Oilers Might Have Been Unwitting King-Makers

The Kings traveled north of the border to Canada on Sunday night with a clear memory of their last defeat.

Although it’s been more than three weeks since they suffered a 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Kings have no trouble remembering what happened after that Jan. 10 game at the Great Western Forum.

With a 17-19-8 record, the Kings could see their playoff hopes fading, so the players decided to meet and set a goal of not losing another game the rest of the month.

The message was clear. No more excuses. Just play hard and win.

“We knew that we were going to play a lot of teams that were at or under .500,” right wing Sandy Moger said of the Kings, who were 2-5-2 in the nine games before they began their seven-game unbeaten streak.

“We [also] knew that in order to get in good position for the playoffs that we needed to win the majority of those games. That’s what we’re doing right now, because we want it to be a lot easier on ourselves come April.”

The Kings have hovered around the .500 mark since they began the season with an 0-2-3 East Coast trip. They have proved they can beat good teams, such as New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit and Colorado, but they also have shown they are susceptible to bad losses, as with Vancouver and Toronto.

Coach Larry Robinson has been consistent with his “get-tough” approach whenever he has thought the team’s effort was missing. Twice this season, he has put them through grueling 90-minute skating-only practices.

But every time the Kings appeared to have their act together, they would take a step back, as they did when they were swept at Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto in early December after a 5-2-1 stretch.

The Kings, however, remained optimistic because after completing three lengthy trips to the East Coast, they pointed to a 26-day period during which they would play nine games in California.

“We knew that we just had to play our [system] to win some games,” center Jozef Stumpel said. “We [realize] that we need every point in order to get into the playoffs. And, if we [get] on a streak, we could possibly get a better place and home-ice advantage.”

The pivotal moment for the Kings’ recent turnaround occurred in the third period against the Mighty Ducks on Jan. 12 at the Forum. The Kings had played 40 minutes of lackluster hockey and, instead of using their size to their advantage, had skated around trying to make difficult plays they couldn’t finish.

Then something clicked. Behind two dramatic goals by Ray Ferraro, the Kings rallied to defeat their Southern California rivals, 3-2, in overtime. And, they’ve been on a roll since.

“Winning breeds confidence . . . that’s a definite,” Robinson said. “Not only does it breed confidence, but it also takes away all of the negative surroundings. When things are happening positively, usually the conversation is positive. When things are negative, the conversation is negative.”

Going into tonight’s game against the Oilers, the Kings have 55 points in 51 games. The last time they had this many points after 51 games was in the 1990-91 season when they had a 28-18-5 mark. In 1993, the year the Kings reached the Stanley Cup finals, they were 24-21-6.

“We’ve been through it [already this season], where we’ve played real well at the start and then we got a little comfortable during our slow time,” Robinson said. “The guys lost their work ethic, lost their concentration and focus. And it cost us. It’s much easier for us to keep our focus now, because we only have to do it for our next [four] games. They know that there is [an Olympic] break coming after that. It’s not like they have to do it for a long time.”