Kings Rekindle Old Habits, Beat Flames : Hockey: They pick up where they left off last season with assault on Calgary goal and win, 8-4, to remain unbeaten in last five games.

The Calgary Flames did the best they could to protect their playoff-scarred goalies when they played the Kings on Saturday night.

Remember Jeff Reese? The unwitting victim in the Kings’ playoff-clinching blowout last year in Game 6 of the first round was stashed safely in the press box with a headset, performing radio commentary for folks back home in Calgary. Mike Vernon, another playoff punching bag, made the trip but was kept out of the crease and off the bench, too.

But the Kings made the Flames relive their playoff memories in an 8-4 victory, handing Calgary its first loss of the season. After opening the season with a loss, the Kings (4-1-1) and goaltender Kelly Hrudey have not lost in five consecutive games and lead the second-place Flames (4-1-0) by one point in the Pacific Division.

“We’re happy that Calgary came in here with a great defensive record and now they’re thinking, ‘What do we have to do against this team,’ ” King Coach Barry Melrose said.

As always, the Kings did it with a formidable display of balanced offense as seven players scored with Warren Rychel recording the game-winner at 12:20 of the second period. That gave the Kings a 5-4 lead, and they seemed to pick up momentum with three third-period goals, ruining the NHL debut of Flame goaltender Jason Muzzatti.

Well, someone had to start against the highest-scoring team in the NHL.

The Kings scored nine goals in each of their final two games against the Flames in the playoffs and nearly got to nine again as left wing Luc Robitaille led with a four-point performance on two goals and two assists, and Wayne Gretzky added one goal and three assists. Those with two points were Alexei Zhitnik, Rob Blake and Darryl Sydor. Hrudey even made his way onto the score sheet with an assist on the Kings’ seventh goal at 14:17, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 16,005.

Hrudey hit Gretzky with an outlet pass for the assist, which is not that unusual for Hrudey. He had four assists last season.

Gretzky, who leads the league with 17 points, picked up the four points despite a case of flu. He did not practice Friday and still felt out of sorts at Saturday morning’s skate.

But it certainly did not seem that way during a fast-paced first period as the Kings took a 4-2 lead and broke the Flames’ perfect penalty-killing record. Calgary had not given up a goal in 20 attempts this season, but the Kings scored on their first attempt, tying the game, 2-2.

With German Titov off for tripping King forward Gary Shuchuk, Gretzky set up Robitaille’s power-play goal, hitting him with a pass from above the circle. Robitaille, from the base of the right circle, beat Muzzatti from a poor angle.

That was not the only goal he would give up from a bad angle. The final goal of the night was vintage Gretzky with 29.6 seconds remaining. Gretzky, who was behind the goal line on the left-wing side, found the slightest of openings and sneaked it between Muzzatti and the left post.

Afterward, Gretzky was teased about a recent Hockey News poll, which ranked him No. 8 among the league’s top players. “I’m not doing bad for the eighth-best player,” he said, grinning.

King Notes

Despite the demands--at least from some fans--for an enforcer, Wayne Gretzky is logical about the situation. Even after he took an elbow to the jaw from Oiler defenseman Dave Manson on Thursday, late in overtime. “The hard thing about an enforcer, you have to realize in this day and age you have to get a guy who can play,” Gretzky said Saturday. “That’s the hard part. The thing about Marty (McSorley) is that he can play. I’m sure (Coach) Barry (Melrose) and (General Manager) Nick (Beverley) are always looking to make the team better. But it doesn’t make sense to get a big guy who can’t play. We’re such a fast team, a big guy who can’t play would look out of place. You have to get the right kind of guy who can fit into our system. As far as the (Manson) hit goes, whether Marty was out there or not, he would have done it. There was eight seconds left. That’s the rule they should change. If you take a major penalty in the last 10 seconds, you know it’s not going to hurt your hockey team unless you get some kind of a penalty for that. But it’s part of the game, I’m not worried about it.”

Forward John Druce, who had been on a conditioning assignment in Phoenix, took part in Saturday morning’s skate. Melrose said there was a chance that Druce may accompany the team on its seven-game trip, starting Monday. But Druce, who had wrist surgery in the off-season, is not quite ready to play, according to King trainer Pete Demers.