A Woeful January Ends Well for Kings

For a month, King Coach Tom Webster has been trying to find a cure for what has been ailing his team.

Tuesday night, Webster got sick, leaving midway through a game against the New Jersey Devils at the Forum after developing flu symptoms.

But the Kings got well, perhaps finding that elusive cure in a 5-2 victory before a crowd of 14,032.

One victory does not end a slump, but this was the club’s most impressive performance in a month.

Consider:

--The team had a 1-8-2 mark since New Year’s Day.

--Even in their only victory, the Kings had surrendered four goals to the Detroit Red Wings, second worst club in the NHL.

--The controversial trade of center Bernie Nicholls to the New York Rangers hadn’t yet shown much in the way of positive results. One of the new right wingers, Tony Granato, has been hampered by a groin injury. The other, Tomas Sandstrom, had yet to score.

All that changed Tuesday.

Sandstrom scored two of the Kings’ five goals, and the club went on to beat the co-leaders in the Patrick Division, allowing the fewest goals since beating the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1, almost five weeks ago.

“This was exactly what we needed,” said assistant Coach Cap Raeder, who helped run the team in Webster’s absence. “I still think we can play a hell of a lot better, but it’s a start.”

The Kings can always depend on the Devils for a lift at home. New Jersey is now 1-23-6 at the Forum.

“You can’t think about the trade,” Sandstrom said. “I’m just happy to be out there playing. Everything is new after you are traded, but I feel a lot better after every game.”

For the second game in a row, the Kings started slowly.

They didn’t take a shot on goal through nearly the first five minutes. It was worth the wait.

Wayne Gretzky passed the puck to Sandstrom, who took it on the left side, skated across the blue line to the top of the circle and fired in a 35-foot shot, the puck flying past the stick of New Jersey goalie Sean Burke at 4:41 of the period.

Overall, Sandstrom, has 21 in 52 games.

The assist gave Gretzky 100 points. He has been in triple figures every year since breaking with the old World Hockey Assn. in the 1978-79 season.

The Devils tied the game 1 1/2 minutes into the second period. Bruce Driver took a pass from Alexei Kasatonov, skated up the left side, shot from almost the exact same spot Sandstrom had fired from and achieved the same result.

Driver’s shot got through, just inside the left post and just outside goalie Kelly Hrudey’s stick. Hrudey was in position, but reacted too late.

The goal was just Driver’s sixth in 49 games.

The Kings moved back out in front, 2-1, after putting on a passing clinic. Defenseman Larry Robinson shoved the puck to the right side. Todd Elik centered it for Mikko Makela, who then passed it to Robinson, skating in from the left side of the slot.

Robinson took one shot, blocked by Burke, then got the rebound and scored on his second attempt.

Robinson’s goal, his seventh, came at 4:15.

The Devils moved back into a tie at 9:53, when John MacLean scored his team-high 30th goal, tipping in a shot from the slot by Brendan Shanahan.

MacLean had gone scoreless for two straight games after collecting goals in four in a row.

The Kings went back into the lead on a goal that was all Steve Kasper. He took a pass from Larry Robinson and found himself alone on the breakaway just across the red line.

Kasper skated to the right side of the goal mouth and backhanded the puck in at 15:33 past a diving Burke for his 15th goal.

The Kings padded their lead with just 28 seconds remaining in the period. Marty McSorley made it 4-2 with a shot from the right circle that went by two Devil defenders and over Burke’s glove.

It was McSorley’s 10th goal, equaling his total for last season.

Sandstrom scored on a power play in the final period.

“We’re starved for victories,” said Hrudey, who played an excellent game in goal, facing 34 shots and stopping 32. In the final period, he made two great one-handed saves.

For the first time in awhile, he smiled as he spoke to reporters.

Tom Webster had to be smiling, too.

Kings Notes

This was the final game for New Jersey right wing Brendan Shanahan before the start of a five-game suspension. Shanahan’s unscheduled vacation is the result of a high-sticking incident with Michel Petit of the Quebec Nordiques in mid-January . . . Larry Robinson’s two points Thursday gave him 915 for his career, tying him for second with Bobby Orr on the all-time list for defensemen behind Denis Potvin.