Kings Pay Penalty Again, 4-3 : Hockey: Granato goes off for slashing, then Jagr scores Pittsburgh’s winning goal in overtime.

Any parallels between the Kings’ last two games--an inopportune penalty leading to a 4-3 loss--ended after those two similarities.

This time, Ron Hoggarth was not around to serve as the villain, as the referee did when he made a dubious call against the Kings on Tuesday night, leading to the Kings’ defeat to the Rangers.

Thursday night, a foolish penalty by Tony Granato, in overtime no less, cost the Kings against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jaromir Jagr’s power-play goal at 3:18 of overtime gave the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Kings.

Jagr’s goal, his second of the night and 26th of the season, put the punctuation on a celebratory night at the Civic Arena.

The sellout crowd of 16,164 was treated to a vintage Mario Lemieux performance. He scored his first goal in front of Pittsburgh fans since his return from a two-month absence for cancer treatments. Lemieux, playing in his fourth game and second at home since the treatments, scored once and added three assists, figuring in every Penguin goal.

Typically, Lemieux was understated, saying: “It’s nice to be back. It’s nice to make some plays and score some goals for the team.”

As for the Kings, they were understated--for different reasons. In losing their second consecutive game on this four-game trip, the third-place Kings (30-31-7) squandered the chance to widen their one-point lead over fourth-place Winnipeg in the Smythe Division. They also wasted a strong performance from goaltender Robb Stauber, who was making his first start in a month, a last-minute replacement for Kelly Hrudey, weakened by flu.

All of his and the Kings’ hard work unraveled in overtime. The normally savvy Granato committed a blunder in the Penguins’ zone when he slashed defenseman Ulf Samuelsson at 2:23 of overtime. Referee Dan Marouelli didn’t need the crowd to tell him that was a penalty and off went Granato.

That gave the Penguins their eighth power play of the game. The Kings would have been very lucky to have escaped with a tie, especially when they were facing Lemieux and Jagr in a five-on-four situation. Seconds before the winning goal, Lemieux nearly put it away himself, taking a set-up from Jagr. But Stauber made the save, kicking the puck to the corner.

The Penguins regained possession and Lemieux, from the left circle, hit defenseman Larry Murphy with a diagonal pass to the right point. Murphy launched a shot from the point and Jagr, who was in front, tipped the shot between Stauber’s legs.

“I was trying to look over him,” said Stauber, who faced 35 shots. “I knew the shot was coming. It hit the inside of my right leg and I knew right away it went in. I felt where it hit me. It was a goal, unless I was extremely lucky.”

King Coach Barry Melrose was pleased about Stauber’s performance, especially when he held them in the game during a sloppy first period when the Penguins outshot the Kings, 18-5. However, Melrose was less than thrilled when asked what prompted Granato’s slashing penalty.

“I don’t know, you better ask him,” Melrose said, tersely. “He’s in the room.”

But he was wrong, as Granato was nowhere to be found when reporters entered the dressing room several minutes later. Which left his teammates to do the talking about the penalty.

“Penalties are always tough,” said Wayne Gretzky, who had one goal and one assist. “It’s always very difficult. The hard part is penalties are taken to make up for a lack of effort or being tired. A guy like Tony taking a penalty . . . he always works hard and gives it his all. It’s tough giving up seven or eight power plays to this team. The last two minutes of a hockey game is a tough situation.”

Said Luc Robitaille, who scored his 49th of the season: “(Granato) felt really bad. He knows it looked bad. He said he wanted to make sure the guy (Samuelsson) wouldn’t get away to make it a four-on-three. I guess the referee was looking right at him. It’s a tough situation. The way Tony plays, it’s certainly not his fault. It just wasn’t enough. If we keep playing this way, we will certainly get some points.”

King Notes

Right wing Tomas Sandstrom had most of his wires removed from his broken jaw Thursday. He will have some dental work on Monday to repair three broken teeth. Sandstrom, who has lost at least 15 pounds since he was injured Jan. 28, can start eating some solid food again. . . . Defenseman Brent Thompson (abdominal strain) looked good in his first game with the Kings’ minor-league team in Phoenix. Thompson, along with right wing Dave Taylor, could return by next week.