Kings Blow a Lead, Then Settle for Tie

Fan reaction to Wayne Gretzky’s first appearance at the Forum since the week-long controversy over his possible trade was somewhat muted. No real cheers or boos when he skated on the ice for his first shift.

By the time the Kings completed their 5-5 tie against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, the crowd of 12,235 had showed plenty of support for Gretzky and his teammates.

After all, it was a rare point after a prolonged slide. The Kings (16-19-11) picked up their first point in four games, and it was also their first against Calgary in three meetings.

Flame forward Theoren Fleury and center German Titov kept their team in the game, Titov with a goal and four assists and Floury with a four-point night, three goals and an assist. It was his second hat trick against the Kings this season.

As for Gretzky, who had two assists, there wasn’t a total lack of spectator feeling. Later in the game, one fan registered some sentiment, holding up a banner that read: Kings If You Trade Gretzky, I’ll Trade My Season Tickets.

“Any time you’re at home and you’re up by two goals late in the game, you figure you’ve got the points,” said forward Tony Granato. “But you have to give Calgary a lot of credit because they didn’t stop at all, all night. We saw them a month or so ago, and they looked like they were discouraged, but tonight they played a real good game.”

The tie did not come easily. Calgary built a 2-0 lead before the Kings stirred with a strong second period, scoring four goals to take a 4-3 lead.

They made it 5-3 early in the third period.

But then the Flames came back, replying with late pressure to tie it, 5-5, with two goals in the last 6:45. Fleury finished off his hat trick at 13:15, taking advantage of a scramble in front of King goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who faced 40 shots.

It was Fleury’s 22nd goal of the season.

With 2:46 to play in regulation, left wing Gary Roberts tied it, 5-5, by out-fighting King defenseman Rob Cowie for position in front of the net. Roberts, whose rapid recovery from neck surgery has been nothing short of amazing, has five goals and nine points in four games.

The Kings looked strong at times. Though hit with yet another key injury--right wing Rick Tocchet sat out because of a bruised left shoulder--the Kings were bolstered by the return of forward Jari Kurri, who played his first game since Dec. 20, after having suffered a broken right thumb.

Kurri looked sharp, greatly helping the power play and scoring his eighth goal of the season at 11:12 of the second period. The goal was the 573rd of his career and a personal milestone, moving Kurri into a seventh-place tie with Mike Bossy on the NHL’s all-time goal list.

Kurri added an assist on Robert Lang’s third-period short-handed goal at 12:17, which made it 5-3. Also scoring for the Kings were forward Kevin Todd (his 12th of the season), who has 13 points in the last 11 games; John Druce (sixth) and defenseman John Slaney (third of the season).

King Notes

The All-Star break--the Kings don’t play until Monday in New York against the Rangers--should give a handful of players a chance to recuperate. Those who have been out of the lineup include defenseman Marty McSorley (pulled groin), forward Pat Conacher (strained lower back) and rookie defenseman Aki Berg (strained left shoulder). . . . King Coach Larry Robinson spoke about the difficulty of trying to make trades, especially at this point in the season. “Well, that’s fine and dandy to say,” he said. “We can go right out and say, ‘OK, we’ll take Ray Bourque and take Mark Messier and will take Jaromir Jagr. I’d love to have them, but it doesn’t work that way.”