NHL PLAYOFFS : Burns Brings Daddy Home as Enforcer : Game 3: Toronto’s new lineup against the Kings includes a familiar name--Ken Baumgartner.

If there was lingering doubt about the direction of the Campbell Conference final, it was erased Thursday when Toronto Maple Leaf Coach Pat Burns announced three lineup changes for Game 3 tonight at the Forum.

Out: Forwards Kent Manderville, Mike Foligno and Mike Eastwood.

In: Forwards Rob Pearson, Dave McLlwain and Ken Baumgartner.

Baumgartner’s is a familiar face to local fans. When he played for the Kings, he was a crowd favorite, the second member of the Marty McSorley tag team.

Baumgartner spent parts of three seasons with the Kings before he was traded to the New York Islanders with Hubie McDonough for Mikko Makela in November of 1989.

Baumgartner is one of hockey’s more entertaining characters. He is a thoughtful, intelligent man, a member of the NHL Players’ Assn. negotiating committee. But he also is a player who used to join brawls by yelling, “Daddy’s home!”

He and Pearson combined for 366 penalty minutes, and Baumgartner accounted for 155 in 63 regular-season games. He had his career high of 288 penalty minutes in 1988-89 in 49 games with the Kings.

Baumgartner has not played since the Maple Leafs’ first-round series against Detroit, and Pearson was yanked from the lineup during the second round against St. Louis, then promptly lost about 15 pounds because of flu.

There was speculation that Baumgartner would join the lineup for Game 2 after the initial McSorley-Doug Gilmour fracas Monday.

“If Ken Baumgartner did that to Wayne Gretzky, we would have been hung on Parliament Hill,” Burns said of McSorley’s forearm shiver to Gilmour.

Baumgartner stayed out of Game 2, but apparently the Maple Leafs are well aware, with the best-of-seven series tied, 1-1, that the Kings are gaining the advantage with their speed, thanks to the Mike Donnelly-Corey Millen-Tony Granato line.

And three of the Kings’ most prolific scorers--Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson and Jari Kurri--have yet to record a point. In Game 1, Robitaille had no shots on goal, Kurri had two and Carson had two. In Game 2, Robitaille had one shot, Kurri three and Carson one.

Even Gretzky has been somewhat quiet, compared to his play in the two previous series. He has two assists in the two games and set up Tomas Sandstrom’s game winner Wednesday.

Burns and the Maple Leafs realize that the frenzied Forum crowd, witnessing King history, will do its best to awaken the scorers.

“They’ll have a messy piece of work,” Burns said of his own team.

He could have been talking about the Kings, too.

Another possible reason for the insertion of Baumgartner is to get Gilmour back on his game as well as provide some sense of extra protection. Gilmour scored the first goal in Game 2, but grew increasingly distracted by late in the first period and was goaded into head-butting McSorley.

“Doug Gilmour is a great, great player and you’ve got to take the body on him, finish your checks,” King Coach Barry Melrose said. “If you don’t, he’ll eat you up. I think that bothers him a little bit.”

It’s a good guess the 6-1, 200-pound Baumgartner will be deployed to annoy and provoke McSorley. Earlier in the season, Melrose said he would not mind having Baumgartner return to the Kings, not a surprising admission because Baumgartner fits the mold of a Melrose-type player--big, strong and not afraid to fight.

So it isn’t odd that Burns will try to combat Melrose and the Kings with a Melrose-type player.

*

King General Manager Nick Beverley was planning to talk and watch some videotape with NHL Vice President Jim Gregory while the series is in Los Angeles. Gilmour received only a two-minute minor penalty for roughing when he butted McSorley. Referee Don Koharski could have called a major penalty and an automatic game misconduct, but Koharski did not see any contact and it is unlikely there will be any ramifications.

“You see the heads come together and it looks like they hit,” Gregory said. “But the tape just doesn’t show it. I’ve invited Nick Beverley to see if he can show me differently when we come down there.”

Said Beverley: “We’ll try to get our own (tape) and see what was on our feed. I already talked to them (the league) about it. I’m going to look at rule book and read it over. The intent was absolutely there.”

Beverley added, wryly: “Maybe he (Gilmour) stepped on a rut and stumbled.”

*

Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on the subject of Melrose and Burns. And not necessarily on their coaching abilities, either.

Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno: “Actually, looking closely at Melrose’s midriff silhouette last night, one can only advise the one-time Leaf to steer clear of further fat jokes.”

Melrose’s wife, Cindy, entered the fray on KIIS radio, calling the Toronto Coach “Fat” Burns.

King fans have been calling and faxing the team’s radio network XTRA (690), saying they intend to toss doughnuts on the ice tonight, mocking Burns’ weight.

* ON A ROLL

The Monreal Canadiens won their 11th consecutive playoff game to take a 3-0 lead in their series against the New York Islanders. C6