Still the Kings’ Crown Jewel

Viewed through the prism of time and a grainy videotape, the Kings’ 1982 “Miracle on Manchester” playoff comeback seems even more miraculous two decades later.

Happy to squeeze into the playoffs after a terrible season, the Kings redeemed themselves when a two-goal, two-assist performance by 21-year-old rookie Daryl Evans led them to a 10-8 upset of the Edmonton Oilers in the opener of their best-of-five series. They played well in Game 2, but a stinging 3-2 overtime loss figured to be their last gasp of the 1982 playoffs.

The Oilers, after all, were young, swift and skillful and had racked up 111 points that season, 48 more than the Kings. Dodging defenders as if they were table-hockey figurines, the Oilers built a 5-0 lead after two periods of Game 3 at the Forum.

Boos from the fans ushered the Kings off the ice. Boos from the Oilers, led by the taunts of tough guy Dave Lumley, greeted them when they returned.

“The feeling was, ‘Let’s not make it 10-0,’” said Jim Fox, then another young King forward. “We really worried about getting embarrassed.”

Owner Jerry Buss left during the third period. Some King veterans, soured by past playoff failures, probably wanted to join him.

“It was almost like we had two teams,” Evans said. “The old guys were a beaten bunch. They realized what a good team it was playing against us, and we really hadn’t. We were willing to go in and give it our best shot and see what happens.”

Their best shot became the Miracle on Manchester, a 6-5 victory capped by Evans’ goal 2:35 into overtime 20 years ago today. He couldn’t know then his NHL career would be brief, or that goal would be its pinnacle. Or that he would be asked about it nearly every day, and become the custodian of the Kings’ most cherished memory.

“It’s amazing to me, the impact of one goal,” said Evans, who does radio color commentary for the Kings and oversees hockey programs at their El Segundo training center. “It makes people believe anything really can happen.”

It was David beating Goliath, with a wrist shot instead of a slingshot.

“We were outclassed, out-talented, out-everythinged,” said Charlie Simmer, who played with Dave Taylor and Marcel Dionne on the Kings’ Triple Crown line.

“The guys didn’t quit. There was a lot of pride at stake and a lot of talking, a lot of, ‘We’ll see you guys later.’ It was an example of the little guy that worked hard and was able to come away with the victory.”

History has added weight to their feat. Two years later the Oilers, with largely the same team, began a run of five Stanley Cup titles in seven years. The Kings missed the playoffs the next two seasons and have gotten beyond the third round of the playoffs once in 34 seasons, losing the 1993 Stanley Cup finals to Montreal.

“That was one of the biggest learning experiences we had,” said Kevin Lowe, then an Oiler defenseman and now the team’s general manager. “If we hadn’t lost that series, I don’t think we would have gone on to do what we did.”

Eager for a goal or two to salvage self-respect, the Kings gambled on offense in the third period and gave up a parade of scoring chances. Brent Hughes hit the post once and was foiled on breakaways twice; Wayne Gretzky shot wide on a solo chance. “If we’d scored, that would have broken their backs,” Lowe said.

The Kings finally solved goalie Grant Fuhr at 2:46 of the third period, when Jay Wells used Taylor as a screen on a shot from the right side. Doug Smith converted a power-play rebound at 5:58, and Simmer banked a shot home at 14:38 to make it 5-3.

Their big break came when Garry Unger high-sticked King captain Dave Lewis at the 15-minute mark and drew a five-minute penalty. Lewis got a minor, leaving the teams four-on-four when Mark Hardy took a pass from Steve Bozek and rifled a shot past Fuhr from the top of the slot at 15:59.

Suddenly, the Oilers weren’t so cocky anymore.

“I don’t think we were really worried until it was 5-4,” Lowe said, “and then, it was more disappointment and, ‘How dumb can we be to let a team back in it?’”

Said Fox: “I don’t think winning was even on our minds until it was 5-3. When you’re down, 5-0, you’re thinking about the rest of the series and making them think you’re a worthy opponent.”

Pressing for the tying goal, King Coach Don Perry pulled goalie Mario Lessard in favor of a sixth attacker, an energetic and rested Fox. Dashing off the bench toward Gretzky, who had the puck near the boards, Fox startled the game’s premier player and stole the puck. After a scramble and a shot by Hardy, Bozek prodded it in with five seconds remaining in the period.

“Maybe he was expecting body contact,” Fox said of Gretzky. “I just went at the puck and poked it. I knew how much time was left. It was all or nothing.”

No one was happier than Evans, who had gone to the locker room after getting a 10-minute misconduct in a brawl at 10:04 of the third period. He listened to the radio and hoped for the impossible.

“I remember going in and guys started getting undressed,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘Hang tight.’ Guys were saying, ‘Get your stuff off,’ but I was saying and thinking, ‘Hang tight.’

“The last minute seemed like it took forever. Gretz had the puck and Foxy poked it away, and the next thing you know the shot went back to the point and Bozek tips it in. It was, ‘Wow. It happened.’ You almost go into shock there for a minute in the locker room and then you think, ‘I’m going to get a chance to play again.’”

They almost wasted the chance when Lessard left his crease to chase a loose puck and Mark Messier sent a backhander wide of the empty net 27 seconds into overtime. But they hung on, getting a faceoff in Edmonton’s end after Fuhr gloved a long, knuckling shot by Smith.

Messier and Smith lined up in the right circle, with Evans, a left-handed shooter, stationed at the right-wing boards. Smith won the faceoff and lifted Messier’s stick, allowing Evans to pounce on the puck and rip a shot in the sliver of daylight between the grappling bodies of Smith and Messier.

The Forum went wild as the Kings, in garish gold, piled on Evans and slid into the end boards in a happy heap. “After watching it over and over I still say, ‘How did it go in?’” he said. “I remember coming out to be introduced as the first star and the ice was covered with garbage. People had thrown all kinds of things. But I never touched a piece. It was like I was skating on air.”

The euphoria was fleeting. The Kings lost Game 4 at home, 3-2, and won the series with a 7-4 rout at Edmonton but lost to the Vancouver Canucks in five games in the next round. They didn’t win another playoff series until 1989, when they upset the defending champion Oilers. By then, Gretzky had been traded to the Kings.

“They definitely matured after that year and focused on being a great team instead of being brash,” Simmer said of the Oilers. “We won the game and the series, but they won five Stanley Cups. For us, in our little world, it was a big victory, but we didn’t go anyplace after that.”

Hardy also is rueful. “It was a great thing for this organization, and it’s something you can look back and say you’ll never forget,” he said, “but I sure would have liked to have had one of those Stanley Cup rings.”

Evans too regrets what he and the Kings never did. But he has come to terms with it, appreciating the magic of his one great moment 20 years ago.

“I feel fortunate to have been part of a game that people remember a great number of years later,” he said. “I didn’t accomplish all I wanted to accomplish playing. But the short time I did put in, I wouldn’t change a thing.”