Same Old Excuses Wearing Thin

The effort has been there for eight of the last nine games, give or take, Coach Larry Robinson said.

And the motivation is plain.

“Nobody wants to be embarrassed, like we were last Sunday,” defenseman Rob Blake said, calling to mind the nightmare-in-the-afternoon 7-2 thumping at Colorado.

“That could have been the way the last 10 games could be, but nobody wanted that.”

But effort hasn’t been enough to keep the Kings from losing four of their last five games when every game, every period, every shift is so important, mathematically for the playoff race, if for nothing else.

“We keep saying [that they’re making the effort], but I think we keep fooling ourselves,” winger Luc Robitaille said. “A big effort is great, but if you don’t win, it doesn’t matter. Winning is all that matters.”

Robitaille was down Wednesday night at Detroit, even after scoring his 34th goal, most since the 44 he had during the 1993-94 Stanley Cup finals season. He has 67 points, two below his aggregate while with the Rangers in 1995-96. That was his highest total since the 1993-94 season.

He has three goals in his last five games after going through a 10-game scoreless streak. He has only seven goals in his last 28 games after scoring 28 in his first 46 games.

“I’m a pretty positive guy,” Robitaille said. “I keep thinking we can win three games in a row and [Calgary] can lose three games in a row and we’re right back in it.

“But I don’t want to fool anybody. Effort’s not enough if you don’t win.”

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Detroit assistant Dave Lewis--a former King defenseman frequently mentioned these days when coaching jobs open in the NHL--on the Red Wings: “We’re a coach’s dream and a player’s nightmare. We have eight defensemen who can play and 15 forwards who can play.”

Lewis would like a head coaching job in the NHL and offers a working association with Red Wing Coach Scotty Bowman and two Stanley Cup rings on his resume.

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King winger Glen Murray was scratched at Detroit for the second consecutive game because of a groin strain suffered Sunday at Colorado on his first step on the ice after leaving the penalty box in the second period.

He hopes that a day of rest on Thursday and one of practice today will allow him to play Saturday night at Nashville.

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Newcomer Dave Babych, obtained in the Steve Duchesne-to-Philadelphia deal, has more goals, 142 in 19 seasons, than any active player who has never had a 20-goal season. The all-time NHL leader in that category is Robinson, who had 208 goals in 20 seasons with Montreal and the Kings.