Glynn Steps In, Doubles His Fun : Oilers: He scores twice against Kings, increasing his career playoff-goal total to four.

Before Saturday night, defenseman Brian Glynn of the Edmonton Oilers had scored only four goals in 62 games this season.

He had scored only two in 25 games with the Oilers.

But during a 3-1 victory over the Kings in front of a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum in Game 1 of a Smythe Division semifinal playoff series, Glynn twice beat goaltender Kelly Hrudey.

That gave him four goals in 25 career playoff games.

“I had a couple of chances tonight,” said the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Glynn, who might have been scratched if not for injuries that sidelined veteran defensemen Kevin Lowe and Craig Muni. “I shot the puck at the net and two of (the shots) were fortunate to go in.”

Glynn, 24, scored his first goal at 15:45 of the first period, taking a centering pass from Vincent Damphousse in the middle of the slot and putting the puck through Hrudey’s legs to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.

“It was rolling,” Glynn said of Damphousse’s pass from the left boards. “I just swiped at it and took a shot on net.”

At 9:44 of the second period, Glynn scored a power-play goal on a shot from the blue line, increasing the Oilers’ lead to 3-0.

“I was just shooting the puck at the net for a rebound and it slid under (Hrudey’s) pad and into the net,” Glynn said. “It just shows that any time you shoot the puck at the net, it can go in.”

For Glynn, it usually doesn’t.

He scored two goals during a playoff game against the St. Louis Blues last season, but he hadn’t scored any in 23 other postseason games.

He has scored only 17 goals in 205 regular-season games.

Still, “It doesn’t surprise me that Brian Glynn was involved in the offense,” Oiler Coach Ted Green said. “He’s an offensive defenseman. That’s the reason (the Oilers) traded for him.

“He’s known for his shot from the point--that’s why he plays the power play--and he’s got a gift for sniffing around the net.”

Green said that Glynn, who was scratched in the Oilers’ last two games against the Kings, has been slow in developing as a scorer in Edmonton only because he has been with the Oilers only a short time. He also was slowed by a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery last month.

A native of Iserlohn, Germany, and a former second-round draft choice of the Calgary Flames, Glynn joined the Oilers on Jan. 21, when he was obtained in a trade that sent David Shaw to the Minnesota North Stars.

Last spring, he helped the North Stars reach the Stanley Cup finals, getting two goals and six assists in 23 playoff games.

“I can’t tell you exactly how it came about,” Oiler General Manager Glen Sather said of the trade that brought Glynn to Edmonton, “but I asked about him because I remembered what he did the year before.”

It was speculated that Sather’s intent in making the trade was to dump Shaw, who was a disappointment after being obtained in a trade with the New York Rangers, but Sather has never said as much.

He probably won’t any time soon.

“He shoots the puck, he’s big, he can skate,” Sather said of Glynn. “He’s played well for us. I’m very happy with him. I don’t think he has any shortcomings.”

As the Kings discovered.