Webster Flies In, but Kings Are Not Worth the Trip

The Kings’ jet safely took off into the Vancouver skies late Tuesday night.

So much for the good news.

Otherwise it was all bad on a two-game trip that made Gulliver’s travels look smooth.

The Kings lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 8-2, Tuesday night before a sellout Pacific Coliseum crowd of 16,123, one day after falling to the Winnipeg Jets, 6-2.

“You can have the best horses in the world,” defenseman Larry Robinson said, “but if they’re pulling in opposite directions, your load is going to stay right there.”

Much has been made of the fact that the Kings are repeatedly letting the other team score first.

It happened again Tuesday, but, this time, it didn’t really matter.

Yes, the Canucks scored first.

They also scored often.

And at times, they seemed to score at will.

The Kings’ defense disappeared. Their offense never surfaced. And goalie Daniel Berthiaume, for the second day in a row, played as if he had a bull’s-eye across his chest.

At one particularly disastrous point for the Kings in the second period, Vancouver scored on four consecutive shots over a span of 1:38.

In all, the Canucks collected five second-period goals on eight shots, the last two goals of the period coming against Kelly Hrudey, who relieved Berthiaume at 8:28 of the period.

It was the second straight day Hrudey skated in from the bullpen. On Monday, he relieved Berthiaume after the King starter had given up three goals in the first period on four shots.

But to blame only the Kings’ goalies for this debacle is like blaming George Foreman for the world food shortage.

The goalie is the last line of defense on the ice, but Tuesday night, he was the only defense for the Kings on more than one occasion as the Canucks outhustled and generally outplayed the Kings in their own zone.

Vancouver has surprised a lot of people this season, racing off to its best start, at 13-4-2, to take over the top spot in the Smythe Division.

It’s still early. And at 8-6-4, the Kings are in the thick of the race. But there is concern.

“If we’re not at rock bottom, we’re as close as we can be,” Wayne Gretzky said. “The good news is, we’re only eight points out (of first). You can make that up in this league in about five days.

“As good as they (the Canucks) played, we played as bad. We had no flow or rhythm and we made mental mistakes that good teams can’t and don’t make.”

It was hardly what the doctor would have ordered to speed the recovery of Coach Tom Webster, who flew up to Vancouver Tuesday morning despite lingering effects of the flu that caused him to miss three games.

The Kings gave up the first goal of the game for the ninth straight time and 10th in their last 11 games.

And the onslaught began. Vancouver’s Sergio Momesso scored his eighth and ninth goals, newly arrived Soviet star Pavel Bure scored his first two NHL goals, and Cliff Ronning (ninth), Petr Nedved (third), Trevor Linden (ninth) and Geoff Courtnall (10th) also scored for Vancouver.

The Kings’ goals were accounted for by Gretzky (fifth) and Mike Donnelly (eighth).

“Maybe,” Robinson said, “we’ll have to sneak out onto the ice while the other team is in the dressing room to score the first goal.”

At this point, that might be what it takes.

King Notes

John McIntyre (bruised jaw and neck as a result of a high stick from Igor Larionov), Jim Thomson (hyper-extended elbow) and Jari Kurri (bruised shoulder) were all forced to leave the game.