Kings Keep Sliding in Loss to Canucks

Wayne Gretzky is saying his comeback date will be Jan. 16 in Los Angeles against the Winnipeg Jets.

No one is quite sure about the rest of the Kings.

The Kings continued their free fall in the NHL standings with a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at the Pacific Coliseum before 16,150.

They have lost five consecutive games and are 0-6-1 in their last seven and and 1-7-2 in their last 10. Still, the Kings (20-14-4) insist that no one is panicking.

“It’s not like we’re on the Titanic,” King Coach Barry Melrose said.

Then how come the beach chairs are being cleared off the deck?

Message to Kings: It might be time to panic.

Especially when they haven’t won a game since Dec. 12. And especially when a loss by four goals feels like a moral victory in the wake of humiliating defeats to the Philadelphia Flyers, 10-2, and San Jose Sharks, 7-2. To find the last time the Kings were shut out you have to go all the way back to . . . Nov. 17 when they lost, 6-0, to the Sharks.

This one ended--for all purposes--in a 54-second span in the second period when the Canucks scored twice to make it 4-0. Canuck right wing Pavel Bure scored his second goal of the game and 32nd of the season on a breakaway at 11:00.

Not helping the Kings’ fragile psyche was that the goal was a shorthander. It came after they stood around in the Canucks’ zone and let Anatoli Semenov poke it to Bure, who went in uncontested and put it in between King goaltender Kelly Hrudey’s stick and the left post.

For Bure, who had scored the game’s second goal on another solo effort, a breakaway is almost akin to a layup.

Bure’s second goal clearly rattled the Kings and it led to Vancouver’s fourth goal. Taking advantage of a lapse by Charlie Huddy, the Canucks took the 4-0 lead at 11:54. Right wing Trevor Linden beat Hrudey in front for his 12th of the season.

Melrose immediately called a timeout after Linden’s goal. It worked in the sense that Vancouver did not score again. But neither did the Kings, who seemed to sleepskate during the third period.

Said Hrudey: “It’s a long season. We didn’t order the rings when we had a good start and we’re not counting ourselves out now. . . . All the people who are not mentally strong fall by the wayside.”

Said Melrose: “I’m happy with the way we ended the year. You’ve just got to bury those chances we had. We made some mistakes. You don’t play the body on Bure, he’ll just eat you up.”

The Canucks are unbeaten in their last 15 games at home, going 13-0-2. And goaltender Kirk McLean, who faced 29 shots Thursday night, is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts.

Once, the Kings had a long undefeated string at home. And once, they had a goaltender with a lengthy winning streak.

That seems long ago.

Team Titanic?

Melrose insists it isn’t so.

But is it true that “Pavel Bure” is Russian for “iceberg?”

King Notes

It’s getting more difficult for Wayne Gretzky to hockey games from the press box, never mind poorly played hockey games. Even though he could be ready during the Kings’ nine-day, four-game trip that starts Jan. 8, Gretzky maintains he probably will come back Jan. 16 at the Forum against Winnipeg. “They want me to play in front of the doctors,” he said. “But I’m ready now.” The Kings have six games between now and Jan. 16, four on the road and two at home. . . . After missing three consecutive games because of a broken rib, defenseman Rob Blake returned to the lineup and played a regular shift with partner Paul Coffey. In Blake’s absence, Brent Thompson had been playing with Coffey part of the time. . . . Not making the one-game trip to Vancouver were center Corey Millen, who has missed four games because of a strained groin, and right wing Tomas Sandstrom, who has missed three games after aggravating his left forearm, which had been broken. Left wings Lonnie Loach (broken left thumb) and Warren Rychel (contusion left foot) also remained in Los Angeles.