Kings Lose, 6-3, Drop Into Tie for Fourth : Whalers Send L.A. Reeling to Its 8th Defeat in Last 11 Games

HARTFORD, Conn. â€”  Forward Sylvain Turgeon scored twice Saturday to lead the Hartford Whalers to their fourth straight National Hockey League victory, a 6-3 decision over the Kings.

The Kings, 2-8-1 in its their last 11 games, fell into a tie with Vancouver, which beat Minnesota, for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Smythe Division and will play at Buffalo tonight to close out a five-game trip.

Hartford, which has won eight of its last 10 games, moved into a tie with the Buffalo Sabres for the fourth and final playoff berth in the tight Adams Division.

The Whalers reversed a two-goal deficit early in the second period en route to two club records--36 wins and 74 points. Hartford goalie Mike Liut made 25 saves.

Hartford took a 3-2 lead in the second period as Mike McEwen, Turgeon and Paul MacDermid scored within a 4:09 span. Kevin Dineen added his 26th goal, Turgeon completed his 11th multiple-goal game and John Anderson added an empty-netter with 55 seconds remaining in the third period.

Stewart Gavin set up McEwen at 1:48 and was joined by Dave Babych when Turgeon hit his 43rd of the season on a power play at 5:36. MacDermid snapped the tie 21 seconds later as he beat the defense to a loose puck and caught Melanson out of position.

In the first period, it took the Kings just three shots in 7:15 to enjoy a two-goal advantage. Jim Fox stole the puck at center ice and beat Liut at 2:25 on the game’s first shot. Bob Mongrain scored on a low shot from the low left circle to make it 2-0.

Jay Wells added a power-play goal in the third period for the Kings.