Storr’s Debut One to Forget as Kings Lose : Hockey: Stars score twice in third period of 4-2 victory before 12,358.

Hockey dreams are not made of this.

Not for the Kings’ goaltender of the future, 19-year-old rookie Jamie Storr, who, unfortunately, made his NHL debut on Tuesday night with the Kings of the present.

And certainly not for the Kings themselves. The so-called new Kings are looking a lot like the old Kings, who finished last season with five losses in the final six games and 22nd in the NHL.

After three games, the Kings still are looking for their first victory as the Dallas Stars defeated them, 4-2, at the Forum. The Kings are 0-2-1 and the Stars are 1-0-1. At least there was one positive note--not a lot of fans were on hand to see the Kings continue to take unintelligent penalties.

Tuesday, the turnout was surprisingly sparse--12,358 and plenty of no-shows to make it the smallest King home crowd since drawing 12,281 on Oct. 17, 1990 against the Minnesota North Stars.

“We’re playing a good physical game, but we have to be smarter,” King defenseman Marty McSorley said. “And we need to generate more offense. There are guys on this team who need to start producing, offensively, myself included.”

Said Dallas forward Dave Gagner: “Our team doesn’t play with a lot of rhythm. Sometimes we frustrate the other team. L.A. has a lot of good offensive players but, they really can’t get their rhythm against us. And we just wait for them to make the mistake.”

King Coach Barry Melrose on Sunday had joked about not writing off his team until “they played four games.” Said Melrose: “I’ve got one game left, then you can write my obit.”

Storr’s first game came after the Kings lost two of their goaltenders--Kelly Hrudey and Robb Stauber--to injuries on Sunday. A fourth goaltender, Pauli Jaks, was summoned from Phoenix to back up.

Dallas, always a solid defensive team, kept Storr busy with 39 shots on goal. While Storr looked shaky on the Stars’ first goal--rookie Jarrko Varvio scored from a bad angle on a power play at 3:45 of the second period--he couldn’t be faulted when the game was on the line.

“It felt great to get the first one under my belt,” said Storr, who will play against St. Louis on Thursday. “I wasn’t nervous. Matt (Johnson) and Wayne (Gretzky) said the other day that once they drop the puck, it’s still just hockey.”

Storr said he planned on phoning his father Jim when he got home after the game, even if it was in the wee hours of the morning back in Ontario. “He’ll probably have pointers for me,” he said. “He’s pretty critical. I look forward to that conversation. I’m the first Storr to play in the NHL.”

The Kings’ goals were scored by Rick Tocchet (his second of the season) on the power play in the first period and right wing Tony Granato, who scored his first of the season, at 11 seconds of the third, tying it 2-2.

But a defensive lapse by King defenseman Rob Blake helped lead to the game-winner by Trent Klatt at 2:12 of the third. Varvio set it up with a pass from the right-wing boards. Klatt snuck in down deep and Blake had his back to him, unaware of his presence. All Klatt had to do was simply redirect the pass. Dallas then put it away when Storr was pulled for an extra attacker when defenseman Kevin Hatcher scored on about a 180-footer with 18:57.

King Notes

The Kings’ era of experimentation continued with the benching of 35-year-old defenseman Charlie Huddy. Huddy, with a plus-minus rating of minus-three after the Kings’ first two games, had not been benched since Jan. 10, 1993, against the Chicago Blackhawks. Replacing Huddy in the lineup was 24-year-old rookie Sean O’Donnell, who made his NHL debut. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound O’Donnell had 115 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Kings’ minor-league affiliate in Phoenix.

Goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who suffered a bruised right knee in the second period Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers, practiced on Tuesday. He will not be able to travel to St. Louis today to be the backup against the Blues on Thursday night. . . . The other injured King goalie, Robb Stauber, is wearing a splint on the broken ring finger of right hand. Stauber could be sidelined for another two weeks. . . . Forward Rob Brown was reassigned to Phoenix after the game.