Kings Keep On Falling, Even to Nordiques

Even the Quebec Nordiques. Even without Eric Lindros.

Suddenly, everybody seems capable of beating the Kings in a losing streak that stretched to a painful five games Saturday night with a 7-5 loss at Colisee de Quebec before a crowd of 15,106.

This week alone, the Kings have lost to the NHL’s newest team, the San Jose Sharks, and the league’s worst established team, the Nordiques.

But there is no need to look beyond their dressing room in search of answers for the Kings, who dropped below .500 for the first time this season at 11-12-6.

“I really can’t explain it,” a distraught Wayne Gretzky said. “I don’t know what to say anymore.”

Scheduled to leave on this three-game trip last Tuesday, the Kings had to temporarily leave their private jet behind because of a paperwork problem with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Maybe they should have taken that as an omen and stayed home with their plane. They wouldn’t have been any worse off.

Losing to the Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks, the Kings gave up a total of 100 shots. In each game, they were outshot in the first period, 20-7. The Kings’ power play, erratic all year, disappeared, the team going zero for 16 in one stretch. The Kings gave up the game’s first goal in five consecutive games and didn’t take a lead in the last four.

So what happens Saturday? They solve all those problems. They outshoot the Nordiques, 11-8, in the first period, hold Quebec to 28 shots overall, score on two of four power plays, get the game’s first goal and move into a 4-2 lead in the second period.

Finally, the breakthrough.

Followed quickly by breakdowns in new areas.

In a little more than four minutes, the Nordiques, with goalie Jacques Cloutier in relief of starter Ron Tugnutt in the second period, scored three goals on three shots off Kings’ goalie Kelly Hrudey, who hung in so valiantly against the 100 shots of the two previous games, but had an off night Saturday.

There were also costly King turnovers, three of them good for three Quebec goals and the Kings were done again.

They had taken the early lead on goals by Jari Kurri (eighth), Luc Robitaille (team-high 16th), Bob Kudelski (11th) and Tony Granato (13th, and first of two Saturday).

The Nordiques countered with goals by Jamie Baker (second), Mikhail Tatarinov (third) and Doug Smail (sixth).

Then came the turnovers:

--At 8:36 of the second period, defenseman Jeff Chychrun lost the puck to Baker, who, finding himself in a two-on-one with Chychrun in the middle, fed Greg Paslawski, who converted for his eighth goal.

--At 10:59 of the same period, the Nordiques, having already gotten the puck on a turnover, shot it down the ice, past the reach of a charging Joe Sakic, right to Hrudey. But the King goalie’s clearing pass was right on Sakic’s stick in the left circle. From there, he put it back past Hrudey for his 15th goal.

--At 7:57 of the final period, a turnover by Robitaille led to the ninth goal by Mats Sundin, who added three assists.

Claude Lapointe’s fifth goal closed out the scoring for Quebec.

“Everybody is trying to be a Wayne Gretzky,” said Larry Robinson of his King teammates. “But he has his own style. He plays the way he plays. The rest of us can’t do that. Instead of dumping the puck in, we’re trying to carry it, we’re losing it and winding up with two-on-ones and three-on-twos.”

It’s been a different story in Quebec, where a sour season has suddenly turned sweet.

After failing to sign top draft pick Lindros, the Nordiques began the season 3-14-1 under Coach Dave Chambers. In mid-November, he was replaced by General Manager Pierre Page and the Nordiques have responded, going 5-3-2 since, including five in a row at home.

This was the first time the Kings lost at Quebec in four seasons.