Bruins’ Hat Trick No Treat to Kings : Hockey: Oates scores three times and L.A. gives up five unanswered goals in 8-3 loss to Boston.

Once again, the Kings found themselves showered with debris near the end of the game. In New York, it had been small plastic megaphones, tossed on the ice by disgruntled Islander fans, upset at the Kings’ third-period comeback.

Thursday, the motivation was at the other end of the scale when hats came flying from the seats at Boston Garden. With 28 seconds remaining, Bruin center Adam Oates completed his first career hat trick, icing Boston’s 8-3 victory over the Kings before a sellout crowd of 14,448.

In a town aching for a winner, the Bruins (7-1-1) are the talk of Boston. They have won four consecutive games since losing to the Kings on Oct. 17. The line of left winger Joe Juneau, Oates and right winger Dmitri Kvartalnov combined for nine points against the Kings. Kvartalnov, who scored two first-period goals and added an assist, played for San Diego in the International Hockey League last season.

Meanwhile, the Kings’ top scoring line of Luc Robitaille-Jari Kurri-Jim Hiller was relatively quiet against the Bruins. Robitaille scored from the right crease in the first period to make it 1-1 at 8:49 before Boston broke the game open with five unanswered goals. Kurri had two assists.

The Kings (6-4-1) have struggled on their first major test of the season, a six-game, 12-day trip. They are 1-3-1 heading into the final game of the trip on Saturday in Hartford. The single victory of the trip came on Tuesday against the Islanders.

In the wake of the sub-par effort--including giving up four third-period goals--King Coach Barry Melrose promised one immediate change. He said that left winger Lonnie Loach, who was claimed Oct. 21 on waivers from Ottawa, will play against Hartford. Defenseman Peter Ahola has sat out four consecutive games and rookie center Robert Lang has been out for two.

“We got a lesson on how to play in a small building,” Melrose said. “Overall, we had a lot of guys who let us down tonight, guys that have been carrying us. We addressed that in the dressing room.

“We don’t have enough talent where four or five guys can take the night off.”

Another King player could be forced to take a night or two off. Defenseman Marty McSorley received a game penalty at 5:17 of the third period when he cross-checked left winger DarrenBanks in the face, cutting him near the left eye. Banks needed six stitches.

The incident will be reviewed by NHL President Gil Stein and McSorley is likely to receive a suspension and/or fine. McSorley, for his part, wasn’t exactly contrite.

“It’s not like I tried to cross-check him,” McSorley said. “It was accidental. I was trying to drop my gloves to get ready to square off and he ducked. That was as accidental as when you lift someone’s stick.”

Said Melrose: “I’m sure there will be a suspension.”

McSorley said he was trying to “make a statement” to his teammates by mixing it up with Banks. But by the time his message was delivered, the Kings were trailing, 6-1.

Melrose suggested that the Kings would be better off in the future by taking a few cues from the Bruins.

“I love Boston’s work ethic,” he said. “I always have. And that’s how we want to be. We want to be a team like that. We don’t want to be a Smythe team. We want to be a Patrick, an Adams Division team. We want to work hard, play very physical. Those are the teams that win the Stanley Cup now.”