Kings Slip Up to Begin Trip : Hockey: They fall, 5-2, to New Jersey after leading, 2-1, through one period.

King Coach Tom Webster looked disgusted after watching his team open its longest trip of the season with a dreadful game.

Leading, 2-1, at the end of the first period, the Kings gave up four unanswered goals and lost, 5-2, to the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night before 13,334 fans at the Meadowlands.

“To start a road trip you certainly expect a lot more,” Webster said. “We didn’t play with the kind of enthusiasm you need to play with to start out a road trip. We’d better get better quickly.”

Webster didn’t use any excuses, but the Kings (4-2-2) had plenty of ready-made ones.

They were playing their third consecutive game without center Wayne Gretzky, who remained at the hospital bed of his ailing father, Walter, in Hamilton, Canada, and they were missing defensemen Larry Robinson (bruised shoulder), Charlie Huddy (groin pull), Rob Blake (sprained shoulder) and Jeff Chychrun (wrist surgery).

Their absences were evident. The Kings’ line of center Randy Gilhen, right wing Jari Kurri and left wing Mike Donnelly, which started the game, combined for only one shot; and their line of center Sylvain Couturier, left wing Luc Robitaille and right wing Dave Taylor had seven shots.

“Any time you take a Wayne Gretzky out of your lineup you don’t replace him,” Webster said. “You try and adjust the best that you can. The last four or five games I’ve been juggling lineups around trying to get some balanced scoring. It’s been getting better, but tonight was just one of those flat hockey games. It’s very disappointing to see this kind of an effort.”

Trailing, 1-0, after center Peter Stastny scored a power-play goal at 2:38 of the first period, the Kings scored back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Robitaille tied it, 1-1, at 13:06 of the opening period when he scored his sixth goal of the season with four seconds left in a 12-second man advantage. Robitaille skated around a pick set by Jay Miller, who had just come out of the penalty box, and beat goalie Chris Terreri.

The Kings, who had only four shots in the opening period, scored on their next shot when Miller got his first goal of the season at 15:02. Sandstrom set up the goal, spinning around New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens and setting up Miller for a shot barely inside the blue line.

But the Kings, who were outshot, 33-17, collapsed in the last two periods.

New Jersey center Laurie Boschman scored two goals as the Devils (5-4) outscored the Kings, 4-0, in the second and third periods to end a four-game losing streak.

Center Kevin Todd tied it, 2-2, at 4:04 of the second period when he scored off a pass from defenseman Eric Weinrich, who dumped the puck to Todd from behind the net.

Boschman gave the Devils a 3-2 lead at 5:42 of the second period when he scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway.

After right wing Randy McKay gave New Jersey a two-goal lead when he scored an unassisted goal at 12:42 of the third period, Boschman got his second goal of the game with 2:31 remaining when he scored off a pass from right wing Doug Brown.

“You have to play for 60 minutes on the road,” Sandstrom said. “You can’t just show up like we did tonight.”

King Notes

Right wing Tomas Sandstrom signed a three-year, $2.55-million contract, which makes him the fourth highest paid King behind Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille and Jari Kurri. Sandstrom, who was in the option year of his contract, will earn $750,000 next season, $850,000 in 1993-94 and $950,000 in 1994-95, his option year. King General Manager Rogie Vachon said he wanted to sign Sandstrom to a longer contract. “I was trying to get him on a four- or five-year deal, but right now the market is so flexible that they were scared to go long term,” Vachon said. “So I got him for as long as I could get him.”

After undergoing brain surgery Saturday, Walter Gretzky’s condition has improved slightly and he was semiconscious, the Kings reported. . . . Injured defensemen Rob Blake (sprained shoulder), Jeff Chychrun (wrist surgery) and Charlie Huddy (groin pull), will join the Kings today in New York to resume practicing with the team. They will fly back to L.A. after next Monday’s game at Detroit.