Hrudey, Kurri Boost Kings, Their Spirits : Hockey: They had been seeking answers to their declining play. A 5-4 victory over the Oilers helps.

Kelly Hrudey had spent the last few weeks scanning game films into the early morning hours as he attempted to unearth a flaw that was causing one of the worst and most stressful slumps of his goaltending career.

Jari Kurri had been doing the same thing, wondering what had gone so wrong during the second quarter of the season after almost everything went right for him in the first 20-something games.

Hrudey was trying to see why he couldn’t stop opponents from scoring. Kurri was attempting to find out why he stopped scoring.

On a night both Hrudey and Kurri seemed back on track, the Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4, Tuesday before 16,686 at Northlands Coliseum.

The victory for the third-place Kings (23-18-5) helped put them one point in front of fourth-place Winnipeg and 12 ahead of the fifth-place Oilers in the Smythe Division race.

At the offensive end, Kurri solved some of his problems with a two-goal performance for his 18th and 19th of the season. These were his first goals in 16 games; his previous goal had been on Dec. 8 against Montreal during a neutral-site game in Phoenix.

When Kurri scored his first goal of the night, at 12:52 of the second period to make the score 2-2, he felt a major sense of relief, although no one could have sensed it because of his subdued nature.

“I lost about 10 pounds when I scored that goal,” he said, smiling.

Said King Coach Barry Melrose: “I think I saw him kind of raise one arm.”

Kurri’s second goal, which came during the third period, was even more important for the Kings. Earlier, the Oilers had made the score 3-3 on Luke Richardson’s short-handed goal at 6:54. Kurri, however, one-timed a shot from the left circle at 13:29 to make the score 4-3 and the Kings never trailed after that.

Monday night, Melrose sat Kurri down and told him he needed to start taking more shots on goal, which sounds basic. But it isn’t.

They watched game films together. Melrose talked. Kurri listened.

“I know I haven’t got too many shots,” Kurri said. “I know to get goals you’ve got to shoot the puck. Earlier, I was looking for too much passing, trying to make the pretty passes.”

Melrose said that their conversation on Monday was pretty one-sided.

“He’s a funny man,” Melrose said. “You can’t read him. He’s a hard man to get to know. He said, ‘Yep’ and ‘yep.’ ”

Hrudey, on the other hand, is a communicator. He nearly drove himself into a frenzy trying to find a solution to his problems. At times, he was staying up until three and four in the morning.

“I hated being part of the problem,” said Hrudey, who hadn’t won since Dec. 3 against Pittsburgh. “And I wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. . . . I’ve had problems before, but this time I felt I was the problem. I was carrying it home and it was bothering me. My hockey life was there in my regular life and it was horrible.”

Finally, one day during the morning skate before a game in Winnipeg on Jan. 8, Hrudey discovered the flaw. He didn’t start that night, nor in the next four games. But he did appear in relief against New Jersey and Winnipeg last week and started to feel better.

And no, Hrudey won’t reveal what the flaw was--only that it had to do with his stance.

“I’m not going to say what it is,” he said, smiling.

If you’re Hrudey, why spoil a good thing?

*

King Notes

When General Manager Nick Beverley left for the World Junior Championships in Sweden in late December, he didn’t envision what would happen to the Kings. Distance, of course, didn’t stop him from finding out about the lengthy slump. “They had (U.S.) newspapers there and CNN,” he said. He plans to travel to Sweden for more junior tournaments next month, but that depends on the state of the Kings. For now, he is traveling with the team and exploring a trade. “I’m trying to touch base with a number of teams,” he said. The Kings have been talking with the Red Wings about a deal.