Kings Lose Another at Forum : Hockey: Sundin sparks Maple Leafs’ 5-3 victory. Cohen denies offering coach and general manager positions to Milbury.

The six-week winless drought at the Forum dragged and droned on as the Kings lost, 5-3, to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, leaving them without a victory at home since Feb. 4 against Detroit.

Even into the third period, the Kings (8-13-5, 2-9-3 at home) gave the sellout crowd of 16,005 some hope as they trailed, 2-1, after 40 minutes. But the Maple Leafs, scoring three third-period goals, beat the Kings for the first time in four games.

The winless streak at home reached eight games (0-6-2), one shy of the club record, set 1969-70 and equaled in 1985-86.

Toronto forward Mats Sundin scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season, the second coming on an empty-netter with 33 seconds remaining, and added a second-period assist. Former King Warren Rychel added two assists.

Scoring for the Kings were Tony Granato (sixth of the season), Eric Lacroix (fifth) and John Druce (eighth). Wayne Gretzky had two assists.

Meanwhile, the off-ice machinations continued at the Forum. During Saturday’s game, King chairman and co-owner Joe Cohen denied that he offered the dual job of general manager and coach last weekend to ESPN hockey analyst Mike Milbury, former assistant general manager of the Boston Bruins. Two NHL sources told The Times that such an offer had transpired, but Milbury immediately turned it down.

“The Kings have not made any offers to anyone except for an offer to Rogie Vachon, which he accepted this week,� said Cohen, who had declined comment on Friday.

Had he interviewed Milbury?

“We’re always talking to the best people in the business,� Cohen said. “We have to continue talking to the best people we can. But Barry Melrose is the coach of the Kings and the Kings are playing well. And Sam (McMaster) is the GM.�

Cohen said he intends to keep Melrose and McMaster in their respective positions for the immediate future, a statement perhaps designed to quell the emotional sentiments in the dressing room.

Said Gretzky: “This was a very disheartening loss. A win tonight and we’re right in the middle of the pack. We had a good road trip and a good game against St. Louis, but tonight we didn’t play with the same effort consistently.�

The Maple Leafs have been having problems of their own this season, though not as pronounced as the Kings’. Goaltender Damian Rhodes, who faced 41 shots, has not lost in three starts, receiving a chance after Felix Potvin played what was deemed a sub-par game in a 4-1 loss to the Kings on Monday in Toronto. Rhodes recorded a victory over San Jose on Wednesday and a tie against the Mighty Ducks on Friday.

King Notes

King enforcer Troy Crowder’s appearance against the Maple Leafs was a short one, as he was given five-minute major and a game misconduct for instigating a fight against Toronto left wing Bill Berg at 10:21 of the first period. . . . Forward Gary Shuchuk was a healthy scratch.

Times staff writer Helene Elliott contributed to this story.