At Long Trip’s End, Kings Learn It’s Easy to Stumble

The Kings learned a few things Saturday night in the final port of their seven-game, season-opening voyage of self-discovery.

* They discovered there are limits to this business of third-period comebacks.

* And that they can have some trouble with the back end of this back-to-back game stuff.

* They also found out they need a little muscle to play teams in the Wild, Wild West.

All these things came to them in a nightmare at Skyreach Center, where they also learned that Glen Murray’s first hat trick in two seasons and Rob Blake’s goal 10 seconds into a power play weren’t enough to beat Edmonton.

The Oilers got their last two third-period goals by Daniel Cleary in a 5-4 win, only their second of the season.

It was the Kings’ second loss--they also had a tie--during the trip.

“Awful,” was Coach Andy Murray’s assessment of their defense. “We don’t give up that many scoring chances in a game . . . We let guys walk out of the corner.”

That was Cleary, who had just arrived from Hamilton of the American Hockey League. He beat Aki Berg to a puck on the boards and headed toward the goal, where he encountered the Kings’ Craig Johnson.

Cleary then beat Johnson and goalie Stephane Fiset to make it 5-3 at 13:42 of the third period.

“They have a good defense,” insisted Cleary, who had played for Andy Murray on the Canadian national team. “Maybe they just had an off night.”

The Kings can’t afford one.

They can’t even have an off period, which they also learned Saturday night when Murray’s goal gave them a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

“We were outworked in the second period,” said Blake. “I mean, 15-3 in shots [in the second period alone]. . . . Although it was a one-goal game then, they came out with a victory by [that] one goal.”

Two of those 15 shots produced goals by Ryan Smith and Alexander Selivanov that gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead. It was the first time this season that the Kings had trailed going into the third period, and they looked half a step slow in falling behind.

“[Two games in as many nights are] never an excuse,” said Glen Murray, who was the only member of his line who hadn’t scored coming into the game. “Everyone does it. Back-to-back doesn’t mean anything. It only took us 45 minutes to get here [from Calgary]. It’s not an excuse.”

It only took 2:20 of the third period to tie things when Murray scored his second goal. Tom Poti gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead when he knocked in a goal from the point, with Ryan Smyth screening Fiset at 7:10. Then it was left for Cleary to counter goals by Blake and Murray.

But the damage had been done.

“I’m not very happy with our team,” Andy Murray said. “There was no satisfaction tonight with this game at all. It looked like we battled back in the third period and took it to them, but if you don’t play desperately and you give up five goals, you aren’t going to win in this league.”

By game’s end, the Kings’ second line--which had stumbled about for five games--had its second productive game in a row, with Murray’s three goals, two assists by Bryan Smolinski and one by Donald Audette.

The first line, which had been shut out Friday night, was again on Saturday, though Jozef Stumpel had two assists and Ziggy Palffy one in the third period.

“I’d like to see a night when they both produce,” said Andy Murray about the Kings’ two lines.

That night hasn’t happened yet, and that is also one of the discoveries the Kings have made on this trip, which they will take into their home opener Wednesday night at Staples Center against Boston.

“We have to regroup,” Glen Murray said. “You know, 4-2-1 going into a homestand isn’t too bad.”