STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS : Canadiens Have a Little Extra : Game 3: Montreal continues overtime success with 4-3 victory on LeClair’s goal after Kings bounce back from 3-0 deficit.

Now, if there was something the Kings could do about the first minute of overtime, perhaps they would not be trailing the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals.

Sudden-death overtime? The Canadiens have turned it into relatively quick overtime as they needed 34 seconds into the extra period to defeat the Kings, 4-3, in Game 3 at the Forum on Saturday night. Victory might have come sooner had center John LeClair converted on his first two scoring opportunities against King goaltender Kelly Hrudey, but seconds later he did not miss on No. 3 as he put the puck into a virtually open net.

The Canadiens, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, finished this one off even more quickly than they did in Game 2, after needing 51 seconds to win in overtime, and established an NHL record with nine consecutive overtime victories. On Saturday, the end came so abruptly that many from the sellout crowd of 16,005 did not get the chance to see the finish in the first Stanley Cup final game in Los Angeles.

“People seem to think that this is a crushing defeat,” said Hrudey, who had almost no chance on the game-winner. “No defeat is crushing. We’ve rebounded from everything. This is no different than another loss.”

Said LeClair: “I just wanted to put it on net. I had a lot to shoot at. . . . Everybody was really confident in the room. We realized we had some success in overtime. That confidence starts with Patrick Roy in net. We know they’re going to have to work for their goal, and that enables us to go after them and really take charge in overtime.”

And the Canadiens help themselves by almost never letting the Kings get a crack at winning in overtime. For the Kings, the problem is that this is their second consecutive loss in the devastating category, coming on the heels of Stickgate. Even King Coach Barry Melrose, who is relentlessly positive in almost every situation, was shaking his head after Game 3.

“Right now it hurts,” he said. “And it’ll hurt for a while. We’re in the same situation we were against Vancouver. We have to (respond). This is the last series, we’ve got to bounce back. We’ve responded all season to this sort of position. There’s been a key time in each series where we’ve had to respond. And this is another case.”

Said Wayne Gretzky, who had one goal and one assist: “It’s disappointing. We could be up 2-1 or even 3-0. But ifs don’t get you anywhere.”

There were a lot of ifs and maybes in the Kings’ dressing room afterward. And of course, there was the daily controversy of this series.

In the final seconds of regulation, the Kings felt they should have been awarded a penalty shot when Montreal center Guy Carbonneau covered up the puck in the crease just after Tomas Sandstrom missed on a wraparound and Warren Rychel tried to jam in the rebound. With 12.9 seconds left, Carbonneau drew the whistle with his action in the crease--but no penalty shot--even though the Kings, led by Gretzky, were calling for one.

Bryan Lewis, NHL supervisor of officials, issued a statement afterward, saying: “According to Rule 53C, if a player is down and the puck is shot into him or under him, it is a stoppage, not a penalty. (Referee) Terry (Gregson) saw it that the player was down and the puck was shot underneath him, causing a stoppage in play.”

Said Melrose: “That’s the rule. But they’re not using the rule.”

That did not cost the Kings the game, however. They came out slowly and played tentatively during the first period, which many players said was their worst period of the playoffs.

They trailed, 1-0, after one period on Brian Bellows’ power-play goal at 10:26 and fell behind, 3-0, on second-period goals in a span of 21 seconds by Gilbert Dionne and Mathieu Schneider.

It took a crushing bodycheck by defenseman Mark Hardy to get the Kings going in the second period. Hardy lined up and crushed Mike Keane and knocked out a panel of plexiglass above the boards.

“It was awesome,” King forward Tony Granato said. “It was one of the best checks I’ve seen in the NHL.”

Maybe Melrose was prescient when he opted not to dress center Jimmy Carson, though he strongly considered it. Instead, he decided to keep Hardy in the lineup even though he had been limited to spot action in the series, mostly coming in the first period of Game 1 when defenseman Darryl Sydor suffered cuts to his upper and lower lips in the first eight seconds.

Hardy’s availability became important when defenseman Charlie Huddy suffered a sprained right knee on the first shift of Game 3 from a hip check by Keane. Huddy tested the knee, returned and then went to the dressing room. In the second period, he played again and then finally went to the dressing room at 5:45 and did not return.

Hardy’s check got the Kings and the crowd into the game. The Kings finished the second period with a flurry on goals by Luc Robitaille at 7:52, an unassisted effort from Granato at 11:02 and a booming slap shot from the left circle from Gretzky to tie the score, 3-3.

Despite numerous scoring chances in the third period, the game went to overtime and the Canadiens had to be favored a bit, considering their immense success during the playoffs after regulation.

“We seem to have such great confidence in overtime,” Montreal Coach Jacques Demers said. “When we go into overtime, it is just an unbelievable situation, what is happening right now. Hopefully, it can continue.”

Tough in Overtime The Montreal Canadiens’ 10 overtime games in the 1992-93 Stanley Cup playoffs:

Date Opponent Outcome April 18 At Quebec L, 3-2 April 22 Quebec W, 2-1 April 26 At Quebec W, 5-4 May 4 Buffalo W, 4-3 May 6 At Buffalo W, 4-3 May 8 At Buffalo W, 4-3 May 18 NY Islanders W, 4-3 May 20 At NY Islanders W, 2-1 June 3 Kings W, 3-2 June 5 At Kings W, 4-3