This Time, the Kings Settle for a Tie, 4-4

King Coach Pat Quinn ripped his team after it tied the Vancouver Canucks, 4-4, Saturday night at the Forum.

The Kings squandered a 3-1 third-period lead but salvaged the tie after center Marcel Dionne scored a power-play goal with 1:11 left in regulation.

Neither team scored in the five-minute overtime period.

“I feel like we lost it,” Quinn said. “We gave them a point.

“It was a 3-1 game, and we were in control and we quit taking the aggression to them. If you’re afraid of losing you’re going to darn well lose.

“It was the same thing as last night, just the cities were different” Quinn said. “But tonight’s game was more frustrating.”

It was the second straight night that the Kings lost a lead against Vancouver. They blew a 5-0 first-period lead against the Canucks Friday night at Vancouver but came back to win, 9-7.

But the Kings weren’t as lucky in the rematch.

“Maybe we should have kept the purple (road uniforms) sweaters on from last night,” Dionne said. “We had the lead but we just couldn’t do it at home.”

With the Kings trailing, 4-3, Dionne scored his 24th goal of the season after taking a pass from defenseman Mark Hardy.

Dionne’s goal came after Canuck defenseman Dan Dunbar was penalized for interference with 1:48 left in the third period.

“Calling the penalty on Dunbar in a one-goal game was terrible,” Vancouver Coach Tom Watt said. “That allowed the Kings to have a power play, and then they pulled their goalie, which game them another man advantage.”

Dionne, who scored twice against the Canucks on Friday night, also had two assists. Dionne has 6 goals and 6 assists in his last four games.

Dave Taylor, Dionne’s long-time linemate, scored two power-play goals and Joe Paterson, the line’s other member, also had an assist.

“I don’t think that we gave the game away,” Taylor said. “We were in control most of the night, but unfortunately they got a couple of lucky goals.

“We got a big point and we’re still ahead of that team (Vancouver). We’re in better shape than we were when the weekend started.”

Taylor’s second goal, which came at 6:57 of the third period, gave the Kings a two-goal lead.

But the Canucks scored three straight goals. Rookie Craig Coxe’s first National Hockey League goal with 2:42 left in regulation put them ahead, 4-3.

Coxe was born in Chula Vista, Calif., and played hockey in Culver City before moving to Canada to play junior hockey. His family lives in Laguna Niguel.

But Coxe has had trouble keeping his mind on hockey lately. Three weeks ago, his younger brother, Stacy, 20, also a hockey player, was killed in an auto accident. Coxe missed two games.

“It felt great to get my first goal in front of my family in my hometown,” Coxe said. “It felt great to help the team get a point.”

The Canucks (13-27-6) are winless in their last 10 games (0-8-2).

The Kings moved (14-24-6) moved within one point of the idle Winnipeg Jets (15-27-5) in the Smythe Division. The Jets have 35 points, and the Kings have 34. The Canucks trail the Kings by three points.

“If someone had told me that before the weekend that we’d take three of four points from Vancouver, I probably would have taken it,” Quinn said.

The Kings led, 1-0, after a first-period power-play goal by Taylor.

Just six seconds into the second period, the Canucks tied it at 1-1 when Steve Tambellini also scored on a power play.

But Doug Smith scored a short-handed goal on a rebound of a shot by Dionne with five minutes left in the second period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Taylor’s second score made it 3-1.

But the Kings quit skating.

Tony Tanti’s power-play goal with 11:48 left in the third period cut the margin to 3-2, and Brent Peterson tied it with 3:49 left on a rebound of a shot by Rick Lanz.