Kings Go Against the Norm and Win : Hockey: Gretzky draws big penalty, Boucher scores on power play--and losing streak ends, 3-2.

A strange night at the Forum, indeed.

There was Wayne Gretzky, no more Mr. Lady Byng, slamming his stick against the glass and earning a 10-minute misconduct in the second period along with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, promptly rocketing his penalty-minute total all the way up to 28.

Then, with Gretzky in the penalty box, the Kings actually scored a power-play goal, by defenseman Philippe Boucher, later in the second period, their first in four games and halting what had been an 0-for-17 drought with the man advantage.

All this resulted in an even more uncommon result--a 3-2 King victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday before an announced crowd of 12,305. It was their first victory in six games, coming after five consecutive losses on an Eastern trip.

“If you’re lucky enough in the first couple of games, you can get on a roll,” said King Coach Larry Robinson. “And the same holds true the other way. We didn’t play well after that first period [in the opening game of the trip] in Philadelphia. We got out of sync and we never got back to where we were before.”

The victory nudged the Kings (11-10-5) back over .500, and for once they were able to face a somewhat tired team. The Capitals were playing games on consecutive nights after tying the Mighty Ducks, 2-2.

In that game, the Capitals rallied, and they nearly did the same thing again when Dale Hunter’s third-period goal at 7:54 cut the King lead to 3-2. They got no closer, however, as King goaltender and former Capital Byron Dafoe stopped Hunter on a partial breakaway at 9:15. Dafoe, who faced 36 shots, recorded his first victory in four starts.

What turned it in the Kings’ favor was their ability to build a 3-1 lead with a strong second period. Boucher, acquired last season in the controversial Alexei Zhitnik trade, was limited then to six games because of an injured right wrist. The 22-year-old had off-season surgery, and tendinitis limited his progress during training camp.

Thursday was his first game with the Kings this season after a 10-game rehabilitation assignment with Phoenix in the International Hockey League. Boucher broke the 1-1 tie at 11:26 of the second, on the power play. His blast up the middle from just inside the blue line went between the legs of teammate Vitali Yachmenev and whizzed past Capital goaltender Jim Carey on the glove side.

“It felt great to be out there,” said Boucher, whose wrist still bothers him occasionally. “I was hoping for this all summer. I missed the net two times on the first power play, and I was saying I’ve got to make sure I hit it the next time. I knew they weren’t playing well on the power play.

“I’ve played six games since I’ve been here. People weren’t happy about the trade. It hasn’t been easy; I’d be lying if I said it was.”

A little more than four minutes after Boucher’s goal, center Kevin Todd and right wing Rick Tocchet finished off a two-on-one with a pretty passing play, working a give-and-go. Todd made it look easy, scoring from the right circle to beat Carey on the glove side. It was his fourth goal of the season and 12th point.

Earlier, the Kings took the lead, for the first time since the first period of the opening game in Philadelphia of their recent miserable trip.

Gretzky, with his first point in four games, set up the scoring play by cutting to the middle and leaving a blind drop pass for Marty McSorley in the right circle. McSorley, having been moved up from defense to right wing for the first time since early in the season, launched a shot from the circle and the puck glanced off Tocchet, who was screening Carey.

King Notes

Forward John Druce suffered a strained neck in the second period against the Capitals and did not return. . . . Defenseman Denis Tsygurov, who has fallen into disfavor, was scratched for the third consecutive game. He sat out the final two games of the trip after Coach Larry Robinson benched him for the final two periods against Boston on Nov. 24. . . . Left wing Vladimir Tsyplakov, who has two goals and four points in 11 games, was put on injured reserve because of a strained right shoulder. He is eligible to return Dec. 6.