NOTES : King Injury List Grows; Kurri Has Wrist Sprain

Marty McSorley wasn’t the only King who took a beating during Monday night’s 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening game of the Campbell Conference finals at Maple Leaf Gardens.

McSorley suffered a cut under his right eye during a third-period fight with Maple Leaf captain Wendel Clark.

Jari Kurri, the second-leading goal scorer in NHL playoff history behind King center Wayne Gretzky, sat out much of the third period because of a sprained left wrist and had no shots in the final two periods. His status is questionable for Game 2.

Goalie Kelly Hrudey also experienced numbness in his right leg after making a kick save during the second period, and play was stopped while he was examined.

Hrudey was able to continue and made 43 saves.

Left wing Warren Rychel, the Kings’ third-leading scorer in the playoffs with six goals and six assists, sat out the game because of a sprained left knee suffered during last Thursday’s 5-3 victory over Vancouver. “I got hit in the knee in the last part of the game against Vancouver,” Rychel said. “I was just taking a precaution. It’s no real concern.

“Tonight’s only the first game, and nobody’s going to win the series in the first game. I’d rather be in Games 4, 5 and 6 than have been in tonight and get hurt again.”

Rychel’s status is questionable for Game 2 Wednesday night. Rychel was averaging a point a game in the playoffs.

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Columnist Al Strachan of the Toronto Globe and Mail picked the Kings to win the Campbell Conference finals in five games, in part because center Wayne Gretzky is playing well.

Strachan said that the Kings had two other advantages over the Maple Leafs:

--The Kings would be more rested than the Maple Leafs, who are coming off two grueling seven-game series against Detroit and St. Louis.

--The Kings would have an edge because they wouldn’t be bothered by the travel in the series because of their grueling regular season travel schedule.

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The last eight months have been a boon for local ticket scalpers.

After peddling World Series tickets at the SkyDome last October, Toronto scalpers claim they have been making a profit on the Maple Leafs, who have advanced to the conference finals for the first time in 15 years.

Scalpers were asking $150 Monday night for tickets in the first 15 rows, which had a face value of $75.

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Since 1943, the winning team in the first game of an NHL semifinal series has gone on to win the series 71 of 100 times.

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Coach Barry Melrose, asked if the Kings were sluggish during Monday night’s loss because of Sunday’s long flight from Los Angeles to Toronto.

“No, that isn’t an excuse,” Melrose said. “We didn’t play hard enough. It doesn’t matter if we’d flown in from Timbuktu.”