DEPLETED KINGS LOSE ONCE AGAIN TO STARS : STARS 4, KINGS 3.

Byline: Roger Phillips

Besieged by injuries all season and still accustoming themselves to the concept of life without Rob Blake for two months, the Kings had to be wondering what else could go wrong.

It took them only eight seconds to find out Saturday night - the amount of time it took them allow a goal, the earliest they've ever allowed a goal in a game in their checkered 32-year history.

The good news for the Kings was that they rallied to make a game of it. The bad news was that in the end, it wasn't enough to avoid a 4-3 loss before a crowd of 13,329 at the Forum.

``That was one good thing about it,'' said coach Larry Robinson, whose team scored more than two goals in a game for only the fourth time in its first 13 games. ``We were able to come back and play the way we wanted to.''

Still, it was a loss, a setback that extended the Kings' winless streak to four games, all on a four-game home stand that is mercifully over. The Kings (4-6-3) have just one victory in their first six home games. The Stars (7-2-2) are 7-0-6 against the Kings in the last 13 meetings between the teams.

The main culprit, as it so often has been in the Kings' recent history, was the power play. It went 1 for 6, producing a first-period Luc Robitaille goal with a two-man advantage but failing twice in the third period when the Kings were trying desperately to overcome their one-goal deficit.

Perhaps the best news for the Kings was that No. 1 center Jozef Stumpel, who has missed the last nine games with a hip-flexor strain, will accompany the team when it flies to Vancouver for Monday night's game against the Canucks. Stumpel may play Tuesday at Calgary.

But that was of little consolation early Saturday.

The Kings fell behind off the opening faceoff, with plenty of mental errors to go around. Robinson blamed Tony Hrkac's goal on mistakes by Josh Green and Garry Galley and a goaltending miscue by Manny Legace. Philippe Boucher, whose pass behind the net took a strange carom off the boards and landed on Hrkac's stick, blamed himself.

``We knew coming into the game, we needed a good start,'' Boucher said. ``It was a bad start, and I'll take the blame for that goal.''

Hrkac scored from a sharp angle, his shot banking off Legace's stick and between his right leg and the goal post.

``It was just a letdown,'' Legace said of allowing the quick goal. ``I was so nervous, looking at their lineup, seeing Brett Hull and Mike Modano. I was nervous. That took all the nervousness away.''

The Kings did respond well to the sudden deficit. Vladimir Tsyplakov tied the score at 15:11 off a nifty pass from Green, and Robitaille gave the Kings the lead with his team-high sixth goal.

But the Stars roared back with three second-period goals, two on the power play, the first of those by Hull after a questionable interference penalty on Russ Courtnall.

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Photo

PHOTO Stars right wing Gery Lehtinen is hit by a flying puck in front of Manny Legace in the second period.

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press