Kings Lose to Blackhawks in an Undesirable Manner

The Kings had as much life Sunday afternoon as the majestic Blackhawk crest painted at center ice in the airplane hangar called the United Center. In a game that meant so much, it was astonishing that they cared so little.

Their 3-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, their fourth defeat in five games, can be blamed on the failings that have plagued them all season: sloppy penalty killing, no leadership and baffling lapses in concentration. The Blackhawks, whose power play ranked 29th in the 30-team NHL, scored twice with the man advantage and once into an empty net, delighting the 16,504 fans scattered in the cavernous arena. The Kings took only 19 shots on goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, four in the third period.

“Our lack of professionalism made the difference in the game today,” said King Coach Andy Murray, whose team remained four points behind Edmonton--with two games in hand--after dropping to 1-2 on its five-game trip. “That’s not to downplay the Hawks’ effort. We can’t do anything about how they play. We need to do something about the way we played.

“Today we had too many players who we count on [who] must have had something else on their minds. To me, to play the way they played, you have to think that. I admitted to the players I haven’t played in this league as a player. I haven’t lived that. But I’ve been around long enough. I know what competing is. I know what it is doing battle for the guy beside you, playing like a team. You need to care. To me, there’s not enough caring in there.”

A few players did take some initiative and try to rally one another Sunday, but it was too little--and maybe too late.

“We had guys stand up and say stuff during and after the game,” Rob Blake said. “We’ve got to want to win. Do we have guys who want to win? I hope they do. We’re in the ninth spot [in the playoff chase]. You can’t play a game like that.”

Oh, but they did.

“We’ve got to wake up before it’s too late,” said Ian Laperriere, whose heart and work ethic are singular on a too-passive team.

Said Luc Robitaille: “We’re not up for the big games. There are no excuses.”

After a scoreless first period, the Kings gained a power play early in the second period when Chicago defenseman Steve Poapst upended Jozef Stumpel at 4:35. The power play has been a reasonably reliable force, but the Kings threw it away when Nelson Emerson, trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone, was penalized for interference at 6:16. The Blackhawks took advantage of the ensuing power play at 8:06, when Eric Daze pounced on the rebound of Tony Amonte’s one-timer and lifted the puck over a diving Jamie Storr.

“Every time the puck goes in the net [during a penalty kill] it’s a slap across the face,” said assistant coach Mark Hardy, who oversees the power play. “You’d hope the guys feel like that, too.”

Apparently not. The Blackhawks--who before Sunday had scored only 10 power-play goals at home in 96 attempts--scored again with the man advantage, at 18:37. While Mattias Norstrom served a slashing penalty, Amonte lunged and batted in a deft backhand pass from dynamic winger Steve Sullivan, who had gone around Blake. The goal gave Amonte his eighth 30-goal season and sixth in a row.

Murray is sure to brood over a game that had him shaking his head in regretful disbelief. The penalty killing, in particular, gnawed at him.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of stepping on the ice and waiting for something bad to happen rather than making something good happen,” he said.

That applies to their playoff hopes, too.