Kings Are Bitten Again by Land That Feeds Them : Hockey: Edmonton wins, 3-0, and eliminates L.A. from the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

EDMONTON, Canada —  Once again, they looked to Edmonton to build a winner.

Once again, they came home from Edmonton a loser.

Once again Tuesday night, the Kings boarded their private jet at Edmonton International Airport to take their final journey of a shattered season.

This time, the Kings were eliminated by the Oilers in the sixth game of their Smythe Division semifinal series, losing, 3-0, before 16,323 at Northlands Coliseum to lose the series, 4-2.

After the game, King center Wayne Gretzky, who had only seven points during the series, revealed he has been playing with torn rib cartilage since the next-to-last game of the regular season.

“It didn’t really bother my game,” he said.

It is the third consecutive year Gretzky has been injured for the postseason.

It’s also the third consecutive year Edmonton has taken the Kings out of the playoffs, the second consecutive season they have had to take the long trip home from Edmonton after elimination.

But this one hurt the worst. In the two previous years, the Kings were saddled with injuries.

This season was different.

It was the Oilers whose ranks were depleted. Out with injuries were defensemen Kevin Lowe, Craig Muni and Geoff Smith and wings Craig Simpson and Anatoli Semenov. Gone via trades were veterans Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr and Glenn Anderson.

Three other former Oilers--wing Jari Kurri and defensemen Paul Coffey and Charlie Huddy--became Kings this season, joining former Oilers Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley.

None of it mattered, though, in the end.

“It’s definitely the most embarrassing series of my career,” said King wing Luc Robitaille. “We should still be playing. We should have won.

“Most of their guys were missing or hurt and they still found a way to win. We didn’t find a way to win. I just feel real bad about it. Mr. McNall (team owner Bruce) has done a lot for us and to go out in the first round, especially against Edmonton, is real embarrassing.”

The Kings have never gotten beyond the second round, and this didn’t figure to be the year.The club was inconsistent from the start after winning the Smythe Division title a year ago.

It seemed to finally put it together in mid-March, winning eight consecutive games.

But never again, right up to the final buzzer Tuesday, did they even win two in a row.

Asked if this was his most disappointing season, goalie Kelly Hrudey replied, “No question, it’s No. 1. We’re underachievers. All of us underachieved.”

There certainly figures to be changes as a result. King Coach Tom Webster’s job is in jeopardy. So is the future of several players.

The Kings were flat in losing the series opener and were never able to pull ahead of the Oilers after that.

Tuesday was no exception.

Bill Ranford was brilliant in goal, saving 26 shots to record the second playoff shutout of his career. His last one came on April 18, 1990--against the Kings.

The first Edmonton goal came after Paul Coffey turned the puck over in the Kings’ zone.

Petr Klima gained control and whipped the puck to Josef Beranek in the right circle. Beranek spun and fired the puck past Hrudey just inside the right post for his second goal ofthe series.

Before the period was over, Edmonton was ahead by 2-0 after Joe Murphy scored his third goalof the series on a two-on-one rush.

In the second period, David Maley beat Peter Ahola to the puck behind the Kings’ net and back-handed it into the slot. Martin Gelinas, barely out of the reach of Rob Blake, converted the pass into his first goal of the series, putting the puck between Hrudey’s pads.

The Kings outshot the Oilers by 26-24 and blanked them on six power-play attempts.

“This was the finest play-off game we’ve ever played,” Oiler Coach Ted Green said.

When it was over, the joyous Oilers surrounded Ranford in a corner of the ice and celebrated yet another triumph over their former mates.

Gretzky stood in the center of the ice and stared at the celebration stoically.

He had been there himself so many times before.

King Notes

King owner Bruce McNall skipped the game. He stayed back in Los Angeles, honoring a year-old commitment to hold a political fund-raiser at his home. . . . Edmonton defenseman Kevin Lowe sat out Tuesday night’s game because of a groin pull. The injury had cost Lowe the first four games of the series. He lasted only two periods of Game 5 before the problem flared up again. Fellow defenseman Geoff Smith sat out because of a sprained shoulder. Oilers Craig Simpson and Anatoli Semenov also sat out because of shoulder injuries.