NHL PLAYOFFS : Road to the Cup Gets Shorter : Game 6: Kings use quick goals to put away Vancouver, 5-3, and reach the third round for the first time. Toronto-St. Louis winner will be next.

The Kings’ 26-year wait ended as they tossed aside the most ignominious part of their franchise history, a disappointing inability to get past the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Thursday, the weight lifted in a flurry of power-play goals as the Kings defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3, winning the Smythe Division final, four games to two.

In the end, there was little suspense after the Kings took a 5-2 lead by the middle of the third period after they broke it open with three goals late in the second period in a span of 1:56. The third was like a joyous street party for the sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum.

And why not?

The tension had dissipated and the fans reveled in the imminent victory. One tossed a tin replica of the Cup on the ice and, of course, there was the traditional octopus.

“It was great for the last 10 minutes,” forward Tony Granato said. “There were a lot of smiles on the bench. I liked it when we kept icing the puck because we could keep enjoying the crowd.”

For the Kings, eight was enough. They had been to the land of the second round seven times and had never been able to prolong their Stanley Cup dream past that impenetrable wall, which seemed to surround the franchise like a shroud.

Said King Coach Barry Melrose, joking about the 26-year wait: “Well, it’s not that long in dog years.”

For many of the Kings, the second round has always been the dog days.

Afterward, King trainer Pete Demers stood in the center of the dressing room and brought out an old can of beer and announced that he had been saving it to drink once the team won a second-round playoff series.

“I’m not a drinker--but I got it in 1973 and I was going to drink it after we beat Chicago,” he said. “The team all knew.”

Said the long-suffering Dave Taylor, who has been with the team for 16 years: “I wish he gave me a sip.”

The newer Kings were more thrilled for Taylor than they were for themselves. Left wing Warren Rychel, who scored the Kings’ fourth goal to give them a 4-2 lead, pulled a reporter aside and insisted on delivering a tribute to greatness of Taylor.

“When you look in the dictionary and look up L.A. Kings, Dave Taylor’s picture is there,” Rychel said. “I really mean it. Now he’s shining through. It’s been 16 years for him, it’s especially close to him.”

Now Taylor and the Kings are one step closer to the Stanley Cup.

Finally, the final four.

The Kings will be among the four remaining teams contending for the Stanley Cup as they will play either Toronto or St. Louis in the Campbell Conference final. If the Kings play the Maple Leafs, they will open the series in Toronto on Monday. Should St. Louis advance, the Kings will make their Campbell Conference championship debut at home on Monday.

Once before, the Kings have reached the final four but that was in 1969 when they had to win only one round to reach the semifinals. They lost to St. Louis in four games.

“We haven’t won anything yet,” Melrose said. “It’s my job not to get too high right now. It’s not a good year until we win the Stanley Cup.

“It is great for the fans and the players. Lucky (Luc Robitaille) was yelling in the dressing room before the third period: ‘This is the biggest period of my life.’ And it was. It was great for the L.A. Kings.”

Owner Bruce McNall was spilling over with emotion an hour after the game ended, hugging television announcer Bob Miller. “It’s been a long time,” McNall said to Miller.

Most certainly, this season has defied all expectation. They opened the season with Wayne Gretzky’s career in jeopardy and were picked to finish fourth or fifth in the Smythe Division.

The Gretzky window of opportunity stayed open as he returned and played two superb playoff series against Calgary and Vancouver, getting better with each game. On Thursday, he picked up two assists and one goal.

And he completed the Kings’ scoring on a three-on-two, beating Canuck goaltender Kirk McLean with a slap shot on the glove side to make it 5-2. Even at the end, Gretzky was chasing down every loose puck when the King victory seemed certain.

During the ceremonial handshake between the two teams, Gretzky was the final King in line. He patted Canuck center Petr Nedved and spoke with him. Nedved asked Gretzky something, and Gretzky graciously handed Nedved one of his sticks.

“We were the underdogs this time,” Gretzky said. “We heard that Pittsburgh had lost its first game and people were saying it would open the door for the Canucks. We were saying: ‘Wait a minute, we’re still here!’ ”

In this series clincher, the Kings showed few nerves, save for one short stretch of the second period when the Canucks took a 2-1 lead on goals by Gerald Diduck and Jim Sandlak.

Then the Kings were given something of a gift when Canuck defenseman Dana Murzyn lost his composure and essentially lost the game for Vancouver. Murzyn took a two-minute penalty for boarding Gary Shuchuk and then compounded the mistake by taking another minor for cross-checking Mike Donnelly.

The Canucks were on the verge of killing off the first minor when they were called for another minor for too many men on the ice at 15:09.

Melrose judiciously called a timeout, which enabled him to keep Gretzky and Jari Kurri on the ice for another minute or so. They didn’t need that long as Kurri scored on a blast from the left circle at 15:48 with the two-man advantage.

Then, playing five-on-four, the Kings scored 17 seconds later when Tomas Sandstrom put the puck into virtually an empty net. McLean came out to make a save on Darryl Sydor, but the puck never got through. A Canuck skated past the loose puck, but Sandstrom alertly jumped on it to put the Kings ahead, 3-2. Warren Rychel scored as he drove to the net, making it 4-2 at 17:44.

Defenseman Rob Blake had opened the scoring with his second playoff goal, at 7:22 of the first period, beating McLean with a 20-footer from the edge of the right circle. Blake, who was the trailer, stepped up into the play and put his full weight behind the shot as he sent it into the upper left corner on McLean’s stick side.

KINGS vs. VANCOUVER

Smythe Division finals

Game 1: Vancouver 5, Kings 2

Game 2: Kings 6, Vancouver 3

Game 3: Kings 7, Vancouver 4

Game 4: Vancouver 7, Kings 2

Game 5: Kings 4, Van. 3, 2 OT

Game 6: Kings 5, Vancouver 3 C1

(Kings win series, 4-2)