Apprehension Grows in Another Kings’ Loss

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. â€” 

What will stop the slow, painful slide of the Kings, who lost their third in a row Sunday night, 5-2, to the New Jersey Devils and dropped to 17-19-7?

The owner, Bruce McNall, threatened to step from the team presidency, but it hasn’t helped.

The general manager, Rogie Vachon, threatened to make trades, but that hasn’t helped.

The coach, Tom Webster, has started benching people.

But even that hasn’t helped.

So what’s left?

Perhaps fear. It has finally seeped into the minds of the Kings that threats are about to be replaced by action if things don’t turn around.

And soon.

“Nobody’s secure here now,� wing Luc Robitaille said after Sunday’s debacle. “Everybody’s scared. Management is not going to stay patient. That’s the way the game is. If you don’t win, things happen.�

A lot of things happened to the Kings on the just-completed four-game trip, most of them bad.

Sunday, the problems were a power play that produced nothing in eight tries, and goalie Daniel Berthiaume, whose confidence is so badly shattered, he would have a tough time stopping shots from the fans trying to win a car between periods.

Berthiaume refused to talk to reporters after the game, sending word that he had nothing to say.

He said it all on the ice: Three shots against him and two goals.

Seven minutes into the game, played before a Meadowlands Arena crowd of 13,489, Valeri Zelepukin had scored his fourth goal, Claude Vilgrain had his 12th and Berthiaume had his usual seat back on the bench.

Kelly Hrudey came on in relief, but the Kings never recovered.

Berthiaume is 1-5 in his last six decisions. And that’s not counting Sunday when Hrudey got the loss because, under NHL rules, the winning goal, in this case New Jersey’s third, determines the losing goalie.

But blaming Berthiaume for this loss is like blaming President Bush for a flu epidemic. Berthiaume is one cog in a machine that seems unable to function smoothly for any length of time.

The Kings opened this trip with an victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Kings then lost to the Philadelphia Flyers when their offense deserted them in the third period. They lost to the Washington Capitals when their special teams collapsed, permitting three power-play goals and three short-handed goals.

And through it all, there have been a disturbing number of two-on-ones against them. It seems every time Hrudey has looked up in recent days, he has been faced with two opposing skaters bearing down on him with only a single defender for protection.

“I’ve got to worry about stopping the puck,� Hrudey said. “To have any kind of longevity in this league, you can’t look elsewhere. You’ve got to look at yourself.�

The Kings still had a chance to pull out the game after Hrudey skated in. Jari Kurri scored his 16th goal to leave the Kings down, 2-1, at the end of the first period.

But then the Devils reeled off three goals in the second--Peter Stastny’s 22nd, Laurie Boschman’s seventh and Scott Stevens’ 11th--to put the game out of reach. Stastny and Stevens scored on two-on-one situations.

It wasn’t just a case of the Kings playing poorly. New Jersey has been playing well. This victory was the Devils’ fifth in their last six games, making their record 22-15-6. Goalie Chris Terreri was particularly effective Sunday, stopping 39 shots after going 0-2-2 in his last four games.

The Kings Marty McSorley closed out the scoring with his fifth goal.

Thinking back to Friday’s nightmare, Webster said afterward: “The good news is, they didn’t score on our power plays.�

These days, that will have to qualify as a victory.

King Notes

King defenseman Brian Benning, benched in the third period by Coach Tom Webster Friday night against Washington, was back in the lineup. . . . The Devils announced a trade before the game, exchanging left wings with the Edmonton Oilers. David Maley goes to Edmonton for Troy Mallette, who had appeared in 15 games for the Oilers after coming to the club in September from the New York Rangers as compensation for Adam Graves.