Robinson Wants Physical Play

Coach Larry Robinson said the Kings continue to struggle when they don’t play physical hockey, and that was evident in their 3-2 loss at Ottawa on Thursday.

“We got beat on one-on-one battles all night,” Robinson said. “We’re supposed to be the bigger, stronger team, but their little guys outmuscled and outhustled us all night. And, as a result, we got beat in all areas of the game.”

*

Goaltender Stephane Fiset, who had 30 saves against the Senators, kept the Kings close but he says mental mistakes have hurt the team in their last two losses.

All three goals scored by the Senators could have been prevented if the Kings had either cleared the puck out of their zone or just knocked a rebound away.

“There’s no excuse at all because we had chances to clear the zone, but we didn’t do it,” Fiset said. “Those things are mental mistakes and if we don’t make them, we’re in good shape.”

*

Left wing Luc Robitaille played against Ottawa after the league cleared him on a match penalty for spearing Montreal defenseman Vladimir Malakhov in the Canadiens’ 2-0 victory over the Kings on Wednesday. . . . The Kings were called for their sixth bench-minor penalty of the season midway through the second period against Ottawa when they had too many men on the ice. With 12 bench-penalty minutes, they are tied for the league lead. . . . Center Ray Ferraro was a healthy scratch along with defenseman Doug Zmolek and forward Matt Johnson.