Another Playoff Failure Has Kings Baffled Again

Eleven seasons and three teams ago Garry Galley made a magical journey to the Stanley Cup finals with the Boston Bruins.

“I remember losing to Bucky’s team,” Galley said, referring to former Edmonton Oiler and current King teammate Kelly Buchberger, “and I remember thinking, ‘Man, this is bad, but there will be another chance.’ And I haven’t gotten another chance. I went to Philadelphia and we didn’t make the playoffs for three years, and then I went to Buffalo, and they were kind of rebuilding and had a tough time there.

“It’s always exciting to be back in the playoffs, but you want to have success at this level. You never know when you’re going to get another chance.”

Galley, now 37, won’t get that chance this season. In a deflating end to what appeared to be a season of growth and progress, the Kings couldn’t even win one playoff game from the Detroit Red Wings.

Power-play goals by Pat Verbeek and Larry Murphy and an empty-net goal by Sergei Fedorov propelled the Red Wings to the second round of the playoffs with a 3-0 victory at Staples Center on Wednesday, sending the Kings home after four consecutive losses. For six months, through 39 victories and 94 points, the Kings promised so much. In four games, when it really mattered, they delivered so little.

It was hauntingly similar to their last playoff appearance, in 1998, when they were swept out of the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues after a strong season. The Kings have lost 12 consecutive playoff games since they won Game 1 of the 1993 Cup finals, and they were as devoid of answers as they were of power-play goals in this series.

“We’re a better team than that, and our season is over so quick,” left wing Luc Robitaille said. “We all realize since 1993, your chances don’t come all the time, and you’ve got to take advantage of them. The last two times, we didn’t take advantage.

“We should be mad. This is not enough, what we’ve done this year. This is nothing. It’s not a good memory.”

Forget Coach Andy Murray’s protestations that the series was “pretty darn close.” Forget, too, the passion and purpose the Kings displayed in the third period Wednesday, when they tested Detroit goalie Chris Osgood and the creaky Detroit defense in breathless flurries.

At the end, after maintenance workers cleaned up the cascade of broom handles and octopuses launched from the stands by Detroit fans, the Red Wings rejoiced and the Kings were left to wonder why they’re no further ahead of where they were two years ago. They couldn’t control many factors--Detroit’s superior depth and experience--but they could have controlled their emotions, and they didn’t.

In truth, the series was over early. The Kings took themselves out of it by taking too many foolish penalties--Detroit scored four of its last five goals of the series on power plays and was seven for 23 overall--and compounded that by not converting their own advantages. The first indication of trouble appeared when their power play went 0 for 3 in Game 1, a hint of the 0-for-23 failure that was to come. The computer glitch that plunged the ice into darkness before the third period Wednesday came straight from a “Twilight Zone” episode, perfectly capturing the nature of the Kings’ failures.

“I’m sure everyone here hasn’t had a lot of sleep,” Galley said before the game. “It’s one of those things where you say, ‘This is the time of your life, and what you do here is how you’re judged.’

“Being swept . . . it’s almost like you don’t take anything out of it. For this organization to progress, we have to win a game.”

The Kings couldn’t accomplish even that much. They never even had a lead in this series, so they never got to take advantage of Buchberger’s defensive abilities. Desperate for offense for much of the series, Murray benched Buchberger and the “stopper” line for stretches, shortening a bench that already was short of talent compared with the Red Wings.

“You don’t need to be a genius to see maybe we would have been more in the series if we took the lead,” Ian Laperriere said. “That hurts.”

Glen Murray disappeared, recording no points and a plus/minus rating of minus-three. Bryan Smolinski, considered by General Manager Dave Taylor to be the pivotal figure in the trade that brought Smolinski and Ziggy Palffy to the Kings last June, was pivotal against Detroit only because of his complete lack of impact against a team that sends out four skillful, two-way centers. Smolinski had no points and was minus-one. First-line center Jozef Stumpel had four assists. Rob Blake had no goals and took a terrible penalty in Game 3 that gave the Red Wings a two-man advantage that set up the second goal in a 2-1 Red Wing victory.

“The sick thing is it wasn’t even their big guys who made the difference,” Laperriere said.

Taylor, who ended his distinguished career without getting his name on the Stanley Cup, knows players are measured best by how they perform under pressure. The Kings, it’s clear, simply don’t measure up to Detroit or any of the elite teams in the NHL.

“I think without question, certain players rise to the playoff opportunity,” he said. “Detroit has been a little smarter.”

After the immediate sting of this loss has faded, the Kings will analyze which areas most need improvement. Character is the place to start. Because chances like these are too precious to let go by without taking full advantage of them. That they so completely failed at the most important task of season is the unsettling thought the Kings must live with all summer.

“I think we made a step forward,” Laperriere said. “Last year we didn’t make the playoffs and we improved by 25 points.

“We made the playoffs, but nobody is satisfied with being kicked out of the playoffs again. Next year, for sure, we’re going to be better.”