Webster’s Day Not a Total Loss : Kings: Coach gets less than a vote of confidence from McNall and takes a stick in the ribs, but Robitaille gives him 4-3 victory over Penguins.

PITTSBURGH —  King owner Bruce McNall has never been one to duck a question. And he didn’t start Saturday.

Asked his reaction if General Manager Rogie Vachon recommended the firing of his beleaguered coach, Tom Webster, McNall, replied: “I would do it. That’s his (Vachon’s) job. That’s sports.”

That’s not much support for Webster, but it’s about as much as he can hope for these days, despite his team beating the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday, 4-3, on a last-minute goal by Luc Robitaille before a sellout Civic Arena crowd of 16,164.

“It’s important to have people working for you that you support any way you can,” McNall said, obviously speaking of Vachon, not Webster. “I have left it to Rogie to do what he thinks is best. I don’t have any brilliant ideas. I’m not around enough. Right now, we’re not in a position to say we would never do anything.”

The position the Kings are in is tenuous. On the one hand, their victory Saturday moved them past the idle Edmonton Oilers into third place in the Smythe Division, three points behind the Winnipeg Jets.

On the other hand, the Kings are a .500 club at 21-21-12, three points away from a position that would have them eliminated from the playoffs altogether.

That fact and the fact that they just came off a 2-2-2 home stand that ended with a tie against the struggling Hartford Whalers caused Vachon to show up unexpectedly in Pittsburgh Saturday with an ultimatum of sorts.

He was scheduled to head for France to scout five King draft picks competing in hockey in the Winter Olympics.

“I canceled a beautiful flight to Geneva,” Vachon said.

Instead, Vachon chose Pittsburgh, a less-than-beautiful spot this time of year, to deliver a message: Do well on this four-game trip or else. . . .

Or else what? Trades? Firings? With 26 games left, does Vachon feel it’s now or never?

“We’re getting to that point,” he admitted. “Our patience is wearing quite thin.

“If we keep losing and not gaining any ground, we’re going to have to do something even if we don’t want to.”

Asked specifically about Webster, Vachon said: “Nobody’s safe.”

If Webster’s fate hangs on this trip, as McNall and Vachon seemed to indicate, Saturday’s victory was invaluable. The Penguins were at a strong disadvantage with three stars--center Mario Lemieux, wing Jaromir Jagr and defenseman Paul Coffey--missing.

Lemieux was out for the fifth consecutive game because of his lingering back problems. Jagr was serving the sixth game of a 10-game suspension for a run-in with an official. And Coffey was out for the second game in a row because of a pulled hip muscle.

The Penguins also lost defenseman Ulf Samuelsson in the first period because of a bruised hand.

Still, Pittsburgh took the early lead on Peter Taglianetti’s first goal of the season.

The Kings responded with two goals by Wayne Gretzky, his 21st and 22nd. His first came on a power play. His second was his first at even strength without an empty net in 15 games, spanning a little more than a month.

Mark Recchi’s 33rd goal tied the score heading into the final period.

Marty McSorley’s sixth goal moved the Kings in front, 3-2, but Phil Bourque’s seventh goal, which bounced off a pile of Kings in front of the net, tied it again before Robitaille’s winner.

Corey Millen stole the puck from Taglianetti along the side boards and fed teammate Mike Donnelly. Spotting the wide-open Robitaille, Donnelly slid the puck across the ice. Robitaille skated in from the right side and backhanded the puck past goalie Tom Barrasso with 42 seconds to play.

It was Robitaille’s 29th goal and his sixth in three games.

Webster, asked about his status after the game, said: “I hadn’t thought about it until you brought it up. There are too many other things to worry about. If it happens, it happens.”

With that, Webster dragged himself out of Civic Arena in obvious pain. In the third period, he was accidentally speared in the ribs behind the bench by one of his players, John McIntyre.

A team official joked that Webster is listed as day to day.

For Webster these days, that’s no joke.