Kings Are All Talk, No Play : Hockey: They lose to the Devils, 7-1, and get together for yet another team meeting afterward. Stauber gives up six goals on only 27 shots.

The Kings are almost like a new-age men’s therapy group.

They have team meetings after victories. They have them after losses. Even after ties.

These guys meet to meet.

Somehow they found something to talk about--again--after Thursday night’s 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Meadowlands Arena before 13,586. Not that there was anything positive to reflect on.

Goaltender Robb Stauber was pulled at 18:39 of the second period after giving up six goals on 27 shots. Kelly Hrudey replaced Stauber after the Devils’ Scott Pellerin scored a highlight-film goal. Stauber raced out to the left circle to beat Pellerin to the puck. Pellerin went flying over Stauber and scored into the empty net as he was falling.

Additionally, the Kings went 0 for 4 on the power play and let the Devils score twice with the man advantage.

The Kings’ goal came from right wing Dave Taylor at 5:55 of the first, his fourth goal of the season. Wayne Gretzky was held pointless for the first time since he returned to the lineup last week after sitting out the Kings’ first 39 games because of a herniated disk.

At least Gretzky had a shot on a goal. One of his linemates, Jari Kurri, who continues in a severe slump, didn’t have any shots and finished a minus-three. Kurri has only one goal in the last 21 games. Luc Robitaille, the third member of the line, had four shots on goal but was a minus-two.

By the second period, Tony Granato appeared on the line with Gretzky and Robitaille.

Also hurting was the absence of two defensemen. Rookie Alexei Zhitnik checked into Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, N.J., in the early hours of Thursday morning with flu and a temperature of 102 degrees. Charlie Huddy also sat out the game because of flu and stayed at the team’s hotel.

Forward Jim Thomson is serving a two-game suspension because he received his fourth game misconduct of the season, on Tuesday against Ottawa.

In any event, there was yet another team meeting afterward, no coaches included. The Kings (22-17-5) are getting good at having these talks after losses, winning only two of their last 13 games (2-9-2) and three of the last 16 (3-10-3).

Earlier, during their 10-game winless streak, Coach Barry Melrose was asked if he had run out of things to say to his team and reporters.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I can talk forever.”

The players follow the example of their coach. There’s something to be said about sticking together, supporting a fellow teammate and not pointing fingers.

Yes, the Kings are talking a better game than they are playing these days. But could there possibly be such a thing as too many meetings?

“Never,” Granato said, emphatically.

“The bottom line is the guys care about the situation. I have so much respect for the leaders on our team. I’m going to listen to anything Wayne, Paul (Coffey), Charlie (Huddy) or Luc has to say.”

Presumably, the Kings will be talking about the fast-closing Winnipeg Jets, if they didn’t speak about them already. They play the Jets on Saturday, and fourth-place Winnipeg has pulled within five points of the third-place Kings in the Smythe Division.

A month ago, the Jets were far behind in the Kings’ rear-view mirror. One more loss and the Kings could hold a three-point lead over Winnipeg by this weekend.

Gretzky has at least an idea how the slump has managed to last for so long. He has played in five games, but was around for a good portion of the month-long free-fall.

“When you struggle a bit, people try to do things to get out of the rut,” he said. “Not everyone can play like a (Warren) Rychel or a Robitaille. Sometimes people complicate the game. It can be an easy game if you play within the system, and Barry’s system is an easy system.

“This is such a good group of guys, and everybody wants to win so badly that it can go from 4-1 to 6-1 in 20 seconds.”

On the Slide

A look at the Kings’ slump. Going into games of Dec. 15, they were 20-8-3, in first place in the Smythe Division by three points over the Calgary Flames. Today, they are 22-17-5, in third place, eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks:

Dec. 15: Tampa Bay 3, Kings 2

Dec. 18: Edmonton 5, Kings 5

Dec. 19: Calgary 5, Kings 3

Dec. 22: Vancouver 6, Kings 2

Dec. 26: San Jose 7, Kings 2

Dec. 29: Philadelphia 10, Kings 2

Dec. 31: Vancouver 4, Kings 0

Jan. 2: Montreal 5, Kings 5

Jan. 6: Tampa Bay 6, Kings 3

Jan. 8: Winnipeg 6, Kings 3

Jan. 10: Kings 5, Chicago 4

Jan. 12: Kings 3, Ottawa 2

Jan. 14: New Jersey 7, Kings 1

Overall: 2 victories, 9 losses, 2 ties.

Goals for: 36.

Goals against: 70.