Capitals Embarrass Kings, 10-3 : Hockey: Washington scores seven times during the second period as L.A. drops below .500 for the first time this season.

The villains are far too many to identify, unless you want a recitation of nearly the entire Kings’ roster.

On a Saturday night when the Kings established a club record for futility in the second period of a 10-3 loss to the Washington Capitals, perhaps a rundown of the victims would be more appropriate.

They were, among others:

--The Kings’ long-suffering fans. Yet another sellout crowd of 16,005 turned out at the Forum to watch the winless streak reach 0-5-2.

With the loss, the Kings (24-25-7) fell below .500 for the first time this season. Despite a two-month slide, the Kings have sold out 12 consecutive games at the Forum. But after the Capitals’ 10th goal, a loud chant started from a section behind the press box: “Refund! Refund!”

--The Kings’ two goaltenders, David Goverde, who started and gave up eight goals in the first two periods, and Kelly Hrudey, who entered the game at the start of the third and gave up two goals.

Washington’s 10th goal was an example of what happened the entire night. Capital center Michal Pivonka stood alone at the right crease for several seconds before he put it past Hrudey, who had no chance.

Goverde will probably have nightmares after all the two-on-ones and three-on-twos he faced. He was called up from the Kings’ minor league team in Phoenix to give Hrudey and the floundering Robb Stauber something of a push. Instead, Goverde was the one who got a jolt of reality.

This is the second time this season the Kings have given up 10 goals, the other coming in a 10-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 29. After this embarrassment, the Kings reacted accordingly.

“What do you say?” Hrudey said. “A lie is a lie. People can read your lies. We should take this loss as it should be taken, as ugly as humanly possible.”

--The Kings’ coaches. These players are the same ones, by and large, who lost in the first round of the playoffs last season. And the new additions have mostly been liabilities rather than assets, with the exception of Pat Conacher and Alexei Zhitnik.

Even during the summer, front-office types around the NHL were saying the Kings didn’t have the goaltending to survive in the Smythe Division.

Still, it wouldn’t have mattered if Ken Dryden or Jacques Plante were in the net on Saturday. The Capitals, who also scored 10 goals against St. Louis on Thursday, looked like the high-flying Edmonton Oilers of the ‘80s.

The Kings didn’t unravel until the second period, giving up seven goals on 17 shots. It was the third time the Kings have given up seven in a period, but they most they have allowed in a single period at home. The Kings gave up seven goals in the third period at Calgary during the 1988-89 season and at Montreal in the third period during the 1982-83 season.

Melrose decided to rescue Goverde after the second period, saying “he didn’t deserve that. He played hard.”

Said Hrudey: “Wow! I don’t know what an experience like that will do to him.”

That second-period outburst turned a 1-1 game into an 8-3 lead for the Capitals. For Washington, the scoring was spread around as Pat Elynuik, Pivonka and Al Iafrate each scored twice. Dale Hunter had four assists.

Scoring for the Kings were Zhitnik, his fifth of the season, Lonnie Loach (eighth) and Tony Granato (23rd). All three goals came on the power play.

Not scoring was Wayne Gretzky, who has gone 15 games without a goal.

“I have an obligation to make a contribution,” Gretzky said. “I haven’t set the world on fire in helping my teammates. It’s frustrating because I’m not contributing the way I want to.

“It’s awful frustrating because I’ve never gone through something like this.”