Flames Stop Kings and Gretzky Cold : Hockey: Center doesn’t take a shot on goal as Los Angeles is shut out for the first time since 1986.

The Kings took a brutal beating at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champions Wednesday night before what started out as a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Forum. The place was half empty by the time the final buzzer sounded on the Calgary Flames’ 5-0 victory, but those who saw it to the end booed the Kings off the ice.

Definitely brutal.

The Kings had not been shut out in a regular-season game in more than three years, not since being shut out by Detroit on March 12, 1986. The Kings had the league’s second-longest streak without being shut out stopped at 261 games. So Calgary’s streak of 264 games--from Nov. 12, 1981, to Jan. 11, 1985--without a shutout will be safe in the record books for a while.

Wayne Gretzky, who in his last game at the Forum was held without a point, was held without so much as a shot on goal. It was the first time Gretzky did not have a shot on goal as a King at the Forum. Further records were not immediately available.

That is some indication of the help the Flames gave Rick Wamsley, who was filling in for Calgary’s top goalie, Mike Vernon.

The win increased Calgary’s lead to five points in the Smythe Division with a record of 6-2-3. The Kings are 5-5-0.

What ever happened to the anticipated Kings-Flames rivalry that is supposed to be developing? Aren’t the Kings supposed to be challenging the Flames on the road to the Stanley Cup?

Starting when?

The Flames swept the Kings in four games last spring en route to their Stanley Cup victory. The Kings also had lost the last four regular-season games to Calgary last season.

“This is very frustrating for us,” Gretzky said. “We know we can play good hockey for 60 minutes. We know we can play better hockey.”

Everybody knows the Kings can at least score a goal, right?

“It seems like we don’t want to get an ugly goal,” Larry Robinson said. “Sometimes you need to get one . . . off your head, anything that goes in. We were passing off on some good chances.”

Nothing goes in that way.

After playing to a 0-0 standoff through the first period, it was starting to look like a playoff-intense defensive battle.

But then the Flames took off.

In the second period, the Flames struck for two goals in a span of 1 minute 30 seconds.

Paul Ranhim checked Tom Laidlaw into the boards, knocking the puck loose. Theoren Fleury picked it up, skated in front of the net and flipped the puck past sprawling King goalie Kelly Hrudey at 7:41 of the second period.

Later an interference call on Bernie Nicholls gave the Flames a power play. They took the advantage, scoring when Joe Nieuwendyk followed up a slap shot launched by high-scoring defenseman Al MacInnis from the blue line. Nieuwendyk lifted the rebound over Hrudey at 9:11.

The Flames’ lead went to 3-0 at 14:06 of the period when Jiri Hrdina skated hard down the right side and scored off a pass from Doug Gilmour, who was coming fast down the left. Hrdina’s shot went over Hrudey’s outstretched glove.

In the third period, Joey Mullen worked his way between King defensemen Steve Duchesne and Tim Watters to skate in on Hrudey for the shot that gave the Flames their 4-0 lead at 3:40.

Flame defenseman Jamie Macoun made it 5-0 at 13:26 of the third period, unassisted, when he scored off a faceoff to Hrudey’s right.

“We were just flat,” Hrudey said. “There’s no doubt about that. . . . We all had an off night.

“At a time like this, we just have to stick together. With this team, we know that these times are not going to last. The best thing about it is that we’re all older guys and we realize the situation. We’ve all been around a long time. We’ve been through stretches like this.

“We know we’ll come out of it.”

Despite Calgary’s recent domination of the Kings, Hrudey doesn’t see intimidation as a factor. “We can play with the best of them when we want to, but the key is--when we want to,” Hrudey said. “This happens all the time in sports. You think a team should be up and it’s not. You would think we’d be up for Calgary, if anyone. I can’t explain why we weren’t.”

Said Calgary Coach Terry Crisp: “One of the greatest motivators must be fear of coming into L.A.’s building, fear of the fact that they have a potent offensive hockey club and fear of the fact that we didn’t want to let them loose and let them score.”

King Notes

Wayne Gretzky designated San Francisco earthquake relief as the charity to get the $500 he won for being named the National Hockey League player of the week. . . . Marty McSorley, a defenseman since the start of the season, played right wing at Chicago Sunday but rejoined the defensemen against Calgary. . . . The Flames’ top goaltender, Mike Vernon, was left home to recover from a sore back. . . . The Kings will be on the road for their next six games.