Webster Looks For His Power Play : NHL playoffs: Coach is unhappy with Kings’ effort in 3-1 opening loss to Edmonton. Game 2 of series is tonight.

The Kings failed to take enough power-play shots Saturday night in losing to the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1, in their playoff opener.

But Tom Webster, the Kings’ coach, tried to make up for that Sunday by taking plenty of shots . . . at his players.

Webster hadn’t planned to spend Easter running the Kings through a vigorous workout at their Culver City practice rink. He was going to give them Sunday off until they took Saturday night off, losing at the Forum in Game 1 of a best-of-seven Smythe Division semifinal series.

Game 2 will be played tonight at 7:30 at the Forum.

And even after the Kings put in 90 minutes of work Sunday, their coach wasn’t satisfied.

“I don’t think it was intense enough,” he said. “We need more intensity.”

As an example, Webster pointed to the Oilers and their proclivity for throwing themselves on the ice to block the puck.

“They have people who go down and block those shots,” Webster said. “We don’t have those kinds of people. I would like to see it done. But you have to have the willingness to sacrifice your body.

“There are very few teams that have that. Montreal is one. Winnipeg is another.”

Any way to get the Kings to block shots?

“Maybe if you bring out tennis balls, they will,” Webster said.

Webster received an even more radical idea Sunday morning.

His wife, Carole, woke him up and suggested he go on an Easter egg hunt.

“She said I might find my power play,” Webster said with a laugh.

Indeed, the thought of the Easter bunny running the Kings’ power play seemed no more ridiculous than anything else they tried Saturday night when they were shut out on all nine power plays.

Edmonton, 21st out of 22 teams in penalty killing during the regular season, didn’t just stop the Kings by blocking shots. They didn’t have to because there weren’t that many to block. The Kings managed only nine shots on the nine power plays.

There were breakdowns from end to end.

“They confined us to about a 5-foot space,” said Webster of the Oilers’ penalty-killing strategy once the Kings got the puck in the Edmonton zone. “We forced passes that were either knocked down or turned over. Too many times, we weren’t looking to shoot. We were looking to pass.

“And there was no traffic in front of the net. There are not too many times you are just going to be able to blow the puck by (Oiler goalie Bill Ranford.)”

But Webster’s frustrations go far beyond the power play. There was a general flatness and lack of emotion that has been evident too many times in this season of inconsistency.

Edmonton has problems of its own. The Oilers came into the series without defensemen Kevin Lowe and Craig Muni, both of whom are injured. Then they lost wings Craig Simpson and Anatoli Semenov to shoulder injuries Saturday night. Neither is expected to play tonight, and both could be out a lot longer.

But none of it will matter unless the Kings can find a new reserve of emotion. Assistant coach Rick Wilson said it came down Saturday night to trying a wake-up call between periods.

“It’s difficult to imagine that, in the first game of the playoffs, you would have to go into that type of strategy,” he said.

Veteran defenseman Larry Robinson tried his own wake-up call with a few words of encouragement for his teammates Saturday.

And he still had a few left over Sunday.

“(The Oilers) looked more hungry than we did,” Robinson said. “There are no excuses this time of year. We’ve had plenty of rest.

“It gives you fits just to sit and think about it. Everybody is waiting for the talented guys to step forward. There is no work ethic. If you are expecting it to happen just because of who you are and what you’ve done, well, that just doesn’t hold water.”

Robinson has played in the league for 20 seasons, 17 of those with the Montreal Canadiens. He was asked if he had ever played with a squad as unpredictable as this one.

“I never have,” Robinson said. “You always have guys who score in spurts. But at least theteams I’ve played on came to work. At least they went down fighting.

“Give me 20 guys who work hard, and I’ll take them over 20 guys who are just going through the motions. If you could find the right button with this team, you’d be a miracle worker.”