King Loss Spurs Coach’s Frustration

Sean O’Donnell and Stephane Fiset spoke of luck Monday night, as in, the Kings don’t have any.

Larry Robinson, who called the situation “desperate,” spoke of something else the Kings don’t have.

And what was going to happen if they didn’t find it.

And who wasn’t going take the rap, either way.

“They’ve got to get some intestinal fortitude and sacrifice themselves by going to the net,” said Robinson after the Kings had turned in a lackluster performance in a 3-1 loss to Montreal.

“It’s plain and simple. You’re not going to score unless you go to the front of the net.”

It’s something the King coach has preached since Sept. 13, when his charges reported to camp at North Hills.

Go to the net. Go to the net. This is a recording.

Nobody’s home.

“We’re not going to score goals unless we get somebody in front of the net,” said Robinson at the Molson Centre after the Kings’ loss before 20,415, many of them family and friends because seven of the Kings are from Montreal or its environs. “We’re absolutely getting no traffic in front of the net.

“The coaches, we can show them what to do, but we’re not allowed to jump on the ice and grab them by the scruff of the neck and place them in front of the net and say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go here.’ ”

Montreal got goals from O’Donnell--er, Saku Koivu--Brian Savage and Martin Rucinsky in winning for only the second time in nine games.

The first came 17 seconds into a second-period power play when Koivu had the puck in open space, faked Steve Duchesne to the ice and sprawled when Duchesne hooked him with a stick. Prone, Koivu pushed the puck goalward, where Fiset kicked it away toward O’Donnell, who returned it to sender.

“They were struggling,” said O’Donnell. “They needed a goal like that and they got it. And we’ve been struggling and we needed a goal like that and we got one against us. . . . All I was trying to do was stop it from going into the slot and clear it to the corner.”

Instead, he cleared it into the net.

The Kings got a consolation goal from Glen Murray on a shot from just inside the blue line which, had it not sailed over Jeff Hackett’s shoulder, probably stood no chance of going into the net. Nobody was there to rebound the puck.

That’s the problem.

“You watch Detroit and you watch Dallas and teams like that,” Robinson said. “When I say go to the net, the guy’s going with an idea. He’s driving to the net. Our going to the net is, ‘Well, I’d like to go to the net, but I’m not really going to like what happens when I get there.’ ”

It’s a question of courage, with two solutions.

And one, said Robinson, is no solution at all.

“If they don’t produce, it’s going to come a point where Dave [Taylor, the vice president and general manager] is going to come to me and say, ‘Either you get these guys going or we’re going to get [some other players]’ or I’m out of here. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up that easy.

“So either guys are going to be willing to pay the price or they’re not going to play. And we’ll get some guys up from the minors, and we’ll put some guys on waivers and send them to the minors. And we’ll get some guys who are willing to pay the price.”

Considering the minor leaguers are callow youth, hardly ready for the NHL, and that many of them are injured anyway doesn’t help.

“Can you play left [wing]?” Robinson said.

Well, no.

The question is whether anybody else can.

And if no one can, then what?

“If you’re not being successful and it’s not the players’ fault, then whose fault it it?” Robinson said. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to be the fall guy here.

“We’re doing all that we can, so maybe we’re going to have to change some players here because they’ve been given a chance. They can’t say they haven’t been given a chance, except for Brandon Convery, who has only played one game [since coming over from Vancouver].”

Bet on Convery being in the lineup Wednesday night at Toronto.

And bet on another message today in practice. As if anyone who can read the standings needs another message.

“It’s not a panic situation, but it is a desperate situation,” said Robinson. “We’ve got to win games. We need to play desperation hockey for 60 minutes, not for five minutes here and 10 minutes there and 20 minutes there. We’re running out of tomorrows.”

And that, with 59 games left to play.