Kings Fight to Tie but End Up Being Burned by Flames

After the Kings’ 6-3 loss to Smythe Division rival Calgary Saturday night at the Forum, those who sought to bring solace to the Los Angeler players were left with nothing to say.

The Kings played well, they played hard, but they came away with nothing except the belief that the game turned on a controversial call by an official.

A power-play goal late in the third period broke a 3-3 tie and laid the groundwork for Calgary’s victory. Two empty-net goals in the last 30 seconds of the game made the defeat appear worse than it was.

The outlook isn’t any brighter for the Kings (13-16-2), who had hoped to gain on Winnipeg in the division. They play first-place Edmonton tonight and face a schedule that gets no easier. Calgary, meanwhile, returns home after a five-game trip that saw the Flames improve to 17-13-1.

Little of that concerned King Coach Pat Quinn, who was still trying to sort out what happened when team captain Dave Taylor was called for roughing at 11:48 of the third period with the score 3-3. While Taylor sat in the box, Paul Reinhart scored the game-winning goal.

“The officiating in the third period was horrible,” Quinn said. “But you probably don’t want to say anything, we’ll probably get the same guys tomorrow.”

The penalty was almost a sure goal. Although the Flames converted only one of four power plays, it was little indication of the team’s strength in that department. Calgary is ranked No. 2 in the league in power plays.

Taylor concedes he hit Tim Hunter but said he did not strike the first blow. “He had elbowed me when I stood in front of the net,” Taylor said. “Obviously, the official didn’t see that. It was a bad move on my part to retaliate. I pushed him on the back of the head.”

The King frustration knows no bounds. The team started the game well, receded, then surged again in the third period.

The game-tying goal came from a predictable source--dependable Luc Robitaille, who is capable of getting off a respectable shot even while off balance.

His goal came when he had control of the puck on the left side but appeared to be tripped. As he was sliding on the ice, Robitaille steered the puck in from an oblique angle.

“He just didn’t quit on it,” Quinn said. “He was obviously lucky, but other guys might have said, ‘Oh, I’ve been tripped, I’m out of it.’ That’s why he gets the goals--he fights his way through checks.”

As Robitaille skated back to the King bench, the 9,870 fans gave both the player and his team an ovation. The celebration was premature.

The roughing penalty on Taylor, which Quinn and most of the Kings vehemently argued, led to Reinhart’s game-winning goal.

Mike Bullard scored an empty-net goal with 30 seconds left, and Joel Otto scored the other with two seconds left.

The King forwards, properly chastised after their pweak effort against the Rangers in New York, came out with a renewed will to win.

The line of Bob Bourne, Joe Paterson and Sean McKenna--the best checking line the Kings can muster--found itself up against a Flame line anchored by the 6-foot 4-inch, 220-pound Otto.

After one shift of watching King policemen in action, few Flame skaters challenged as much as they had in two earlier games with the Kings this season.

The Kings scored at 4:36 on their second shot of the game when Bryan Erickson passed to Jimmy Carson on the left side during a power play. Carson beat Flame goaltender Mike Vernon for his 13th goal of the season, and the Kings led, 1-0.

Calgary tied the score after a mixup between King goalie Darren Eliot and defenseman Jay Wells. Eliot had strayed behind the net to feed the puck to Wells, but the two became entangled, and Eliot could not get back into the crease in time.

The Flames’ Dale Degray had little trouble steering the puck into the vacant net.

After that, Calgary made up for lost time. The Flames outshot the Kings, 10-0, to even the shots on goal in the first period at 11 each.

In the second period, the Calgary forwards did what their King counterparts had done in the first--check aggressively and move the puck around.

The Flames took the lead on Carey Wilson’s goal at 8:03 and went ahead, 3-1, on Hakan Loob’s goal at 9:18.

The Kings were buoyed by an excellent penalty-killing effort by Phil Sykes, then went on to score on defenseman Dean Kennedy’s sharp stick-handling. The goal came at 17:46, and the Flames ended the period holding a 3-2 lead.

King Notes

The Kings will play host to the Edmonton Oilers tonight at 7:30 in a game that matches the two highest-scoring teams in the league. The Oilers lead the Smythe Division with 39 points. . . . King goaltender Darren Eliot came into the game with a five-game win streak, a personal best. . . . Phil Sykes played on the Kings’ Nicholls-Fox line in place of suspended Dave (Tiger) Williams.