Kings Make Oilers Happy Family Again : They Fall, 9-2, to Team That Was in Turmoil After Stanley Cup Win

It didn’t take long for the Edmonton Oilers to put their Summer of Discontent behind them.

The Oilers, whose internal squabbles almost overshadowed their third Stanley Cup championship last summer, routed the Kings, 9-2, Sunday night before a crowd of 10,237 at the Forum.

Glenn Anderson scored three goals for his 15th career hat trick, Mark Messier had 2 goals and 1 assist and Wayne Gretzky had 1 goal and 3 assists for the Oilers, who equaled a club record by scoring five power-play goals.

The Kings, who failed to convert any of their nine power-play opportunities, also equaled a club record, albeit a dubious one. They hadn’t given up as many power-play goals since Nov. 16, 1982, when they allowed five in an 8-3 loss to the Minnesota North Stars.

“They don’t get much worse,” King Coach Mike Murphy said. “We met an unfriendly giant out there.

“I’m disappointed. (We) didn’t appear to be mentally ready. (We) didn’t appear to be physicall ready. That’s obviously my job, and we’ll have to make the adjustments needed. . . .

“They gave us a . . . clinic out there.”

The Oilers have been embroiled in turmoil since beating the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games last May to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four seasons.

Goaltender Andy Moog, who carried the bulk of the load during the regular season but was used only twice in the playoffs, joined the Canadian Olympic team, as did defenseman Randy Gregg.

Winger Kent Nilsson and defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen, instrumental down the stretch last season, both returned to Europe.

Messier, an All-Star center and the league’s No. 3 scorer last season, and center Mike Krushelnyski ended long contract holdouts last week, but both missed training camp.

And Paul Coffey, two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman, remains home with his parents in Toronto, unhappy with his contract.

“It’s been a very complicated summer,” Glen Sather, the Oilers’ president, general manager and coach, told Edmonton reporters last week.

After a ceremony last Friday at Edmonton in which the Stanley Cup was lowered from the rafters and their third championship banner was raised, the Oilers lost their opening game to the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1.

“For some reason, we were nervous,” Sather said afterward.

They skated free and easy against the Kings, getting a power-play goal from Messier just 43 seconds into the game, opening a 3-1 lead in the first period and chasing King goaltender Rollie Melanson at the end of the second.

The Kings, who ranked last in the league in penalty-killing efficiency last season, had killed 10 of 11 penalties in their first two games, but the Oilers were successful on 5 of 7 power-play opportunities.

“It was non-existant,” Murphy said of the Kings’ penalty-killing ability against the Oilers.

Edmonton also got a short-handed goal in the first period from Anderson, who took the puck from the Kings’ Jay Wells at the Edmonton blue line, raced toward the Kings’ goal and back-handed a shot past Melanson. It was one of 24 shots faced by Melanson in 40 minutes.

He stopped only 17 as the Oilers built a 7-2 lead before rookie Glenn Healy replaced him in the nets.

Murphy, though, said Melanson could not be faulted, and that he lifted the goalie only to get a look at Healy, who was making only his second NHL appearance. Nor, he said, were the King defenseman totally to blame.

“They had a team coming at them with a lot of speed, (making) end-to-end rushes, and they weren’t getting a lof of help from their teammates who play the forward position,” he said. “And to beat the Oilers, it’s got to be a 20-man operation.”

Anderson’s first goal made it 2-1--the Kings’ Jimmy Carson had tied the game with his fourth goal in two nights--and Messier made it 3-1 at 18:55, taking a pass in the slot from Gretzky and sliding the puck under Melanson.

Gretzky added his first goal of the season at 8:03 of the second period, taking a clearing pass off the boards from goaltender Grant Fuhr and wristing a shot from the right circle.

Bobby Carpenter’s first goal cut the Kings’ deficit to 4-2 at 11:54, but the Oilers added three more goals in the last 6:25 of the period.

King Notes

Defenseman Tom Laidlaw sprained a ligament in his right knee in the first period and did not return. . . . Bernie Nicholls, expected to be out for at least three weeks after breaking his left index finger in Saturday night’s 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues, hadn’t missed a game in more than 3 1/2 years. Nicholls said he was slashed by Doug Gilmour of the Blues early in the first period. “It wasn’t accidental,” Nicholls said. “I was skating with the puck and he tried to knock my hand out.” Nicholls, who hadn’t missed a game since Feb. 8, 1984, averaged almost 37 goals and 85 points in his first five full seasons in the NHL. . . . Bobby Carpenter, who had been playing left wing on a line with center Nicholls and right wing Jim Fox, was moved to center in a line that included Fox and rookie Bob Kudelski. . . . Tim Tookey, acquired in the waiver draft last week, made his debut for the Kings. . . . The Kings play the Boston Bruins Thursday night at the Forum.