Kings Pay Penalty for Slow Start

Sooner or later, the Kings’ come-from-behind magic had to end.

If the Kings fail to score first, they no longer can count on a quick comeback. Tuesday night, their slow start again cost them in a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins before 12,055 at the Forum.

In losing their fourth consecutive game, the Kings failed to score first for the 20th time in 30 games. They are 3-12-5 in those games.

“When things aren’t going well, it seems like the other team has too many men on the ice all of the time,” said King Coach Larry Robinson, whose team dropped below .500 for the first time since Nov. 1.

Stu Barnes and Rob Brown scored power-play goals to give the Penguins a two-goal lead and they were able to hold on behind stellar goaltending by Tom Barrasso, who had 23 saves as Pittsburgh improved to 9-1-1 over its last 11 games.

The Kings did their best to help Pittsburgh by giving up six power-play opportunities before the Penguins were called for their first penalty. Pittsburgh finished with eight power plays to the Kings’ three, which all came in the third period.

Over their last nine games, the Kings’ power play is 1-32.

“Pass, shoot and crash, and that’s how we can [fix the problem],” Robinson said. “Every time an extra pass is made, there’s always a chance the puck will bounce over your stick. Try and keep it as simple as possible. Get it back at the point and if you have time to shoot it, you just make sure that you get it on the net.”

“It’s frustrating for everybody,” defenseman Garry Galley said. “We hadn’t lost more than a game in a row and that’s a good stat to have. Now, it’s dragged on where it got us all a little preoccupied to find out what we have to do to get better.

“We have to stop the bleeding.”

The first period was a penalty carnival for the Kings, who gave the Penguins four power-play opportunities in the period.

Russ Courtnall (holding), Luc Robitaille (tripping) and Philippe Boucher (board check) each had their minor penalties killed off successfully, but Pittsburgh took advantage on its fourth power play.

With Ian Laperriere in the penalty box for holding, the Penguins scored the game’s first goal with 1:28 left in the period. Barnes knocked in the puck following a nice cross-ice assist from Brown.

The first period ended with Pittsburgh holding a 9-3 edge in shots on goal and the Penguins’ 1-0 lead could have easily been more if not for several great saves by Stephane Fiset.

Fiset frustrated the Penguins early by stuffing solid scoring chances by Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Brad Werenka and Barnes. The Kings’ best scoring opportunity was stopped when Barrasso gloved a blast by Courtnall midway in the period.

The Kings began the second period just as they played the first when Mattias Norstrom was called for hooking at 5:16. The Penguins then scored their second consecutive power-play goal when Brown gathered in an assist from Jagr and scored from the right circle to give Pittsburgh a two-goal lead at 6:03.

At this point, King Coach Larry Robinson decided to make some line changes.

With Craig Johnson teamed with Yanic Perreault and Vladimir Tsyplakov, the Kings received a gift goal when Pittsburgh defenseman Jiri Slegr had a loose puck bounce off him into the goal at 7:20.

Tsyplakov was credited with his ninth goal.

By the time Pittsburgh had its sixth power play, the Kings’ penalty-killing units were ready. With Rob Blake and Norstrom leading the way with crunching checks on Jagr, the Penguins were held scoreless and barely threatened offensively.

In the third period, the Kings had a few chances but never could do much against Pittsburgh, which has only given up one goal in its last four road games. The Kings outshot the Penguins, 10-4, over the final 20 minutes.

“It’s nothing you can put on the blackboard, it’s just every now and then, teams have problems like this and that just seems to be where we are,” Galley said. “We just have to find a way to get it back.”