Stars, who are averaging 6,500 a game at home, a drop of about 5,000 per game from a year ago.

The victory increased the Kings’ Smythe Division lead to three points over the Calgary Flames.

Minnesota, struggling under a new owner, new general manager and new coach, fell to 1-5-1, and 0-3 on the road.

The Kings continued to thrive with rotating goalies.

Saturday night, Daniel Berthiaume limited the Boston Bruins to one goal.

Sunday night, Kelly Hrudey did the same to the St. Louis Blues.

And Wednesday night, Berthiaume, originally expected to be an occasional backup to Hrudey, returned to the net and saved 41 shots in another sparkling performance.

Berthiaume, a former North Star, was delighted to be facing Minnesota.

“I played against my ex-team for the first time and it’s not hard to get motivated,” he said.

“I didn’t have the chance to prove myself in Minnesota. I played four games, and then I had a knee injury.”

Wayne Gretzky remained as hot as Berthiaume, getting three points to give him a league-leading 17 for the season and leave him only four shy of 2,000 for his career.

He had two assists, and an unusual goal in the final minute.

With their goalie pulled, the North Stars were charged with deliberately displacing the net, Gretzky being awarded a goal, his sixth of the season.

Gretzky began the scoring in the first period by passing to Tomas Sandstrom, who fired a 40-foot shot blocked by goalie Jon Casey. The puck, however, bounced away from Casey to the right side. He stretched out his stick to pull it back in, but Luc Robitaille got to it first. With Casey out of position, Robitaille easily slammed home the puck for his fifth goal of the season at 7:51 of the period, and the Kings had a 1-0 lead.

Gretzky set up their second goal as well. On a power play, Gretzky passed to Brian Benning, who was so alone in the right circle that he had time to pause, fake a shot, then pull the trigger for real.

So alone, Casey knew he would have to come up with a great save. He couldn’t, and the puck whistled past his stick side at the 14:57 mark of the period.

The Kings’ third and fourth goals were scored by Todd Elik and Mike Krushelnyski.

After saving 17 shots, Berthiaume gave up goals to Mike Craig and Brian Bellows.

But the Kings held on, putting them, at least for the night, in the NHL’s penthouse.

And Tom Webster’s doghouse.

King Notes

Defenseman Marty McSorley played for the first time since twisting a knee in the Kings’ second game.