Defense Takes Its Share of the Blame for Drought

Why are the Kings winless in their last seven games? The power play has struggled, the penalty kill has continued to crawl, and most notably, the defense has been dragging.

Since allowing an average of 2.3 goals in their first 31 games, the Kings have surrendered four or more in five of their last seven.

Things will improve at the blue line when the Kings regain defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and Aaron Miller (pinched nerve), but until then ...

“We can’t expect to be winning games if we get four goals scored against us,” defenseman Mattias Norstrom said. “We’ve got to keep that goals-against down. We’re known as a good defensive team.”

The Kings trail the San Jose Sharks by three points in the Pacific Division and play the surging Dallas Stars on Saturday at Staples Center. The Kings are one point ahead of Dallas for second place.

“We knew that from Game 1 ... if you keep sliding, and we’re talking, a week or 10-day span, you know you’re going to find yourself in a tough spot,” Norstrom said. “That’s nothing new. That’s just the reality of our conference.”

Then, turning to a positive spin, “I like to look at it the other way,” he said. “We’re right there. If we put a little streak together, we’re right where we want to be.”

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Lost in the tumult of Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes was a respectable performance by goaltender Milan Hnilicka, who had 31 saves in his first NHL start this season.

Pressed into a starting role because of injury (Roman Cechmanek’s sore hip) and extra duty (Cristobal Huet had played 10 consecutive games), Hnilicka responded with several saves in the first and second periods to keep the game from getting out of reach early.

“I was anxious to get out there,” Hnilicka said. “I felt pretty confident.”

Hnilicka, acquired in September from the Atlanta Thrashers, was 4-6 with a .895 save percentage at Manchester, N.H., of the American Hockey League this season, numbers that looked worse than they really were because Hnilicka was hampered by a groin injury.

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After losing Wednesday, the Kings are 5-1-1 in the second of back-to-back games after starting out 5-0.... Wednesday’s shutout was goaltender Brian Boucher’s first in 85 games with the Coyotes.