It’s Auld Lang Syne for Kings : Pro hockey: The center again responds to benching, leading the team to a 4-3 victory over Oilers.

The best motivational place for King center Robert Lang seems to be the press box or the Forum stands.

A pattern has developed: Scratch Lang from the lineup and watch him turn into a goal scorer and playmaker. It happened for the third time this season as Lang scored once and had two assists, including one on the game winner with 17.8 seconds remaining, in the Kings’ 4-3 victory over the Oilers on Saturday night at Edmonton Coliseum before 16,945.

Twice before, Lang has picked up points immediately after being benched. Saturday’s performance might have been the most important as the Kings rallied from a two-goal deficit in the final 8:28. They trailed, 3-1, and pulled out the victory with goals from Pat Conacher, Rick Tocchet and Dan Quinn.

Quinn scored in the waning seconds on a deflection out front after Lang circled behind the net and tried to beat Oiler goaltender Bill Ranford on a wraparound. It was Quinn’s third of the season.

The Kings (5-8-4) recorded their first victory over a divisional opponent and their first in five games since defeating Dallas, 3-1, on Feb. 15.

Before the Kings stirred late in the third period, it appeared as though two defensive second-period breakdowns in a 28-second span and a third-period, power-play goal by a player fresh out of retirement was going to cost them another game.

Edmonton took a 3-1 lead at 1:52 of the third on a goal by Kent Nilsson, 38, pulled out of mothballs by Oiler General Manager Glen Sather. Nilsson had been scouting in Europe for the Oilers, and Sather decided to try another one of his reclamation projects.

The Kings were boosted by the return of two defensemen from groin injuries--Blake missed 11 games and Michel Petit four. Even though defenseman Philippe Boucher was suffering from flu, King Coach Barry Melrose scratched defenseman Denis Tsygurov, who had no points and was a minus three on the plus-minus defensive scale since being acquired in a six-player deal with the Buffalo Sabres this month.

Among the definsemen in the lineup were minor leaguers Sean O’Donnell and Rob Cowie. Boucher suffered a wrist injury in the second period and did not return.

Another player returning from an injury was forward Troy Croder, coming back from a 12-game absence because of sprained wrist. He assisted on Lang’s goal, at 17:40 of the first period.

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King Notes

Troy Crowder registered his first point since the 1990-91 season when he was with the New Jersey Devils. He had been out of hockey because of back injuries since 1991-92 and other assorted ailments have limited him to five games with the Kings this season. . . .Forward Matt Johnson was absent because of a severe case of flu. . . .Defenseman Rob Cowie was reassigned to Phoenix and will join the Roadrunners for their game tonight. Shuttling between the Roadrunners and the Kings, Cowie will have played games on three consecutive nights and five in the last six.