Kings Finally Get It Together, 6-1

The New York Rangers had to be scratching their helmets as they skated off the Forum ice Thursday night.

Where were the stumbling, bumbling Kings they had been hearing and reading about, the club that had fallen below the Winnipeg Jets in the Smythe Division standings, the team that could not score on a power play and had trouble stopping the other team from scoring on any play.

And what, the Rangers had to asking, was Wayne Gretzky talking about recently when he said he had reached a new low in terms of his game.

As far as the Rangers are concerned, any rumors of the Kings’ demise are greatly exaggerated.

That certainly seemed the case Thursday as the Kings put it together in their best performance of the season, dominating New York, 6-1, before a sellout crowd of 16,005.

Led by the goaltending of Kelly Hrudey, who stopped 36 of 37 shots, a tough defense and a varied offense, the Kings improved to 10-7-5 to move past Winnipeg into second place in the division. New York dropped to 13-9-1.

Mike Donnelly led the way with two goals, his 11th and 12th, and Gretzky added his sixth and, amazingly, his first of the year at home.

“Heading into Tuesday’s game (against the San Jose Sharks), I thought our team had hit an all-time low,” Gretzky said. “But we got a hard-fought win (3-2 in overtime) and we said, ‘let’s carry on from there.’

“Now we’re just six points back of Vancouver. We’re right in the hunt, right where we want to be.”

Hrudey figured it might work out that way. Especially when he woke up terrified Tuesday.

That’s not a bad thing for the King goalie. Quite the opposite.

“When I’m so terrified I think I’m going to get pulled,” Hrudey said, “that’s usually a good sign for me. It makes me feel that I have to do everything solid, that I cannot be lazy. And I play well. It’s a horrific feeling that starts to manifest itself on the day of the game.”

There were other good signs for the Kings on Thursday. Their power play was so bad, it had dropped them to 20th in the 22-team league. The Kings had been successful on one of their previous 17 attempts over three games. But Thursday, they made two of six.

Dave Taylor gave the Kings the first-period lead with his third goal of the season.

The Kings’ final goals were scored by Sylvain Couturier (third) and Rob Blake (first).

Corey Millen also scored his first to account for the Rangers’ presence on the scoreboard.

The Kings had gone 0-4-2 before ending their winless streak Tuesday night. But that was against an expansion team that was 3-18-1. This was against a club that had won three of its last four on the road and trails only the Washington Capitals in the Patrick Division.

It was the first easy game the Kings have had in a while. So when did Hrudey finally lose his terror?

“With about 16 seconds left,” he said, “in the third period.”

King Notes

After missing three games because of a sprained shoulder, wing Jari Kurri returned only to suffer a hip flexor. A further diagnosis is expected today. Kurri skated on the second line with Luc Robitaille and Bob Kudelski. . . . King defenseman Jeff Chychrun played his second game with the Phoenix Roadrunners on Thursday. Chychrun is playing himself back into shape with the Kings’ International Hockey League club after sitting out the first quarter of the season because of wrist surgery. The Kings want Chychrun to play four games with Phoenix, which would take him into next week, before evaluating whether he is ready to make his debut with the big club. Chychrun was obtained from the Philadelphia Flyers last May in the trade for Kurri. . . . King defenseman Rene Chapdelaine is expected back today after playing two games with the Roadrunners. He was in Phoenix for the birth of his son. But the Kings decided to make it a working vacation by putting Chapdelaine on loan to the Roadrunners. . . . New York’s Mark Messier not only scored a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday but won the game with his third goal, which was also the 400th of his career.