Kings Waste Their Best Shots

The Kings kept firing away, shot after shot after shot.

But Mathieu Garon held his ground, save after save after save.

The Staples Center scoreboard dutifully kept track of the ever-increasing disparity in shots and, at the same time, the Kings’ inability to score on most of them in a 4-2 loss Saturday to the Montreal Canadiens before a disappointed crowd of 18,258.

Garon had a career-high 46 saves and just enough help from the metal -- King defenseman Jaroslav Modry hit the posts twice and forward Ian Laperriere rung one as well -- to shrink the Kings’ lead over the St. Louis Blues to two points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It would be tough to accuse the Kings of not working hard -- an obvious symptom of their aloof 1-1 tie Thursday with the Minnesota Wild -- but the Kings are 0-2-1 in their last three games, a bad time for a mini-slump with 14 games left to play and the Blues suddenly showing interest in making the playoffs.

The Kings outshot the Canadiens, 48-24, but short-circuited defensively a few too many times.

“Unfortunately, we were soft three times in the defensive zone,” Coach Andy Murray said. “Those three times were costly.”

Montreal right wing Richard Zednik had two goals and an assist, including an empty-netter with two seconds left that thwarted any hope of a King comeback.

Garon took care of things in net.

“It’s the NHL,” King center Chris Armstrong said. “When a guy has a performance like that, sometimes that happens.”

The Kings began to run into trouble during a 1:14 span early in the second period.

Montreal center Jim Dowd, acquired Thursday from Minnesota, shook off Denis Grebeshkov’s attempt to tie him up in the lower slot and fed Steve Begin at the left of the crease for a tap-in at 5:02.

Then former King forward Yanic Perreault backhanded in a rebound of Richard Zednik’s shot after Modry and Martin Straka failed to clear the bouncing puck in the slot at 6:16.

The Kings closed within 2-1 on Eric Belanger’s first goal since Feb. 10. Ian Laperriere’s shot from above the left circle bounced off the stick of Montreal defenseman Craig Rivet down low and was knocked in by Belanger from the right side at 17:25.

But at 15:11 of the third period, Zednik fought off a check from Grebeshkov behind the net, skated out front with the puck and beat Cristobal Huet to the blocker side.

“On a couple of goals, one of our young guys got exposed,” Murray said.

Trent Klatt made it interesting with a power-play goal at 19:27, but the Canadiens answered with Zednik’s empty-netter.

“This was a good game for us,” Garon said. “We scored a few goals by working hard. I saw the puck well. Their four lines were great, and Belanger and Laperriere were coming hard on net.”

Modry hit the left post in the first period and the right post in the third.

“I think they made the nets smaller,” Modry said, trying to force a smile. “It’s one of those things that bounced their way. Keep shooting and keep believing.”

Which is what the Kings must do.