Bruins Power By Kings : Hockey: Neely gets hat trick and Boston scores twice with Los Angeles a man short in 5-3 victory.

When Cam Neely came to Boston Garden Thursday for the morning skate, he didn’t even know if he could play in the evening against the Kings.

The Bruin right wing’s right knee, a problem for five years, was acting up again.

But when Neely didn’t feel any significant pain during practice, he decided to play.

The Kings can only shudder at what he would have done if he were healthy.

Neely had a hat trick that included Boston’s last two goals as the Bruins defeated the Kings, 5-3, before a sellout crowd of 14,448 in Boston Garden.

Neely’s second goal was the one that sank the Kings.

With the score tied, 3-3, late in the second quarter, Ray Bourque fired a shot at Daniel Berthiaume. The Kings’ goalie blocked it, but left the puck in front of the net for Boston defenseman Glen Wesley.

“He took a couple of whacks at it,” Neely said, “and then I took a whack at it.”

Some whack.

After Wesley missed, Neely picked the puck out of the air and flipped it past Berthiaume.

At least that’s what people told Berthiaume had happened. He never saw the crucial goal until it too late.

“I was screened (by Wesley),” Berthiaume said. “When I turned my head, it was in the net. But that’s what a 50-goal scorer can do.”

Neely scored 55 goals last season, and he was on that pace again until injuring the knee last Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“It wasn’t really because of any contact,” Neely said. “It just starts acting up on me about once a year for a few days. I dislocated it in 1985 and had a fractured kneecap in ’87. But, fortunately, it’s nothing that needs surgery.”

Neely later added his team-leading 28th goal of the season, shooting the puck into an empty net after King Coach Tom Webster had pulled Berthiaume to add an extra skater with 1:13 to play.

Neely’s crucial second-period goal came on a power play, one of two Boston scored Thursday in four tries.

The Kings had won seven consecutive games, one short of the team record, before losing back-to-back games, starting with the Hartford Whalers Wednesday.

During the winning streak, the Kings had stopped 30 of 31 power plays. In the last two nights, however, the opposition has scored four times on the power play.

Despite the loss, the Kings break for the All-Star game with a 26-16-5 record, good enough to lead the Smythe Division by two points over the Calgary Flames.

King Notes

Wayne Gretzky scored his team-leading 28th goal for the Kings. Jay Miller (6th) and Todd Elik (12th) accounted for the other King goals. . . . For Boston, Dave Christian (24th goal) and Glen Wesley (6th) joined Neely in the scoring column. . . . The Kings outshot Boston, 37-28. . . . The Bruins improve to 26-15-8. . . . Cathy Salata, wife of Nick, the Kings’ director publications, gave birth to a girl Wednesday.