Red Wings Add to King Woes

Ron Hextall is one thing, but Chris Osgood?

A day after the Kings were shut out by Hextall and the New York Islanders, they lost, 8-3, to the previously struggling Detroit Red Wings and their fourth-string goaltender on Wednesday night before a sellout crowd of 19,875 at Joe Louis Arena. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Kings, who have been outscored, 15-3, in their last two games.

The Kings (5-5-2) left Los Angeles leading the Pacific Division, but after a 1-4-1 start on this trip, they have dropped to third place. It seemed as though the Red Wings, who lost to the Kings, on Oct. 9, 10-3, would be the ideal opponent.

Things had been going so poorly for the Red Wings, the joke around Detroit was that their goaltending situation was Osgood and no good. But Osgood, 20, managed to secure his first NHL victory after the Kings took a 2-0 first-period lead, quit shooting and promptly gave up seven consecutive goals by the 1:19 mark of the third period.

Leading Detroit was left wing Dallas Drake, who scored twice and added an assist. Right wing Dino Ciccarelli and center Sergei Fedorov each had three points.

“They gave us a good beating in L.A. and that hurt us more than we thought at the time,” Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman said. “We never did recover.”

Early on, Osgood looked shaky, giving up two goals on the Kings’ first three shots. But the Kings were outshot, 12-0, in the final 9:30 of the period after Mike Donnelly and Pat Conacher had given them a two-goal lead.

Their offense disappeared and Osgood gained confidence as the Kings turned passive. Wayne Gretzky did not have any shots, but picked up two assists. Shawn McEachern had one shot, Jari Kurri and Luc Robitaille none.

Robitaille, who has all but disappeared on this trip, has not scored since Oct. 16 against Calgary. His last assist was Friday against Washington.

“The turning point was our lack of effort,” King Coach Barry Melrose said. “We’re not working. We’re getting exactly what we deserve. They outworked us in both ends, in the hallways, in the dressing room and in the trainers’ room. We have 15 guys who aren’t working hard and five who are working hard. Right now, anybody is dangerous when we’re not working.”

Melrose, as always, is trying to find a way to motivate his players. He will use conventional or unconventional methods. One player said that Melrose aired out almost every player in the dressing room after Wednesday’s loss, with about four or five exceptions. And instead of a day off, he scheduled a practice this afternoon in Winnipeg, where the Kings conclude their seven-game trip on Friday.

“We need to work. Why give us a day off?” King defenseman Rob Blake said.

All the Kings acknowledge that goaltender Kelly Hrudey--who faced 41 shots on Wednesday--has kept battling, no matter what the circumstance.

“Kelly Hrudey has been our backbone,” Blake said. “We’ve been embarrassing him, not doing anything in front of him and giving up 40-50 shots a game. If it wasn’t for Kelly, we would not have got a tie (against Florida). He’s the one guy who is playing hard.

“You want to apologize to him. ‘Sorry, Kelly.’ ”

Melrose singled out Hrudey, Blake, Gretzky, Conacher and Dave Taylor as the five players who are working hard. All of them, except for Blake, are 30 or older.

“I’m thinking about going out and trading for all the 35- and 38-year-olds in the league,” Melrose said.

Right now, the thirtysomething Kings could teach their twenty-something teammates a thing or two.

King Notes

Defenseman Charlie Huddy was scratched because he has been suffering from a pulled groin. Huddy, who was injured against Tampa Bay last week, does not think he will play on Friday against Winnipeg. “I kept trying to play,” he said. “It’s just not worth it. I don’t want to hurt the team. If I miss Friday, it will give me almost a week off and hopefully it will be better by that time.” . . . Forward Tomas Sandstrom (pulled hamstring) sat out his second consecutive games and is day-to-day. He got hurt on his first shift of the third period against the Rangers on Sunday when he landed awkwardly. He skated lightly on Tuesday, but is not ready to play. . . . Wayne Gretzky said he’s not into the rah-rah approach of motivation to get out of this slump. “The last thing you want is 20 chiefs, you need 20 Indians,” he said.