Not the Round of Applause : Hockey: Kings try to get past Oilers and reach a level they have never attained in playoffs.

Once again, the Kings come roaring down the postseason highway, the Stanley Cup shimmering in the distance, the second round dead ahead.

We’ve seen this before and it wasn’t pretty. Not for King fans.

Six previous times, the team has raced into the second round only to run out of gas. Six trips to the second round, six trips a loser.

The past two times came in the Wayne Gretzky era, when things were supposed to be different.

They were . . . even worse.

The Kings didn’t win a game either time, swept by the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers the last two seasons.

Now, the Kings again enter the second round, with Game 1 of the best-of-seven Smythe Division finals against Edmonton tonight at the Forum.

But this time, it is the Kings who seem to have the edge--in terms of health, in terms of depth and in terms of emotional reserve.

Two years ago, the Kings and the Oilers met in the first round. It was an emotional confrontation, Gretzky’s first playoff series since being traded by Edmonton.

The Oilers, then the defending Stanley Cup champions, took a 3-1 series lead, only to have the Kings come back and win.

The Kings then soared into Calgary and crash-landed.

“We were emotionally drained,” King goalie Kelly Hrudey said. “We thought that (series against Edmonton) was the biggest series we would face, and Calgary kicked us pretty good.”

Last season, the Flames were the defending Stanley Cup champions. For the opening round, the Kings were in Calgary, but Gretzky was back home in Los Angeles, out of the first two games with a back injury.

Still, the Kings pulled off a shocking first-round upset, beating the Flames in six games.

Then, they got swept out of the second round again, this time by Edmonton. At least those Kings who could get their skates on. The videotape of the series should have been called “MASH On Ice.” Ten Kings, beginning with Gretzky and Hrudey, were either out altogether or skating with some sort of injury.

But now, the skate is on the other foot.

Now it’s the Kings who enter the second round physically fit and rested. Having dispatched the Vancouver Canucks in six games in the opening round, the Kings haven’t played since Sunday. Coach Tom Webster gave some players both Monday and Tuesday off.

The Oilers, on the other hand, were in a struggle for their hockey lives Tuesday night, finally outlasting the Flames in overtime of the seventh game of their opening-round series.

That series might have sapped the Oilers emotionally. It certainly didn’t do much for them physically.

Kevin Lowe, their longtime star defenseman, missed Game 7 with tendinitis of the ankle and is questionable for tonight’s game.

Mark Messier, the Oilers’ star center and winner of last season’s Hart Trophy as most valuable player, suffered yet another injury to his ailing left knee in Game 7. It’s the knee that caused him problems and cost him ice time in the regular season, reducing his mobility even when he did play. The Oilers finally ordered him to wear a brace.

Then, in overtime Tuesday night, Calgary’s Theoren Fleury was checked into Messier, smashing into that bad knee. Messier limped off, unable to go on.

As it turned out, Edmonton managed to win without him, but might find doing so against the Kings more difficult.

Messier, who is also bothered by a bone chip in one thumb, is expected to be on the ice tonight. Beyond that, he can’t guarantee anything.

At first glance, the Oilers would figure to be heavy underdogs. They had to win their final regular-season game to finish at .500. They wound up third in the division, never a factor in the race. They are beat up, tired and don’t have the home-ice advantage.

But they are still the team that has won five Stanley Cups in seven years. They are the team that struggled against the Winnipeg Jets in the opening round last season, going seven games after falling behind, 3-1. But they didn’t have to go that far again as they skated all the way to the Stanley Cup.

They have four balanced lines, rather than the one-line threat the Canucks presented, and a proven Cup-winning goalie in Grant Fuhr. They also have Esa Tikkanen to skate in Gretzky’s face.

“I don’t think we should ever be doubted again,” Edmonton Coach John Muckler said. “No matter what things might look like at the time, we should never be doubted. This team should not be judged until we’ve played our final game.”

Who could argue? Certainly not Webster.

“They’ve been through it so often,” he said of the Oilers. “They find a way to rise to the occasion. But we’re a pretty good team, too.”

Gretzky knows a bit about the Oilers’ mystique, having led them to their first four Cups. And he’s still impressed.

“In my estimation, this could be the toughest step of all for us,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a better playoff team in hockey.”

But he’s also convinced this is the best Kings club he has played on. “Emotion can only take you so far,” he said. “Then, talent has to take over. This is a very talented team.”

Gretzky, who turned 30 this year, figures he might not get a better chance to win a Cup for L.A.

“The clock is ticking,” he said. “People expect us to win. People want it. But we have to get over the next hump.”

And past the second round.

The Second Round Barrier

Before 1990-91, the Kings reached the Stanley Cup playoffs 16 times in their 23 seasons but never advanced beyond the second round. A look at their playoff results:

Year Lost to: Round: Games: 1968 Minnesota First 4 to 3 1969 St. Louis Second 4 to 0 1974 Chicago First 4 to 1 1975 Toronto First 2 to 1 1976 Boston Second 4 to 3 1977 Boston Second 4 to 2 1978 Toronto First 2 to 0 1979 New York Rangers First 2 to 0 1980 New York Islanders First 3 to 1 1981 New York Rangers First 3 to 1 1982 Vancouver Second 4 to 1 1985 Edmonton First 3 to 0 1987 Edmonton First 4 to 1 1988 Calgary First 4 to 1 1989 Calgary Second 4 to 0 1990 Edmonton Second 4 to 0