No Spark for Kings This Time : Hockey: Flames roll to a 7-1 victory. Game degenerates into a fight-filled mess.

The Kings’ unbeaten season went down in flames Thursday night--Calgary Flames.

Showing little of the form that enabled them to get off to a fast start this season and none of the intensity that enabled them to outlast Calgary for the Smythe Division title last season, the Kings lost to the Flames, 7-1, before a sellout crowd of 16,005.

Gary Roberts led Calgary with a hat trick.

“This has got to be one of the easiest games to evaluate since I’ve been here,” King goalie Kelly Hrudey said. “We just weren’t ready. It doesn’t matter what kind of team you’ve got on paper. It’s what you’re willing to do or can do on the ice.”

The only time the Kings--playing without injured defenseman Rob Blake and with Wayne Gretzky still slowed by an ailing back--showed much intensity was when their gloves came off and their fists came out. Once it seemed decided, the game degenerated into one of those affairs that gives hockey a bad name. There were fights everywhere--player against player on the ice, fan against fan in the stands and fan against policeman in the tunnel.

Three Kings (Frank Breault, Marty McSorley and Jay Miller) and two Flames (Martin Simard and Tim Hunter) were ejected with game misconducts.

Miller might have tied a record of sorts, dubious though it may be, by receiving 27 penalty minutes in one exchange, getting two minutes for slashing, five minutes for fighting, a 10-minute misconduct and the game misconduct.

Somewhere in there was a game, but not much of one for the Kings, who fell behind early and stayed there, their record dropping to 2-1-1. Calgary came back from a shocking loss to the San Jose Sharks to even its record at 2-2. Although they were zero for eight on the power play, the Flames outshot the Kings, 37-27.

“Their team came off a major upset against San Jose,” King Coach Tom Webster said, “and we were not up to the challenge. They were hungrier for the puck, more determined, and it showed.”

The Flames zoomed to a 3-0 lead in the first period on Joel Otto’s second goal of the season, Carey Wilson’s first and Theoren Fleury’s third.

McSorley then got the Kings on the scoreboard with a short-handed goal, his second goal of the season, on a 50-foot slap shot.

The period ended with the Flames leading 3-1, thanks to a 19-10 edge in shots on goal.

The Kings were not heard from again.

Roberts scored twice in the second period, his fourth goal of the season at 2:24 and his fifth at 15:20, then completed his hat trick in the final period.

Wilson got Calgary’s seventh goal short-handed in the closing minute.

Gretzky and his linemates--Tomas Sandstrom and Jari Kurri--were held pointless.

“As a line,” Gretzky said, “we were a detriment to the hockey club.

“We got our butts kicked. We knew we were not going to go undefeated all year, but we’re just disappointed in the way we lost.”

King Notes

Several media outlets have reported a rumor that San Francisco 49er quarterback Joe Montana is headed to the Toronto Argonauts, the Canadian Football League team owned by King owner Bruce McNall. McNall has vehemently denied it, but, as with most rumors, there was a shred of truth in it. McNall did recently meet with representatives of Montana, but only to discuss his participation in an upcoming memorabilia show along with other marketing ideas. . . . Former King Coach Robbie Ftorek will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame along with Pittsburgh Penguin Coach Bob Johnson on Saturday night in Eveleth, Minn. Ftorek has picked King Executive Vice President Roy Mlakar to be his presenter. . . . Before Thursday’s game, the Kings were 12-2-1 in their last 15 at the Forum against Smythe Division opponents. . . . Calgary center Joe Nieuwendyk, recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery to remove cartilage, is expected to be out another two weeks.