No Lead Safe for Kings
It doesn’t matter where you are, a $400-million downtown L.A. playground or someplace in the wilds of Edmonton.
Even in a swamp alongside an interstate highway in Florida or by the Capitol in Washington.
Losing a lead is an awful habit to kick.
It makes you want to kick yourself, which is what the Kings were doing Friday night after an announced 16,572 saw another first at Staples Center.
Deron Quint’s goal at 3:04 of the third period was Phoenix’s third in a row, and it was followed by goals by Keith Tkachuk and Mika Alatalo that finished off a comeback and handed the Kings a 6-3 loss, their first in the new arena.
King Coach Andy Murray had the first line of Ziggy Palffy, Jozef Stumpel and Luc Robitaille, and the second line of Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski and Donald Audette on the bench for the game’s final six minutes.
“I wanted them to hear the crowd [boo],” Murray said. “I wanted them to see people leaving the building early. . . . We’ve given them an opportunity to be successful. We’ve patted them on the back, and people have written and said good things about them.
“But our top players did nothing tonight. This has been our mission since we got here: to change things in L.A. Then we put in an effort like we did tonight.”
The Kings were outshot, 17-7, in the third period, a sign that effort had taken a night off.
Among those 17 shots was the one by Quint, who took a pass from Greg Adams. Adams headed goalward to screen Stephane Fiset, who could not handle Quint’s shot.
It was the third of five goals in a row for Phoenix (5-1-2), which started its rally in the second period when Dallas Drake picked up a puck pushed forward by Teppo Numminen on a King power play and was off to the races.
Drake’s goal was the first the Kings have given up short-handed, and it opened the floodgates.
At 14:16, Trevor Letowski scored on a shot from the right wing after he, too, had taken a pass from Numminen.
The goal tied the score, 3-3, setting up Quint’s heroics and the excess by Tkachuk on a power play and Alatalo, 10 seconds later.
The defense was soft in the second and third periods.
“We were losing the ‘micro-games,’ the games with a game,” King defenseman Mattias Norstrom said. “We were tied going into the third period, and then we’re outshot, 17-7. It was more our lack of effort that it was them coming at us.”
That lack of effort left Fiset open to assault, and for the first time, he was not equal to it.
“The first goal, I didn’t see,” he said of Quint’s shot that was screened by Adams. “The second and third I did. I’m not going to say anything about anybody else’s game. Just my own, and I played like. . . .”
It was the first Pacific Division game for the Kings, who began with victories at Nashville and St. Louis but are 2-3-2 since. Yet they have led in eight of their nine games.
“This was a measuring stick for us, and we measured an ‘F,’ ” said Murray, who had a long talk with his team. “We’ve beaten the teams that we should have beaten. . . .
“There’s a reason that some players go to playoffs and some players don’t. There are things that get you into playoffs and things that keep you out, and you haven’t seen a lot of players around here in playoffs lately.”
What remains is for Murray to see if the pieces can be put together before San Jose comes to Staples on Sunday night.
“We’ve had a long talk tonight, and the coaches will have a long meeting before practice,” he said.
Among the topics of conversation will be bringing back goalie Jamie Storr, who has played one period all season.
Among others should be kicking a bad habit before it gets any worse.
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