Kings Call the Shots but Still Lose

The Kings found a team that was almost as depleted physically, and even more so psychologically, but it didn’t translate to a victory.

The Chicago Blackhawks, playing without their top two forwards and a general manager, looked surprisingly calm while facing a barrage of shots in the last two periods of a 3-2 victory.

Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault kept almost everything out of the net and righted a struggling franchise, at least for one night, before a disappointed sellout crowd of 18,118 Saturday at Staples Center.

The Kings scored 39 seconds into the game and outshot Chicago in the last two periods, 37-8, but their obliging penalty kill, the worst in the NHL, gave up two more power-play goals, panacea for any team needing a victory.

“It’s frustrating and ridiculous that we’re giving up some of the power-play goals that we’re giving up,” King Coach Andy Murray said.

The Blackhawks, without Alexei Zhamnov and Eric Daze because of back problems, played their first game since general manager Mike Smith was fired Friday.

Thibault finished with 44 saves and the Kings were simply finished, thanks in part to a first period that failed to match the intensity of the last two. Chicago had 16 shots in the first period to the Kings’ four and scored twice.

“If we would have been able to play the full 60 minutes the way we did the final 40, it would have been a different story,” King forward Trent Klatt said.

But the synopsis was reminiscent of the Kings’ 5-1 loss Thursday to Buffalo, a team that came to Staples Center with an ailing offense and a losing record, but left with a victory.

“When you make a change in a coach or management, there’s more impetus on a team to perform,” Murray said. “They were like Buffalo, coming in as a wounded animal.”

Seven King players sat out the game because of various injuries, and center Jozef Stumpel left in the second period because of a bruise in the shoulder/chest area.

Still, the Kings scored less than a minute into the game, Derek Armstrong poking in his own rebound after Thibault kicked away the initial attempt.

It didn’t take long for the King penalty kill to give back the lead.

With Tim Gleason off for slashing, Nathan Dempsey scored from the point on a shot that deflected off Ian Laperriere at 6:59.

The Blackhawks scored again on the power play at 8:18 of the second period. Kyle Calder, with one hand on the stick, sent a pass across the front of the crease to Pavel Vorobiev for a tap-in at the left side that gave Chicago a 3-1 lead.

“If we want to make the playoffs and do well in the playoffs, we have to do better on special teams,” Laperriere said. “It’s only the eighth game, but we have to improve now.”

The Kings pulled to within 3-2 when Lubomir Visnovsky slapped in a loose puck from the point after Chicago defenseman Steve McCarthy unsuccessfully tried to backhand it out of the zone 2:48 into the third period.

But the Kings came no closer than a lot of near-misses, a long list of shots turned away by Thibault.

Another opportunity was missed against another struggling team.

“These are huge points for us,” Laperriere said. “We need these.”