Webster Makes No Difference : Kings: Head coach returns, but team continues poor play in 5-2 loss to Canadiens.

Kings’ management has said all along that coaching wasn’t the team’s problem.

The Kings showed that Wednesday night, proving they can look just as bad with Tom Webster behind the bench as they did without him.

The Kings welcomed Webster back after a month-long absence because of an ear injury with a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum.

After suffering through his team’s slide toward the bottom of the Smythe Division in the comfort of his den via television, Webster found watching his club up close and personal a discomforting experience.

“It’s funny,” he said, “From afar, you think you have all of the answers. But it’s different when you’re down there behind the bench, sharing all the highs and lows.”

There were mostly lows Wednesday as the Kings lost their fourth game in a row. Montreal (36-26-7) broke a three-game losing streak of its own with the victory, dropping the Kings to 28-34-6.

The Kings weren’t in this game for long.

Stephane Richer’s first goal of the evening, at 3:02 of the opening period, gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.

Shayne Corson, falling to the ice at the red line, shoved the puck to Richer, who skated free on the breakaway and jammed the puck through a helpless Ron Scott’s pads from just a few feet away.

The Kings got even on Petr Prajsler’s third goal, a shot from the right circle that sailed over Patrick Roy’s right shoulder at 18:58.

That put the Kings back in the game. For 15 seconds.

Before the cheers of the sellout crowd of 16,005 had even faded, Montreal was back out in front, thanks to Richer.

After Brian Skrudland got a loose puck away from Luc Robitaille on the right boards, he centered it for Richer, who made the best of another short shot to score his team-leading 43rd goal.

The Canadiens extended their lead 2:11 into the second period on a power play. Mike Keane scored off a rebound, flipping the puck over Scott for his ninth goal, but first on a power play.

At 11:01, the Canadiens added to their lead with Courtnall putting the puck into the net over Scott’s glove from the right side.

Wayne Gretzky added to his league-leading point total with his 37th goal to bring the Kings closer at 4-2 at 17:14 of the second period. Steve Kasper’s pass from the right side sailed across the middle to Gretzky, who was charging in from the left. The league’s all-time scorer squeezed the puck through on the short side.

King Notes

King defenseman Brian Benning, who underwent an emergency appendectomy Tuesday night, will be out at least the rest of the month, which means the remainder of the regular season. . . . The Kings hope to have defensemen Tom Laidlaw (knee sprain) and Larry Robinson (stomach disorder) back by Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Right wing Tomas Sandstrom also hopes to be playing by then. Sandstrom has recovered quickly from the facial fracture and scratched cornea he suffered in last Wednesday’s brawl with the Edmonton Oilers.