Surprising Kings Stun Philadelphia, 4-1 : Forum Crowd of 14,794 Sees Flyers Beaten at Their Own Game

The best team in hockey met one from the middle-of-the pack. The one above was on its way down and the one below was on its way up. Elementary physics suggests a collision would be imminent.

Irresistible force met immovable object Tuesday night in the Forum, and the aftermath of the big bang was a King win. The Kings beat the mighty Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1, in front of 14,794, the largest King crowd of the season.

The win propelled the Kings (17-18-3) on to a two-game winning streak. Lest anyone scoff at such a puny statistic, remember that the King wins were over Boston and Philadelphia, two of hockey’s heavyweights.

The boost such a win gives the Kings is difficult to calculate, but at the least the performance gives further credence to Coach Pat Quinn’s assessment of this team--a good solid team that will improve.

What the Kings did well, especially while protecting a three-goal lead in the third period, was to not panic while ahead. That very characteristic had been the Kings’ bane.

Not so Tuesday night. The Kings played tight, error-free hockey in the third period to save the 4-1 lead. The loss gives Philadelphia a 25-11-2 records and was their fourth defeat in a row.

There was little doubt as to tone the game would take. Both teams came out hitting and checking closely. Again, it’s not the trademark of the Kings, but they matched check for check with the Flyers.

The Kings got a power play first, 34 seconds into the game, but it was Philadelphia which took advantage of the power play. The Flyers’ Per Eklund beat Rollie Melanson at 9:13 to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

That was the last time in the first two periods that Melanson allowed a goal. He was sharp in the midst of constant pressure.

Defenseman Steve Duchesne put the Kings ahead with an unassisted goal at 12:50 in the first period. The rookie took the puck from behind his own net, skated past two Philadelphia defenders and, as All-Star defenseman Mark Howe fell down at the Flyer blue line, cut around Glenn (Chico) Resch to score.

Jay Wells’ slapshot ended the scoring in the period.

The Flyers continued their furious forechecking, utilizing hardworking forwards. That tight defense made the King goals even more difficult to come by. Every time a King player got near the puck, he was made to pay.

The Kings appeared ready to pay the price. The did not back down. In fact, in the second period they scored two goals to give them a 4-1 lead against the best team in hockey.

On the first, Jimmy Carson took a pass from Dave Taylor and backhanded it in, and on the second Luc Robitaille and Marcel Dionne passed back and forth until Dionne scored at 16:39.