ROBITAILLE NOW IS KING OF GOALS PASSES DIONNE FOR TEAM LEAD WITH 552 KINGS 8, THRASHERS 6.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Marcel Dionne took in the kid, his 19-year-old rookie teammate. Gave him a place to live in Los Angeles, a spare room in his house, and imparted some hockey wisdom along the way. It worked out pretty well.

Twenty years have passed since then, but Luc Robitaille felt like a kid again Thursday night.

With a hat trick in the Kings' 8-6 victory over Atlanta at Staples Cener, Robitaille caught and passed Dionne, his former mentor, to become the most prolific scorer in Kings history, with 552 career goals.

Robitaille equaled Dionne's mark with a goal four minutes, 20 seconds into the game and exceeded it 4:56 into the third period on a breakaway, sending the announced sellout crowd of 18,118 into a frenzy.

``What a moment,'' said Robitaille, who was mobbed on ice by his teammates and received a lengthy standing ovation as the celebration delayed the game five minutes. ``I didn't expect that from the crowd. It was overwhelming for a few moments. It's something that I will cherish forever.''

Robitaille capped the hat trick with 3.9 seconds left, when he fired a shot from the opposite faceoff circle, approximately 175 feet away, and into an empty Atlanta net.

That goal came after Jeff Giuliano scored the game-winner, with 4:58 left, for his second goal of the game. Kings defenseman Mattias Norstrom also had a career game, with one goal and four assists.

But the night belonged to Robitaille.

Robitaille, the top-scoring left winger in NHL history with 663 goals - including stints with Pittsburgh, the Rangers and Detroit - turns 40 next month and is in his 19th and perhaps most challenging season.

In November, Robitaille missed nine game with a leg injury and last month was benched for three other games because coach Andy Murray was unhappy with his play.

But those were distant memories Thursday. Robitaille tied the record in the first period, when he put a nifty move on Atlanta goalie Mike Dunham in front of the net and gave the Kings a 1-0 lead.

By the time Robitaille scored again, the game had taken several wild turns and was tied 6-6. Mike Weaver fed a perfect pass to the neutral zone to Robitaille, who often is self-effacing about his lack of speed. But Robitaille skated in alone and beat Dunham with a wrist shot for goal No. 551.

Robitaille's parents had planned to visit Los Angeles after the All-Star break and watch his pursuit of the record, but Robitaille got the job done early.

``My kids have been rooting for me the last few weeks, so this is really special,'' Robitaille said.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Luc Robitaille scores his 551st franchise goal as a King in the third period, beating Atlanta goaltender Mike Dunham on this shot Thursday.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

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