Kings Collapse, Lose Again

Luc Robitaille looked 27 again, Ziggy Palffy continued to produce at a blistering pace and the Kings appeared to be a few minutes from the most unlikely position -- looking down at the rest of the Western Conference.

Then the Boston Bruins scored twice in the final 2:32 and the Kings fell victim to their second late-game collapse of the season, losing to the Bruins, 4-3, before a deflated sellout crowd of 18,118 Saturday at Staples Center.

Boston right wing Mike Knuble scored with 1:48 left to play, officially ending what had once been a 3-0 King lead. Adding insult to ineffectiveness, the Kings tied a franchise record for futility with no shots in the third period.

The scene was reminiscent of the Kings’ meltdown in a season opener against Detroit, where the Red Wings reeled off two goals in the final 3:45, including the winner by Steve Yzerman with 1.7 seconds left.

Only this time, there was more at stake. Despite battling injuries and ailments with four prominent players out of the lineup, the Kings had a chance to take over the top spot in the Western Conference, a spot as unexpected as it was undeserving by game’s end.

Wednesday night’s inspiring 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators was swept into the past.

After Ottawa, “we were talking about one of the most gratifying wins we’ve ever had,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “Obviously, tonight we’re talking about one of our biggest disappointments.”

The Kings could do no wrong in the first period with three power-play goals, two by Robitaille, and three assists from Palffy, who stayed atop the NHL scoring leaders.

But the Kings retreated into a shell and the Bruins made it a game. Boston outshot the Kings in the third period, 11-0. The Kings hadn’t gone without a shot in a period since February 2001 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Bruins’ top forwards, Joe Thornton and Glen Murray, demonstrated applied learning after being called out Thursday by General Manager Mike O’Connell, who told the Boston Globe the handsomely paid players have “got to show up and work their tails off and so far, right now, I haven’t seen it.”

Thornton and Murray, who had combined for one goal coming into the game, were each given an assist on Knuble’s goal, which ended with Knuble knocking in a rebound from the left side of the crease after Murray’s shot from the right circle.

“It’s unacceptable,” King forward Trent Klatt said. “We can’t play that way. To be in the position we were in after the first period ... twice already this year we let points slip away. It’s very disappointing.”

The winning goaltender for the Bruins was former King Felix Potvin.

Potvin didn’t get much help at first against his old team, facing three 5-on-3 man-advantage situations in the first period, but he finished with 15 saves and improved to 1-1-1.

Boston easily outdistanced the Kings in penalty minutes, 48-26, but the Kings weren’t overly concerned at first, taking advantage with a crackling unit that is among the top 11 in the NHL in power-play efficiency after finishing a mediocre 18th last season.

Robitaille, the unit’s big beneficiary Saturday, has three goals in five games after calling last season with the Detroit Red Wings his worst. Robitaille, 37, started the scoring 7:01 into the game, one-timing a pass to the slot from Jozef Stumpel.

Robitaille scored again at 17:11, Palffy starting the play by shooting from the right circle in a 5-on-3 man-advantage. The puck deflected off defenseman Sean O’Donnell’s skate and into the slot to Robitaille, who chopped it into the net with his backhand.

Lubomir Visnovsky gave the Kings a 3-0 lead, skating in from the left point and beating Potvin low at 19:23 of the period.

The Bruins answered, Sandy McCarthy scoring on a wrist shot at 13:19 of the second period and Brian Rolston blasting in a shot from the point at 4:51 of the third period to pull within 3-2.

At 17:28, the Bruins completed the comeback, Patrice Bergeron knocking in a rebound off Brian Rolston’s shot from the point.

“We just weren’t prepared to play with the lead,” Klatt said.

“We just didn’t work hard after the first period.”