No Time to Relax in Home Stretch

With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Kings are in good position heading down the stretch. But after Sunday’s 4-0 loss at Phoenix, they know they can’t afford any slippage.

“The schedule we’re playing is ridiculous,” defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. “It’s just a free fall right now and a lot of it is how you get caught in the schedule.

“We’ve been on both ends of it now. On certain nights, we’ve caught teams tired and other nights, we’ve been tired. The key for us now is to bounce back. We’ve talked about not losing two in a row and we’re looking ahead to Tuesday [at Vancouver]. This one is already behind us.”

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For King center Eric Belanger, it’s a case of one more week. After being sidelined more than two months because of a wrist injury that required surgery Jan. 29, he had hoped to return to the lineup for the Kings’ current four-game trip.

Belanger was left behind in Los Angeles because his wrist did not respond well after a brief workout Friday.

“I didn’t experience a setback. It just showed that my wrist is not strong enough yet,” said Belanger, who had one of the league’s best faceoff winning percentages at 58.33% before his injury.

“It’s best for me not to take any chances right now with the way the team has been playing. I don’t want to be at 85% when I come back.”

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Forward Ian Laperriere returned to Los Angeles following Sunday’s game to be with his wife, Magali, who is scheduled to have a planned C-section delivery this week. King Coach Andy Murray said it’s questionable whether Laperriere will be back with the team for Tuesday’s game.

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Veteran left wing Kelly Buchberger, who has been on injured reserve since March 10 and has not played in seven games, is traveling with the team and could be activated before the Kings return home.