KINGS HAVE A BRAWL IN CHICAGO : KINGS 4, CHICAGO 2.

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

Kings winger Kai Nurminen had never been in a fight in his life and hadn't even been penalized before Sunday's game, but he helped spark a brawl against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

Center Dimitri Khristich scored two goals, his first goals in 14 games, and goalie Byron Dafoe picked up his fifth straight win as the Kings beat the Blackhawks 4-2.

The Kings are unbeaten in eight of their past nine games (5-1-3), but that was overshadowed by an old-fashioned melee near the end of the game.

Upset at Nurminen for fighting finesse player Denis Savard 4-1/2 minutes earlier, Chicago Blackhawks coach Craig Hartsburg sent out a goon line with enforcer Bob Probert, usually a wing, lining up at center and being flanked by fellow tough guys Basil McRae and Jim Cummins for a faceoff with 27.8 seconds left.

``Obviously we had some guys who were upset,'' Hartsburg said. ``I guess it's all right to beat up Denis Savard, but we weren't going to let that happen.''

Trouble started as soon as the puck was dropped. Probert, in the uncustomary role of taking a faceoff, swung his stick not at the puck but at the head of center Ian Laperriere, who started the scramble that led to the Nurminen-Savard fight by dropping defenseman Gary Suter with a hard check along the boards.

``(Probert) crossed-checked me in the face,'' said Laperriere, who was sporting a noticeable lump on the right side of his forehead. ``He wasn't trying to win the faceoff. . . . He just whacked me with his stick. It's dangerous. He could have hit me in the eye. You don't expect something like this in the NHL.''

But Probert's work with his stick wasn't finished. As Kings checking forward Dan Bylsma and Cummins were fighting, winger Matt Johnson, the team's only real enforcer, tried to engage Probert.

But Probert wouldn't drop the gloves, or his stick, which he waved threateningly at Johnson, who kept a safe distance while trying to coax the veteran into a fight.

Probert's reluctance was strange, considering he decisively beat up Johnson during a game four weeks ago. (Johnson said he was hampered by a badly swollen right hand in that altercation.)

``It was bizarre,'' said Johnson. ``If a guy has a stick in his hands and I don't have anything, I'm not going to pursue a fight. You could lose an eye.''

Probert refused comment. Kings center Ray Ferraro said, ``You go out and maybe in that situation you flip a screw. I'm certain we'll see some suspensions out of that.''

And to think it was Nurminen, a usually passive rookie from Finland, who raised the Blackhawks' ire.

``Like really hitting somebody, it was my first fight,'' Nurminen said.

Kings coach Larry Robinson couldn't contain his disgust when he learned the Blackhawks were upset with Nurminen.

``Oh yeah, because Kai Nurminen is a tough guy, that's why we drafted him,'' Robinson said sarcastically. ``He had a lot of battles in Finland. He beat up a lot of ticket-takers.''

Once the fighting stopped, only Cummins and Probert were penalized. Cummins was penalized 27 total minutes for fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct and two game misconducts while Probert received 25 minutes worth of penalties for cross-checking, a game misconduct and a five-minute match penalty.

``I don't think I even saw that in minor hockey,'' Robinson said. ``It's very senseless. . . . I didn't know Probert played center. That must be a new position for him. It got ugly. It should have been stopped beforehand. In the scrum around the bench, they should have gotten rid of everyone involved instead of just two guys.''

The ``scrum'' Robinson referred to was triggered by Laperriere's hit on Suter. Even though Nurminen is hardly a fighter, the Blackhawks were adamant about coming to Savard's defense.

``We sent a message there that you shouldn't be fooling around with our finesse guys, and I think we sent it loud and clear,'' Blackhawks right wing Tony Amonte said.

Even the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Savard was talking tough. ``He dropped his gloves before I knew what was going on,'' he said of Nurminen. ``But that's all right. He's got to play me two more games.''

Before the rough stuff started, the Kings took a 3-0 lead on two goals by Khristich and one by Vitali Yachmenev.

Khristich collected the rebound off a shot by defenseman John Slaney in front. He beat Chicago defenseman Chris Chelios to it and shot it in off Chelios' stick for a power-play goal at 13 minutes, 48 seconds of the first.

After Yachmenev made it 2-0 when he scored off a rebound 48 seconds into the second period, Khristich added to the Kings' lead with a goal at 11:45.

It was set up when Vladimir Tsyplakov's check caused Suter to lose the puck in the neutral zone. Khristich picked up the loose puck, skated in and tried to pass to Nurminen on his left. The pass, however, deflected off the skate of Chicago's Cam Russell and right back to Khristich, who fired it in.

``I felt I was playing well, but the puck wouldn't go in the net for me,'' Khristich said. ``I wasn't frustrated. I knew if I did the same thing it would go into the net.''

After second-period goals by James Black and Tony Amonte cut the Kings' lead to one, Tsyplakov gave the Kings some breathing room when he beat goalie Ed Belfour high on a tough angle deep in the right circle at 2:50 of the third.