Kings, Dafoe Experience Victory

How often have the Kings won in their last 16 games?

Well, about as often as Wayne Gretzky has been traded in his NHL career--twice. Saturday’s 5-4 victory against the Montreal Canadiens broke a 10-game winless streak and also ended goaltender Byron Dafoe’s own misery as it was his first since Jan. 5. He had suffered nine consecutive losses.

And for rookie right wing Vitali Yachmenev it was his first NHL hat trick, which included the game-winner with 3:55 remaining to break a 4-4 tie. The accomplishment was celebrated with a handful of hats from the announced crowd of 14,377 at the Forum.

Yachmenev completed the hat trick with his 19th goal of the season and 44th point. It came as he deflected in a shot from left wing Dimitri Khristich.

Of Yachmenev’s first 16 goals, Gretzky had assisted on 13 of them. “It’s a great feeling,” Yachmenev said. “I heard people saying, [Gretzky] had all the assists. He’s definitely a great player, great passer. Today I showed I can do it with other guys too.”

Also scoring for the Kings were defenseman Rob Cowie (fifth of the season) and left wing Eric Lacroix (15th). Montreal put a scare into the Kings with a third-period surge of offense, tying it, 4-4, on goals by Turner Stevenson at 8:22 and Mark Recchi at 14:37. Dafoe, who faced 32 shots, was a bit shaky.

“He was a lot rusty,” Coach Larry Robinson said. “And I thought there was a lot of pressure on his shoulders to start winning hockey games.”

When it was pointed out he handled the losing streak well, Dafoe laughed, saying: “A closet psychopath at home. The odd night or so it got to me. But what goes around, comes around and I hope it keeps on coming.”

The victory means the Kings (19-32-15) pulled within five points of Winnipeg for the final playoff spot. Defeating Montreal was the culmination of what has been a tumultuous week in the aftermath of the Gretzky trade, sending him to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday for three players and two draft choices. Understandably, the fallout of the trade continued to overshadow nearly everything else. Robinson understood the reasons for the varying reaction.

“There would be no problem with this trade at all--the bottom line is that you’ve probably traded the most popular guy ever,” he said. “But at the same time, if you want to look at it, reality-wise, this is the second time he’s been traded. So if he’s that popular, then why is this his third team? I’m not knocking Wayne at all. The point I’m making is that this is a business.”

But popularity was not the issue in Edmonton when the Oilers dealt Gretzky to the Kings in 1988 since Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington desperately needed the $15 million to support his operations.

Meanwhile, there was continued speculation about the futures of King defenseman Marty McSorley and forward Jari Kurri. Sources say the Kings are willing to package the players and the Detroit Red Wings have previously expressed interest in McSorley. Kurri has been drawing scrutiny from the Rangers, Philadelphia and Vancouver.

King Notes

As expected, neither left wing Kevin Stevens nor defenseman Marty McSorley played. Stevens, who aggravated an old injury Wednesday against Tampa, is out because of a lower leg contusion. McSorley has sat out two consecutive games because of a deeply bruised left thigh.