There’s Calm After Tough Week

The Kings’ panic button has remained safely encased under glass despite recent efforts to punch it by the Mighty Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens.

The Kings finished a forgettable 0-2-1 week with a 4-2 loss Saturday to the Canadiens, although King Coach Andy Murray couldn’t light into his team on a night it outshot Montreal, 48-24. So he took the more pragmatic approach and reminded players of the difference between last season and this one.

Last March, the Kings were 28-31-4-4 and fading fast with 15 games left, a tangled mess of injuries and ineffectiveness.

This season, they are 25-19-16-7 and running neck-and-neck with the suddenly interested St. Louis Blues for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Blues are eighth and the Kings ninth, although Murray’s Saturday night message appeared to sink in.

“We’re ready to battle all 15 games,” left wing Alexander Frolov said. “We deserve to be in the playoffs.” To do so, the Kings are going to have to beat back the hard-charging Blues, who have only recently shown a desire to extend their 24-season playoff streak, easily the longest current streak in pro sports. The Blues won convincing road games Saturday and Sunday against the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, and they have a favorable schedule to boot.

Five of the Blues’ 14 games are against teams with faded playoff hopes, including the Chicago Blackhawks and Mighty Ducks, and one game against the punch-less Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Kings, on the other hand, have only three games against non-playoff contenders. They have seven games against Western Conference front-runners, four against the San Jose Sharks and one each against the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks.

With most of the premier talent already snapped up in a flurry of trades the last few weeks, the Kings probably won’t get much help from outside the organization before Tuesday’s trade deadline, with the exception of a role player or character guy.

“[General Manager] Dave [Taylor] has tried a few things but everybody’s asking for our young players, and he’s reluctant to do that,” Murray said. “I’m not counting on anything happening.”

The Kings probably will have to settle for a boost from within, with the pending return of injured defensemen Aaron Miller and Lubomir Visnovsky, right wing Scott Barney and goaltender Roman Cechmanek. All four skated Saturday; Miller could be back this week.