Flames Keep Kings Cold

With the hapless Atlanta Thrashers long gone, the Kings’ early season struggles continued Thursday night at Staples Center.

For the fourth time in their last seven games, they gave up consecutive goals in less than a minute. For the 11th time in 16 games, they were unable to score more than two goals. And they failed to build on the momentum of their victory over the Thrashers on Saturday, losing to the Calgary Flames, 3-2, before 14,459.

The Kings haven’t won consecutive games since May, when they defeated the Colorado Avalanche in Games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. That also may have been the last time anybody outside their immediate families took them seriously as Stanley Cup contenders.

They are 1-9 in one-goal games.

The Flames, extending their unbeaten streak to five games, scored two goals within a 23-second span of the second period to take control of the game and got two more goals from NHL scoring leader Jarome Iginla.

“I think we saw a one-goal differential tonight based on the passion, hard work and determination on the part of the Flames,” King Coach Andy Murray said, implying that those traits may have been lacking in many of his players.

“Some of our top-level players in every position were not our top-level players tonight, and it’s very difficult to win if those guys aren’t on top of their games.”

The Flames, playing their second game in two nights against a team that hadn’t played since Saturday, continued to be on top of their game.

Though they haven’t won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989 and haven’t even reached the playoffs since the 1995-96 season, the Flames are off to the fastest start in their history with an 11-2-1-2 record.

Led by Iginla and goaltender Roman Turek, who made 26 saves against the Kings, they lead the Northwest Division with the second-best record in the West.

“They’re doing what we did last year to gain recognition in the league,” Murray said before the game. “They’re playing hard. They’re working hard. They’re competing every night. They’re getting very good goaltending. And they’re winning more than they’re losing.”

The Flames’ only two losses in regulation have come in the second game of back-to-back sets.

The Kings, meanwhile, are trying to recover from a slow start in which they’ve won only four of their first 16 games and fallen to last in the Pacific Division.

“Again,” Murray said after the latest loss, “we could sit here and say, ‘Gee, we didn’t play bad. We played pretty well. Outshot them, 28-21.’ But the bottom line is, we’re not getting it done. It’s pretty upsetting.”

Against the Flames, who played a 3-3 tie with the Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night in Anaheim, the more rested Kings forced the action early on.

But they had nothing to show for it until Craig Johnson scored his second goal of the season at 15:17 of the first period.

Iginla pulled the Flames even at 18:30, jumping on a loose puck in the right faceoff circle and banking a shot off the left post and into the net. King defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky appeared to have sent the puck out of harm’s way, but his clearing pass from behind the net took a weird bounce off a seam in the glass and set up perfectly for Iginla, whose goal was his 12th of the season.

The game-tying goal extended Iginla’s point-scoring streak to 10 games and increased his league-leading point total to 26, but he wasn’t finished.

In the second period, after shaking a hip check by Jere Karalahti along the right boards, he carried the puck into the right faceoff circle before snapping off a shot that made its way between the pads of goaltender Felix Potvin.

Only 23 seconds later, defenseman Denis Gauthier gave the Flames a 3-1 lead with a shot from the top of the slot at 9:57.

“We’ve talked about that,” Murray said of the Kings’ habit of giving up goals in quick succession. “You have to go out, you have to be ready, you have to get your head up, eyes up on the bench and step out on the ice and get it done, but unfortunately we didn’t.”