[0] KINGS WIN ON THE FLY : KINGS 4 PHILADELPHIA 3.

Byline: Roger Phillips

Twenty-four hours after a disheartening loss at Phoenix, the Kings picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, turned in their most inspiring performance of the season and in the process picked up two points in the standings.

And the inspirational effort came against the powerful Philadelphia Flyers, to boot.

Down two with 3:08 to play Thursday night, the Kings got goals from Sandy Moger, Donald Audette and Jozef Stumpel - the last with three-tenths of a second on the clock on a shot from the blueline - and defeated the Flyers 4-3 before a Forum crowd of 13,878.

With the final seconds winding down, Stumpel reached the Flyers' blue line, wound up and fired a 60-footer that beat Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall between the pads and lifted the Kings to an entirely unforeseeable triumph.

The victory moved the Kings (20-29-4) to within four points of Edmonton in the race for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. The Flyers (28-12-12) lost for the second night in a row after putting together a 16-1-7 streak. Philadelphia lost Wednesday night to the Mighty Ducks at the Pond.

Until the final minutes, it looked like business as usual for the Kings.

Chris Therien and Keith Jones had scored first-period goals for the Flyers, with Pavel Rosa scoring for the Kings in the second.

Eric Lindros scored for the Flyers 7:53 into the third period, and defeat appeared inevitable for the Kings. With the goal, Lindros extended his point-scoring streak to 15 games (13 goals, 18 assists).

But with 3:08 to play, Luc Robitaille fired the puck from the blue line, and after Hextall made the save, Moger banged in the rebound.

Then, with 1:48 to play, Stumpel passed the puck from behind the Philadelphia net to Audette in the left circle. Audette shot off the pass and beat Hextall between the pads.

Overtime appeared unavoidable, but Stumpel took care of that with his ninth - and most important - goal this season.

Kings coach Larry Robinson scratched defenseman Garry Galley and played Philippe Boucher, prompting speculation that the Kings might be showcasing the seldom-used Boucher, who played for just the second time in the last 22 games and has expressed a desire to be traded. Robinson also scratched center Yanic Perreault, who has scored just six goals in his past 45 games.

General manager Dave Taylor denied any deals were imminent.

``It's just a coach's decision, who was in and who was out,'' Taylor said. ``We're trying to find a way to win a hockey game.''

The Kings had some early chances, in particular a power-play blast by Rob Blake and a shorthanded rush by Russ Courtnall, but Hextall made the saves.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: JOZEF STUMPEL

His blue-line shot as the final seconds ticked away trickled under the pads of Flyers goalie Ron Hextall for the game-winner.