Kings lose game, may lose Doughty

When the Kings’ prized rookie defenseman Drew Doughty crumpled to the ice after a big hit from Tampa Bay’s Evgeny Artyukhin midway through the second period, his defensive partner, Sean O’Donnell, chased Artyukhin off the ice, jabbing him with his stick until he drew a cross-checking penalty.

Doughty left the game because of a bruised thigh.

As for the response from the rest of the Kings?

The Staples Center crowd -- and Coach Terry Murray -- are still waiting.

If the 3-1 loss Monday to the Lightning was bad enough, it wasn’t the only manner in which the Kings rolled over.

After Doughty went to the dressing room for the rest of the night because of a bruised thigh, his teammates didn’t respond to the hit with more inspired play or their fists.

“That’s why the dressing room door is closed right now,” Murray said after keeping it closed for 15 minutes.

“That’s a response that players need to take into their own hands right away, through hard play, through going at it and doing the right stuff. Physically playing hard, competing harder.

“That’s something that this team I think should know, but we don’t.”

Doughty will be examined today and his condition will be reevaluated.

Neither Murray nor several teammates were sure how serious the injury might be.

The condition of the Kings (17-19-6) is considerably clearer. They’ve lost two in a row and seven of their last 11. Though they remain just five points out of the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference, they’ve fallen to next-to-last place.

And after defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit visits on Thursday, the Kings head out of town for eight of the next nine games.

Considering the Kings are 5-9-0 on the road, there may not be a playoff race for them when they return.

“This was a game we needed and we didn’t get the performance we needed from anybody in this room,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

“It’s not about our Xs and O’s. It’s about our willingness to do whatever it takes and tonight we didn’t have that. We’re not a good enough team to rely on our skills. We need to come ready to work every night.”

One of the few who played with some spark was Doughty. It came in a game that was anticipated because of his matchup with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos.

They were the first two picks in last year’s NHL draft, the first time the top two selections from the previous year’s draft have met since Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Carolina’s Eric Staal met in 2003.

Midway though the first period, Stamkos stole the puck deep in the Kings’ end of the ice.

As Stamkos flashed the fast hands that made him the No. 1 pick, Doughty played it like a cool veteran, poking the puck off Stamkos’ stick to the roar of the crowd.

A moment later, Doughty planted Stamkos’ cheek against the plexiglass behind the goal with a firm check.

The sequence may have been a metaphor for the types of seasons the two rookies are having -- Doughty having a sudden impact; the skillful Stamkos still a boy among men.

Unfortunately for the Kings and Doughty, it was not a harbinger of better things to come Monday.

“When one of your key players gets hit like that,” Brown said, still talking about the hit on Doughty. “You need to answer the bell.”

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billywitz@yahoo.com