Gretzky Gets Record; Kings Get 5-3 Loss

Wayne Gretzky left his idol behind in the first period, and the Edmonton Oilers left the Kings behind in the third period Tuesday night at the Northlands Coliseum.

On a night when Gretzky overtook Gordie Howe to become the National Hockey League’s all-time assist leader, the Oilers scored three third-period goals without his help to beat the Kings, 5-3, before a crowd of 16,615.

The Oilers broke a 2-2 tie in the last 20 minutes, getting goals from Charlie Huddy, Craig Simpson and Jari Kurri.

The night, though, belonged to Gretzky, whose assist on a first-period goal by Kurri was the 1,050th of his nine-year NHL career.

Gretzky needed only 681 games to break the record, which Howe established in 26 seasons and 1,767 games.

“It was nice to get it over with and do it,” said Gretzky, whose bid to overtake Howe was put on hold when he was forced to miss three games after injuring his left eye in a game Feb. 19 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Gretzky, 27, returned to the lineup and scored a goal Sunday night in a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, but he failed to get an assist.

He wasted little time against the Kings, assisting on Kurri’s goal at 12:44 of the first period.

“I’ve played with a lot of great players and a lot of great teams, and that’s how you accomplish these things,” Gretzky said. “I guess it was only fitting that Jari scored the goal because we’ve been together the longest and the most.”

Gretzky circled behind the net to pick up a loose puck on the right side and sent it in front to Kurri, who banged it past goaltender Rollie Melanson from the left side of the crease.

“I guess the quickest thought that came to my mind was that I was glad it was Jari,” said Gretzky, who has assisted on 298 of Kurri’s 387 career goals. “He’s meant a lot to my career, but sometimes he takes a little heat for playing with me.”

Kurri’s goal gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead and was scored only 18 seconds after Gretzky had knocked in a rebound of a shot by Esa Tikkanen.

Bernie Nicholls, who had scored on a pass from Jim Fox to give the Kings an early 1-0 lead, pulled the Kings even with 3:46 left in the first period, taking a pass from behind the net by Phil Sykes and scoring from the slot.

After a scoreless second period, the Oilers scored twice in the first 6 minutes 22 seconds of the third period to open a 4-2 lead.

Huddy scored on a 45-foot from the right point at 2:07, beating Melanson with a shot that deflected off the stick of the Kings’ Paul Fenton.

“It was going low to the glove side, and I wanted to steer it into the corner,” Melanson said. “It wound up going low to the stick side.”

At 6:22, with Nicholls in the penalty box for holding, Simpson scored his 43rd goal. Standing alone just outside the crease to the left of the net, Simpson was spotted by Mark Messier, whose pass from the right corner slid through the slot.

“We got our signals crossed,” Melanson said. “I yelled that a guy was open, and both Dean (Kennedy) and Ron (Duguay) were there. It takes just a split-second not to pick up a guy, and the puck’s in the net.”

The Oilers seemed to have the game won at that point, but Jimmy Carson scored for the Kings with 12:35 left, firing a 50-foot shot from the left-wing boards over the left shoulder of Oiler goaltender Grant Fuhr.

That cut the Edmonton lead to 3-2, but the Oilers regained a two-goal advantage when Kurri scored his second goal with 10:27 left. Kurri’s shot from the left circle deflected off Melanson and glanced off the inside of the right post before settling into the net.

“I looked for somebody wide (to the right), and when I looked back, he had already shot it,” Melanson said. “I got caught in between. It was a bad goal. It was my fault.”

King Notes

Neither Gordie Howe, NHL President John Ziegler nor Wayne Gretzky’s fiancee, actress Janet Jones, attended the game. A taped message from Howe was played for the crowd, which fell 887 short of a sellout although the game was not televised locally. . . . Said Howe: “Thank you for allowing me to carry the record for a while, and there’s no one I’d rather see break it than yourself, and there’s another kid in Philadelphia, but he’s way behind.” Howe’s son, Mark, plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. . . . Gretzky has 111 assists in 62 games against the Kings.

Mike Allison sat out because of a groin injury. . . . Jay Wells has missed 10 games with a groin injury. . . . The Kings are 4-20-7 at the Northlands Coliseum. . . . Defenseman Randy Gregg, who left the Oilers last summer to join the Canadian Olympic team, is expected to play for the Oilers Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. . . . The Oilers are entertaining offers for goaltender Andy Moog, who also played for Team Canada, but has said that he will not return because he no longer wants to play a supporting role to Grant Fuhr. However, Glen Sather, the Oilers’ coach and general manager, said he may not trade Moog, forcing him to sit out the rest of the season. “He’s using the rules to the best of his ability, and that’s good business,” Moog told the Edmonton Sun. “It’s just too bad there are people involved.”