Kings Still No Road Warriors : Hockey: They lose to Canucks again at Vancouver, 4-0, and have lost six of their last seven away from home.

King Coach Barry Melrose preferred a simplified explanation for his team’s increasing vulnerability on the road, saying it simply needed to finish off a scoring chance here or there.

But after the Vancouver Canucks and goaltender Kirk McLean beat the Kings, 4-0, in such convincing fashion Wednesday night, it is starting to appear that the answers might not be quite that neat and tidy. The loss was a end of a lackluster two-game trip in which the Kings lost on consecutive days to their divisional rivals, the Calgary Flames and Canucks.

“We are very concerned,” said Wayne Gretzky, who was held pointless for only the fourth time this season.

“It’s one thing to lose, and it’s not good to lose at any point in the season. Sometimes, you lose and it’s a good game like against the Rangers. But in the last two games, the way we’ve lost is not good.”

The Kings have gotten into a losing habit at the Pacific Coliseum during the regular season, and it continued before a sellout crowd of 16,150, even though the Canucks were playing without their high-scoring right wing, Pavel Bure, sidelined because of a groin injury.

Without Bure, the Canucks are playing more disciplined, defensive-minded hockey, and it helped McLean record the 14th shutout of his career as he faced 24 shots. The Kings have been shut out twice, the first time against the Islanders on Oct. 26.

The Kings (8-7-2) are 2-6-1 away from the Forum and have lost six of their last seven road games.

The Kings’ often sluggish performance Wednesday wasn’t much of a surprise. They have lost five consecutive games here--including all four meetings last season while being outscored, 23-5. The Kings have not won in Vancouver since April 12, 1992.

The Canucks needed only 40 seconds and one shot to score. Left wing Sergio Momesso beat goaltender Kelly Hrudey from the right crease. Momesso, left unchecked by defenseman Darryl Sydor, converted a pass from Joe Charbonneau, who set it up by circling behind the net from right to left while being pursued by defenseman Charlie Huddy.

Huddy’s return to the Kings’ lineup, after sitting out five games because of a groin injury, was an unpleasant one. He was on the ice for three of the Canucks’ four goals, although the second was a power-play goal by Momesso in the first period.

Momesso’s greater claim to fame, however, was when he spit at King forward Tony Granato during the Smythe Division final last season. In that series, the Canucks were the undisciplined, out-of-control team that could not score on the power play.

Even without Bure for six consecutive games, the Canucks have had success on the power play, ranking third in the NHL before Wednesday’s game. The Canucks went two for seven, the Kings zero for seven.

Typical of the Kings’ frustration was left wing Warren Rychel, who was thrown out for instigating a fight with Canuck defenseman Jiri Slegr at 14:47 of the first.

But he wasn’t the only one who let his emotions take over. Gretzky received a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct late in the first period when he complained on his way to the bench, presumably when no call was made after Granato was pulled down.

Melrose thought his team learned something in its 3-2 loss to Calgary on Tuesday night. But those lessons did not appear to have much staying power.

“It is no big deal,” Melrose said of the road woes. “We could have won in New York. We’ve just got to work harder, and we’ve got to bury our chances.”