It’s Still Mystery to Them : Kings: They are left wondering how they let Game 5 against Maple Leafs get away.

Everywhere you went, there were words of optimism. Everywhere you looked, there were expressions of despair.

Not the acceptance of ultimate defeat in this series, only the reality of immediate despair.

Throughout the Kings’ locker room Tuesday night after their crushing 3-2 overtime defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the Campbell Conference final, there was talk of a victory in Game 6.

But there were also those nagging thoughts of the defeat in Game 5. This one wouldn’t easily go away.

There was a lot of hurt in that locker room.

The hurt of blowing a 2-0 lead.

The hurt of squandering a 43-shot effort.

The hurt of center Jimmy Carson, who was scratched from the lineup because of lack of production.

The hurt of forward Dave Taylor, who knows he might never again get this close to a Stanley Cup.

The hurt of defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, who was knocked out of the game because of a mild concussion and a laceration on the back of the head.

Everybody in silver and black who stepped on the ice Tuesday had a personal moment they could replay in their heads long into the night, a moment that might have changed the outcome. There were that many lost opportunities.

“There are some that will haunt me,” Taylor said. “There was the shorthanded goal I almost got and a couple that (Wayne Gretzky) dumped out from behind the net that I tried to slam in.

“This is the closest we’ve ever been. You hate to let it get away. I’m really disappointed. I think this is the best game we played in the series.”

Goalie Kelly Hrudey won’t soon forget Glenn Anderson’s game-winning shot from the slot, the puck nearly at ice level after bouncing off Pat Conacher’s stick. It whizzed by Hrudey’s legs as he dove futilely to the ice, the game-ending red light burning on his neck an instant later. But he wouldn’t categorize his obvious agony.

“Every loss is bitter,” Hrudey said. “I don’t think you go into degrees of hurt. A win is always sweet and a loss its always bitter. If you’re a moper or a complainer, it’s not going to help you come Thursday.”

Carson refused to be either a moper or a complainer as he discussed his benching.

“He (Coach Barry Melrose) was really positive,” Carson said. “He told me that I was not playing much as it is . . . I accept it. I’m here to win. I was disappointed, but I’m not going to let it affect me. I’ll just carry on.”

Was he surprised by the move?

“When you lose a game like that (Game 4),” Carson said, “you are always expecting a shake-up.”

Does he expect to be back for Game 6?

“Whatever happens,” Carson said, “I’ll deal with it accordingly. I want to win. If it means one shift or 20 shifts or not playing at all, I’ll take it.”

In another corner of the locker room, defenseman Darryl Sydor was still trying to figure out what had happened on the Maple Leafs’ crucial second goal.

“I thought I would go down and block it,” he said. “I don’t know what happened. I haven’t talked to anyone who has been able to tell me.”

What happened was that Sydor, struggling with a Maple Leaf defenseman, inadvertently slid into Hrudey, knocking the Kings’ goalie off his feet.

That allowed Sylvain Lefebvre, shooting from the left circle, to carom the puck off one of Sydor’s legs into the vacated net.

It was that kind of a night for the Kings.

“They’ve got to score sooner or later,” defenseman Marty McSorley said, “if you play all night. We went the whole 20 minutes of overtime and didn’t score. What can you do?”

McSorley didn’t expect an answer to his questions. It was not a night for answers.

Those, the Kings hoped to find on Thursday. On Tuesday, it was a time for questioning how this one got away.