Playoffs Aren’t to Be Missed

It’s a miserable feeling, Bob Corkum said, to sit at home in April and wonder what could have been.

“You think about the game you lost that you shouldn’t have, the nights you didn’t show up,” said Corkum, the Kings’ fourth-line center who will be returning to Phoenix tonight for the first time since leaving the Coyotes as a free agent.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be in the playoffs in eight of my 11 seasons, but I know what it’s like to miss them.”

It’s a different sort of feeling that many of the Kings have, because the team has been in the playoffs only once in the last six seasons. They are on the bubble now, falling into the eighth and final Western Conference spot after Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Mighty Ducks, and they get daily mathematical reminders of what’s at stake.

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King winger Donald Audette continues to skate alone, or with rehabilitating defenseman Philippe Boucher, and said it will be another week before he can rejoin the Kings.

KINGS TONIGHT

at Phoenix, 6 PST

* Site--America West Arena.

* Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 23-22-7-3, Coyotes 29-18-6-1.

* Record vs. Coyotes--1-3-0-1.

* Update--Phoenix has picked up free-agent forward Benoit Hogue for the bargain price of $450,000, prorated for the rest of the season, and in doing so, added someone with Stanley Cup credentials. Hogue, who played for Dallas last season and has spent much of the time since recovering from surgery to repair a blown-out knee, probably won’t be ready tonight.