Kings can’t quite close it out

The Kings learned a valuable lesson Saturday night -- they aren’t that good yet.

That was made painfully clear to them in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Staples Center.

All feel-good moments the Kings have collected in recent weeks dissipated when Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk scored in the shootout. That left the Kings with one point, but denied them a moment to feel good about winning a game they merely guest-starred in.

“We know we have to come out on top of our game,” center Anze Kopitar said. “We can’t come out like we did in the first period . . . or the second period. I wish I had an answer to why, but we learned tonight we have to bring energy every game, all game.”

The Kings nearly learned that lesson cheaply enough after goals on consecutive shots by Patrick O’Sullivan and Dustin Brown gave the Kings a 3-2 lead 18 minutes into the third period. They couldn’t sustain their good fortune.

Erik Ersberg was making his ninth consecutive start and turned in what was probably his shakiest game. He made 27 saves, but could not hold a 3-2 lead in the third period, giving up Peter Stastny’s tying goal two minutes after Brown had given the Kings the lead.

“He has responded to the opportunity,” Coach Terry Murray said about Ersberg’s 5-2-2 record. “We’ve done a good job limiting chances. We haven’t seen him have to handle eight or nine bell ringers. That’s the real test of a goalie, that mental readiness to come up with the big save at the right time.”

Peter Budaj did, with two high-end saves in the last five minutes to get the game to overtime. He made two saves in the shootout.

This was once an intense rivalry, but memories of two contentious seven-game playoff series have faded. When the teams hit the ice, the Kings seemed to be snoozing.

Colorado got power-play goals from Hejduk in the first period and Wojtek Wolski in the second period, while the Kings cruised around the ice as if they were on the catwalk displaying their new alternate jerseys.

“It’s about personal preparation, to be ready for every game,” Brown said. “I don’t know if we had that from everyone, or anyone, tonight.”

On a second-period power play, the Kings allowed not one but two Avalanche players to glide untouched down the slot. Wolski got to Stastny’s pass first and knocked in the puck for a 2-0 lead 5 minutes 59 seconds into the second period.

That lackluster effort ended soon after. The Kings’ John Zeiler clobbered defenseman Adam Foote from behind, setting off a dog pile of players behind the net. While Foote lay on the ice, teammate Ian Laperriere called out Zeiler, who was restrained by a game official.

Laperriere, asked whether the Avalanche would get some revenge against Zeiler the next time out, said, “If he’s there. He might be in the minors by then.”

Added Laperriere: “There’s hits and there’s stupid hits. And it’s up to us players to police ourselves, to take those players out of the game, before someone gets killed or paralyzed.”

Foote left the game with a back injury. Included in the 41 penalties were game misconducts for Zeiler and the Kings’ Matt Greene.

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chris.foster@latimes.com