Miracles do happen for the Kings

It was 25 years ago today -- April 10, 1982 -- when a plucky band of underdogs, dressed in very underdog-like purple and yellow, fell behind the mighty Edmonton Oilers by five goals after two periods, rallied with five goals of their own in the third and won an amazing first-round playoff game, 6-5, in overtime.

A quarter-century later, “The Miracle on Manchester” still stands as the greatest day in Kings franchise history, a testament to the spirit of never surrendering -- and to the history of the franchise since that game.

Yes, boys and girls, those were very strange and different days.

Once upon a time, the Kings actually made the playoffs.

Trivia time

Who scored the goal that tied “The Miracle on Manchester” at 5-5?

Define miracle

That improbable victory over the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers in Game 3 of a best-of-five series helped propel the Kings to a shocking first-round triumph, three games to two.

But was April 10, 1982, truly a miracle?

Don’t real miracles have happier endings than the one that befell the Kings a mere one round later -- elimination in five games at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks?

Consider this list:

* Miracle of the Marne: This decisive battle in August 1914 helped turned World War I in the favor of the Allied forces. After spinning out in the second round of the ’82 playoffs, the Kings didn’t win another postseason game for five years.

* Miracle on Ice: Unlike the Kings, the United States’ 1980 Olympic hockey heroes finished the drill after stunning the Soviets. They did not lose to Finland in their next game.

* Miracle on 34th Street: Little Susan’s unyielding belief in Santa Claus results in her finding the house of her dreams. The Kings’ dreams were ruthlessly crushed in the second round.

* Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: They had a No. 1 hit with “Tears of a Clown.” Kings fans have never experienced No. 1, but they have shed many tears over these clowns.

* Miracle-Gro: Helps many plants grow bigger and healthier. The Kings’ Stanley Cup hopes died on the vine.

* Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff: The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Kings lose in the second round! The Kings lose in the second round!

Maybe it is time to reclassify April 10, 1982. Accuracy in reporting and all that. How about: “Nothing Bad Happened to the Kings on This Day.”

Oh doctor!

New York Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer is hopeful of returning to the broadcast booth sometime this season after undergoing brain surgery in December.

“The first thing I asked [the surgeon] was if he was a Yankee fan,” Murcer told the New York Daily News. “And he said he was a Yankee fan, and I said, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

But what if the doctor had admitted to being a Red Sox fan? Murcer: “I would have said, ‘Sayonara.’ ”

Oh doctor! 2.0

Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, to the Akron (Ohio ) Beacon Journal, after one of the team’s minor league physicians backed into his car at the Cleveland Indians’ spring-training complex: “I hope to hell he’s a lot better doctor than he is a driver.”

Trivia answer

Steve Bozek, on a rebound, with five seconds left in regulation. Daryl Evans scored the winner at 2:35 of overtime.

And finally

Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Paul Maurice, to the Toronto Sun, on his team’s maddening knack for blowing leads: “We have a lot of young players who make some great plays, and we have a lot of young players who make some bad plays ... and sometimes it’s the same player.”

mike.penner@latimes.com