Excuses Add Up to Nothing

Here are some of the excuses that made the rounds in the Kings’ dressing room Tuesday after they failed to record a shot on goal in the first period and were held to 12 in a 2-2 tie at Florida:

* Not enough players skating hard to the net;

* Too many passes that should have been shots;

* Too many shots wide of the mark;

* Too many shots blocked by a skate, stick or body before reaching the goaltender.

Despite recent offensive deficiencies, the Kings have gained five points in their last four games. Coach Larry Robinson, however, said the Kings are headed for big trouble if they underestimate their shots-on-goal problem.

“If they are looking at it that way, this is just going to carry on and we are not going to get any better or rectify the problem,” Robinson said. “You can fault them for mistakes, you can fault them for a lot of things. But you cannot fault them for not putting out the effort.”

The slow-starting Kings, who have failed to score first in nine of 13 games, have averaged only four shots on goal in the first period of their last three games.

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The players are just as baffled as the coaches with their inconsistent play. They have shown for short stretches they can play dominating hockey. But then there are other times when they have been dominated.

“We have to play 60 minutes,” said center Jozef Stumpel, who has six goals and a team-high 15 points. “We have to stop playing just five, 10 or maybe 20 minutes. We can’t have 40 or 50 minutes either. That’s what is costing [the Kings victories].

“We have to start picking it up . . . and we have to go to the net harder.”

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The Kings remained in Miami on Wednesday after playing the Panthers on Tuesday night. The team will leave today for Detroit, where it will play the Red Wings on Friday in the third game of its current five-game trip. . . . The Kings are 1-2-4 on the road and 3-0 when they have scored first.