Kings Warm to the Task, Beat Flames in Overtime : Hockey: Duchesne’s goal ties it in last minute of regulation and Robitaille wins it in extra period, 4-3.

The Kings were dropping faster than the temperature Thursday.

Wayne Gretzky: Playing injured with a bruised calf.

Tony Granato: On a plane home with a stomach injury.

Tomas Sandstrom, Marty McSorley, Bob Halkidis and Rick Hayward and Frank Breault: All out hurt.

Scott Bjugstad: Called up, suited up and gone with a sprained knee in the first period.

Already in a 1-5-4 slump and coming into the home of the Smythe Division-leading Flames, the beat-up Kings figured to have about as much chance Thursday night as marathon runner in the streets of Calgary where the temperature was down to 36 below zero.

And indeed, after 59 minutes, the Kings trailed the Flames by a goal.

But in their biggest comeback of the season, the Kings, down by two goals at one point, got one from Steve Duchesne to tie with a minute to play and a goal from Luc Robitaille to win in overtime, 4-3, before a stunned Olympic Saddledome crowd of 20,132.

“It was a big victory,” an elated Robitaille said. “With so many of our guys missing, we wanted to show we’re still pretty good. We played on pride.”

Ironically, it was Rick Wamsley, the Calgary goalie who has turned the Kings away so many times before, who lost the puck on both of the big scores.

He had a lifetime record of 14-6 in the regular season against the Kings coming in and seemed to have his 15th victory in hand when Duchesne came skating down the left side, went around defender Al MacInnis and fired at the Calgary goal.

Wamsley blocked the shot and came out of the net to clear it off the left boards.

But he never saw Robitaille until it was too late.

“I think I surprised him,” Robitaille said.

No kidding.

The King wing stole the puck and fed it back out to Duchesne in the left circle.

This time, the King defenseman didn’t miss, not with Wamsley unable to recover and get back in goal.

The puck slammed into the right side of the net for Duchesne’s 10th goal.

In the overtime, Coach Tom Webster, suddenly faced with the prospect of salvaging at least one point out of what had seemed like a disastrous night, played conservatively.

But when the puck was shot out into the neutral zone, the Kings had their window of opportunity.

Robitaille followed the puck across the red line, then across the blue line.

Wamsley came out to meet him, a full 20 feet from the net.

The Flames goalie reached the puck first, but instead of clearing it to the side, he shot it right onto Robitaille’s stick.

“I think Wayne put a glare in his eyes,” Robitaille said with a wide grin on his face.

That was in reference to a story earlier in the day in the Calgary Herald in which Wamsley had complained that the glare from Gretzky’s new aluminum stick could be blinding on the ice.

Wamsley later denied he had said that, but there was no denying his mistake at the end.

Given the puck, Robitaille whizzed by Wamsley and was staring at an open net.

He didn’t stare long, smashing in his 17th goal with 1:17 left in the overtime to boost the Kings’ record to 18-10-5 and move them within three points of Calgary (20-12-4).

The Kings’ other goals were scored by Gretzky, (his 21st) and Todd Elik (10th). Calgary’s goals came from Sergei Makarov (11th), Joe Nieuwendyk (20th) and Jamie Macoun (fifth).

When it was over, the Kings headed out into the night to fly to their next game in Vancouver.

It hadn’t gotten any warmer, but for the Kings, it was like a day at the beach.

King Notes

Wing Tomas Sandstrom is not expected back until at least the second week in January, according to Coach Tom Webster. When Sandstrom fractured his back on Nov. 29, club officials said he could be back in a minimum of one to two weeks. Webster now concedes that was “very optimistic.” Sandstrom has resumed skating. . . . Tony Granato flew home Thursday when it became difficult for him to breathe without pain. “I think I did it to myself,” he said earlier in the day in describing the stomach injury. “I went to cross-check somebody (in the game at Edmonton Tuesday) and felt something pull. That was in the first period. We tried taping it, but it got worse and worse. I went out in the third period because I wasn’t doing anybody any good by then.”

Frank Breault injured his knee in the Calgary game on Dec. 13. Arthroscopic surgery Wednesday revealed the extent of his injury, so Dr. Steve Lombardo proceeded with the major surgery that will keep Breault out nine months. . . . Defenseman Marty McSorley has been medically cleared to play, but has remained home because of continued soreness in the rib area. . . . Bob Halkidis has a knee injury, Rick Hayward a bad shoulder. . . . Unlike Scott Bjugstad, defenseman Brent Thompson didn’t have far to go when the Kings called him up Wednesday. Thompson, a 19-year-old junior, plays for the Medicine Hat Tigers. But he was already in Calgary as a member of Canada’s national junior team. Thompson was cut from the national team Tuesday, so he simply switched uniforms. . . . Garry Unger, who had served as interim head coach of the Kings’ New Haven farm team, returns to his old job as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Roadrunners with the naming Wednesday of Pat Hickey and Nick Fotiu as co-coaches at New Haven.