Despite Injuries, Kings Win Third of Four on Road : Hockey: The Millen line steps in to fuel 6-3 victory over the Blackhawks.

If someone told the Kings they would keep winning without a handful of their very best players, it’s very likely they would have welcomed the encouragement, but questioned the sanity of the sentiment.

After the Kings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3, before 16,292 at the Bradley Center in their neutral-site game Tuesday night, even the eternal optimist, Coach Barry Melrose, was somewhat astonished by the success of this four-game trip.

Without Wayne Gretzky, Tomas Sandstrom, Dave Taylor and Jim Hiller, the Kings managed to go 3-1 against the Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. They even played without Jari Kurri for part of one period Tuesday night after he was shaken up in the second.

“You want numbers?” Melrose asked. “I thought we’d go 2-2. Any time you go into three tough buildings, it’s difficult. If we had gone 2-2, I would be ecstatic. This is phenomenal. And we’ve been in a position to win all four games.”

The only loss for the Smythe Division-leading Kings (17-7-2) was a one-goal defeat in Toronto on Saturday, the second of back-to-back games.

Tuesday night, the difference was the Mike Donnelly-Corey Millen-Tony Granato line. Granato led with two goals and two assists. Millen had two goals and one assist, and Donnelly added two assists.

Ever since Sandstrom suffered a broken left forearm before the trip, the Millen line has picked up the slack. And Millen, who has 13 goals and 19 points, is playing some of the best hockey of his career.

“We challenge ourselves to be the best line out there every night,” Millen said. “They (the Luc Robitaille line) carried us when they were on a roll. Our line is kind of picking up from them.”

Every time a bit of adversity has hit the Kings, they have responded with a key goal or an important defensive play. When Kurri went out of the game with dizziness after he was checked along the boards by Dirk Graham, the Kings scored less than two minutes after he left for the dressing room.

Robitaille’s 21st goal of the season, at 17:07 of the second period, gave the Kings a 4-1 lead and stopped any momentum the Blackhawks might have picked up after Kurri was injured. Kurri returned for the third period.

“Jari’s very resilient,” Melrose said. “ . . . We can’t afford to have anyone else injured. But someone always comes in and gives us a lift.”

The Kings certainly needed a boost because they seemed to spend most of the game killing penalties. Chicago, however, converted on only one of 10 power-play opportunities. Still, the Blackhawks kept King goaltender Kelly Hrudey busy with 47 shots. Hrudey was a surprise starter after Robb Stauber came down with flu.

Marty McSorley, in particular, was angered by the officiating when he received a 10-minute misconduct during the third period for fighting with Cam Russell.

“They put the rules in, trying to protect the little guy,” he said. “But what about the big guys? Who’s going to protect him? They gave me 10 minutes. Would they have given it to someone like Paul Coffey or Chris Chelios? They (the officials) don’t give me any consideration in regard to my ice time.”

King Notes

Milwaukee has three major tenants at the four-year-old, $71-million Bradley Center: the Marquette Warriors, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Milwaukee Admirals of the International Hockey League. Admiral owner Lloyd Pettit says that two existing NHL teams have contacted him about moving to Milwaukee, one as recently as Friday.

“I talked to one (owner) personally and (Admiral General Manager) Phil Wittliff talked to the other,” Pettit said. “One is to the North and one is to the South.” That, of course, rules out very few teams. But there has been recent speculation about Minnesota, Hartford or Tampa Bay making a move. Pettit was very close to acquiring an NHL expansion team two years ago, but withdrew from the bidding because of the $50-million franchise fee. “What the NHL is demanding is unreasonable,” Pettit said. “If they come to a reasonable fee. . . . They’ll have to come to us. We don’t need them.”

Pettit also would have to pay an indemnity fee to the Blackhawks--probably a sum less than $5 million--because Chicago is only 90 miles away. The Admirals, formerly the minor league team of the Vancouver Canucks, now are an independent franchise and average about 9,000 in attendance. . . . The scratches were defenseman Darryl Sydor (bruised right hip) and left wing Lonnie Loach.