Takeaways from the Kings’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames

A few takeaways -- which sound a lot like some of the same old ones -- from the end of a long homestand for the struggling Kings following a 2-1 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Losing third-period leads … again

It’s not just against the Flames at Staples Center. The Kings have been letting leads in the third period slip away. In the span of three days, it happened twice, to the Ducks on Saturday and to the Flames on Monday.

Anaheim tied it in the third period when a shot went in off Kings defenseman Matt Greene, and went on to win in the shootout.

This time, it was a blunder by Kings defenseman Alec Martinez leading to the tying goal in the third period as the Flames’ Sean Monahan capitalized on the miscue and scored unassisted.

Power-play woes deepening

The Kings had many chances to take control but went 0 for 4 on the power play against the Flames.

“We had our opportunities,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said. “Our power play needs to be better. Not that it needs to win us games but it has to give us momentum.

“And it didn’t do that tonight, which let them hang around.”

Lackluster post-Christmas record

At the Christmas break, the Kings were sitting in a wild-card playoff spot, with 17 wins and 41 points, two points ahead of the Flames.

After Monday’s action, the defending Stanley Cup champions are out of a playoff spot with 52 points. They trail the Flames for the wild-card spot by one point, having won just three times since the Christmas break, beating San Jose, Vancouver and Toronto.

They have often lost in demoralizing fashion -- shootout losses to Winnipeg and Anaheim at home and another at Edmonton -- but Kings Coach Darryl Sutter praised their resiliency.

“Just got to always bounce back, keep bouncing back,” he said. “That’s what you do. If we weren’t strong like that, then we wouldn’t have bounced back tonight. That’s a big point [for us] at the end of the day. That’s what you’ve got to look at.”