Kings find no power in their play, lose 3-2 to Minnesota

From St. Paul, Minn. — 

Their special teams struggle mightily against the Wild, and the team has given up eight power-play goals in its four straight losses. The Kings have insisted they don’t want to back into the playoffs. A few more results like their 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday and they could be backing out of the playoffs.

It would take a lot for the Kings to drop out of the top eight in the West. After 75 games, they are seventh with 90 points, a point ahead of Colorado. Ninth-place Calgary has 85 points and has played 76 games.

But in losing four straight, the Kings have shown they are capable of a collapse. Certainly, their special-teams play has disintegrated.

They allowed Minnesota to convert two of three power-play chances and have given up eight power-play goals in four games. Their power play was 0-for-five, including a 52-second five-on-three advantage in the second period and a two-minute, two-man advantage in the third shortly after Scott Parse’s second goal had brought them even at 2-2.

During that latter stretch, Wild defenseman Greg Zanon, playing on a broken ankle, blocked two shots by Jarret Stoll in a gutsy performance that deserved the standing ovation he and teammates Mikko Koivu and Brent Burns got from the crowd of 18,284 at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Had we scored there, it would have been completely different,” winger Wayne Simmonds said. “They killed it off and they scored on their power play right after that and I think that was the difference in the game.”

Martin Havlat’s power-play goal at 7:38 of the third, a slap shot that flew past a screened Jonathan Quick, was the winner for Minnesota, which has little chance of making the playoffs but played with a determination the Kings would do well to copy.

The Kings got only one shot on their final power play, which they gained with 5:08 left, and didn’t get a shot on Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom over the final 2:45.

“Our special teams need to be better, that’s for sure,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

“I thought we had a good attitude all game today, even after they killed off that five-on-three. We still had belief on the bench. From that standpoint ,I think it’s a step in the right direction, along with our work ethic. We just didn’t make the best plays out there sometimes.”

Minnesota built a 2-0 lead early in the second period on a power-play backhander by Owen Nolan at 1:19 and a four-on-four goal at 7:26 by defenseman Brent Burns, who pinched in from the point to flick a wrist shot over Quick’s shoulder.

The Kings got a fortunate deflection to cut the Wild’s lead to 2-1 at 12:47. Parse’s long slap shot caromed off Minnesota’s Casey Wellman and past Backstrom, Parse’s first goal since Jan. 14 and a breath of life for the Kings.

Parse scored again at 1:25 of the third period after Brad Richardson dug the puck out of the corner and fed him for a 30-foot shot from the high slot, but any momentum the Kings might have built was squelched by the Wild’s superb penalty killing.

Kings Coach Terry Murray credited Minnesota’s strong effort but said his team must find different looks on the power play and make better decisions. Their power play, strong after the Olympic break, is two for 19 over the last three games.

“We had a five on three, that’s a critical moment in the game and that’s where you have to show the composure to make plays, find the right people, get the right shooting opportunities and then put pucks to the net,” he said. “That’s a choice and obviously in that look we made some decisions that were not as good as what they could have been.”

Minnesota’s decisions were that much better. “You don’t want to be looked at as a quitter,” Nolan said, “and you want to make sure you compete right to the end.”

The end for the Kings could come sooner than they think.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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