Kings Lose by One Goal, 1.5 Seconds : Pro hockey: Ranger Mark Messier trickles in winning goal in overtime after final faceoff.

King goaltender Kelly Hrudey had stared down Ranger forward Tony Amonte on a penalty shot--in overtime, no less.

Hrudey made a glove save on Amonte with 10.7 seconds remaining and made it look easy to the delight of the sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum. The Rangers were awarded the penalty shot when the Kings made an illegal substitution with Tony Granato hopping off the bench when the Rangers were coming down the ice on a three on two.

End of game, right?

Wrong. Hrudey and the Kings heaved a sigh of relief a few seconds too early. There was the middling matter of a final faceoff in the Kings zone.

And it was worst-case scenario for the Kings as the Rangers scored with 1.5 seconds left and left with a 5-4 victory on Thursday night.

Everything had gone so right for the Kings in the final period before disaster hit in the final seconds. Jari Kurri won the faceoff in the right circle and defenseman Rob Blake tried to clear the puck out, shooting it behind the net and sending it along the left boards.

Defenseman Sergei Zubov beat King forward Shawn McEachern to the puck at the left point and launched a shot at the net. Ranger center Mark Messier, alert at the left post, jammed in the rebound and the puck trickled over the goal line.

For the Rangers, it was their fifth consecutive victory.

The Rangers’ owned the momentum in overtime, outshooting the Kings, 9-1, and, 48-23, for the game. The Kings could not hang on for their third consecutive time.

What stood out for the Kings was an outstanding solo effort. There was Wayne Gretzky’s astonishing goal in December--a baseball-like drive as he picked the puck out of midair from about 30 feet out. Now there is an early nominee for best Kings’ goal of 1994.

Rookie center Robert Lang put on a dazzling, game-stopping end-to-end rush for his first career NHL goal, which pulled the Kings to a 4-4 tie at 15:47 of the third period.

Lang went through the entire Ranger team, carrying the puck out of the Kings’ zone and maneuvering down the left wing. Two Ranger defensemen--Zubov and Kevin Lowe made futile dives, but Lang shifted the puck to his backhand and flipped it between goaltender Mike Richter and the left post with a shot from the base of the circle.

The crowd gave Lang a prolonged standing ovation. Lang was called up on Sunday from the minor-league team in Phoenix and this was his third game. He appeared in 11 games for the Kings last season.

First career NHL goals are always memorable, but Lang’s effort was something special, like a Pavel Bure rush.

His effort went for naught, however. Was it possible to have one, two, three consecutive comebacks in the same week?

Answer: Not when the opposition is the New York Rangers. The Rangers simply do not lose when they lead a game after two periods--at least not this season. They have compiled an astonishing 25-0-1 record when leading after two periods. In fact, they have fared quite well against the Kings recently, winning their last five meetings and nine of the previous 10 games.

Constantly playing from behind is risky in the long run. The Kings got away with it on Monday against Calgary and Winnipeg on Tuesday, pulling out ties in both games.

They were 1.5 seconds from doing it one more time until Messier stepped up.

King Notes

Center Pat Conacher tried a different career--at least for one night. Conacher suffered a rib injury on Tuesday night against Winnipeg and could not play against the Rangers on Thursday. As it turned out, Conacher was a last-minute replacement for Kings’ radio color commentator Brian Engblom, who worked the game for ESPN 2. Conacher, who has nine goals in 42 games, said the ribs were still very sore. . . . The other scratches were defenseman Brent Thompson and forwards Phil Crowe and Dave Taylor. Taylor has not played a regular-season game since Jan. 4 when he suffered a concussion. He has been out for nine consecutive games.