Marian Gaborik’s first multi-point game of season for the Kings a long time in coming

Forward Marian Gaborik was just fine, insisted Kings Coach Darryl Sutter. Nothing mysterious was going on, no physical ailment keeping him from scoring goals.

A player capable of scoring goals in bunches, often on electrifying plays, had not lost his skill set, Sutter said.

“There’s nothing wrong with Gabby, great work ethic,” Sutter said. “Whether he’s got off to a slow start because he wasn’t finishing his chances and now he’s watching and waiting, I’m not sure.

“That’s sort of up to him. Try to put him in situations and give him those opportunities and go from there.”

This was Sutter, speaking in the hallway at Staples Center before the Kings’ game Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers. Not much later, Gaborik had a hand in their first two goals — scoring once and assisting on linemate Tanner Pearson’s goal — and the Kings went on to beat the Oilers, 4-3.

It was Gaborik’s first multi-point performance this season. In 17 games he has two goals and four points, a far cry from his usual production. Last season, Gaborik had 27 goals and 47 points in 69 games.

Gaborik addressed his scoring woes with familiar words after a recent practice. At age 33, he has skated down this path before, knowing that the way out of a scoring drought is not a pretty one.

“I’ve said it a lot of times, just get into those scoring areas and keep skating and just try to drive the net and get one of those ugly ones,” he said Friday.

“It happened like that with me and everyone. When they’re going in, they’re going in. When they’re not going in you have to work for it and play even harder to find the spots where the goals are scored from.

“Once some go in, the mojo is back.”

UP NEXT

KINGS AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

When: Tuesday, 4 p.m. PST

Update: The Kings were supposed to practice Sunday but changed their plans. Sunday ended up becoming an off day and they held an early morning session at El Segundo on Monday before flying to Philadelphia to start a five-game trip. Former King Simon Gagne will be honored in a retirement ceremony Tuesday night before the game. He played 14 seasons in the NHL, most notably with the Flyers. His name happens to be on the Stanley Cup with his Kings teammates in the 2012-winning campaign, a classy touch by the organization to make sure his name was included.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa