Kings Let It Slip Away

The Kings finally encountered a team whose power play and penalty killing were worse than theirs. But they made the hapless Washington Capitals look like champions, as Jamie Heward scored a power-play goal with 63 seconds to play and gave Washington a 3-2 victory in front of an unhappy crowd of 17,217 at Staples Center on Wednesday night.

“This is what it’s going to look like if we let teams outwork us,” King defenseman Mattias Norstrom said. “We haven’t played the great hockey we know we can play.”

The outcome was predictable well before the Capitals, the worst team in the Eastern Conference, scored the decisive goal. King defenseman Tim Gleason was penalized for high-sticking with 1:10 to play as he tried to move Washington’s Chris Clark out of slot, and Dainius Zubrus won the ensuing faceoff from Craig Conroy. He got the puck back to the point to super-rookie Alexander Ovechkin, who passed it to Heward for a shot that eluded a screened Jason LaBarbera.

Coach Andy Murray said he had sensed a collapse coming while watching the Capitals gain strength as the game wore on.

“You know when you haven’t really deserved it,” he said. “We were, in my opinion, far too easy to play against ... in a game we needed desperately to have. It’s very, very disappointing.”

LaBarbera hadn’t known he would start until Mathieu Garon showed up for the morning skate with flu. Short notice wasn’t a factor, he said. The difference was the stream of penalties, 12 for the Kings, 10 for the Capitals.

“The way the game is now, it’s whoever’s got the best power play,” he said.

The Capitals, whose power play ranked 29th before the game with a 12.2% success rate, scored twice in 11 advantages. The Kings were two for nine, the first time in 10 games they had scored more than one power-play goal in a game.

The one that mattered most, however, was Heward’s goal. “I saw it when he shot it, but I lost it about halfway,” a glum LaBarbera said after the Kings’ sixth loss in eight games. “They won the faceoff and everybody kind of moved over.... It’s not a fun way to lose.”

The Kings nearly went ahead late in the third period, when a shot by Derek Armstrong rolled parallel to the goal line and appeared to hit the post as a Washington defender tried to clear it out of danger. The officials reviewed the play but said that no goal had been scored.

Ovechkin lived up to his billing, collecting two assists to pad his total to 18 goals and 34 points, tops among NHL rookies. He set up the Capitals’ first goal with a wicked shot from the left-wing boards that was stopped by LaBarbera, who left a rebound for Heward to shovel into the net.

The Kings, breaking a four-for-59 power-play slump that stifled their offense over the previous nine games, managed to score during a power play of their own. Eric Belanger lugged the puck up ice and passed to Pavol Demitra, who returned the puck to Belanger for an easy, point-blank chance at 14:32.

The Kings took the lead late at 12:10 of the second period, again capitalizing on a power play. While Brendan Witt served an interference penalty, King defenseman Aaron Miller slid the puck toward the slot, hoping for a re-direction. Sean Avery, between two defenders, managed to swat at the puck twice and scored on his own rebound.

The Capitals pulled even in the third period, despite being short-handed. Center Brian Sutherby skated through the slot unchecked and released a shot that beat LaBarbera to the stick side.

“We’ve got to find a way to get shots on net and grind it out,” Norstrom said. “This is the result you’re going to see every night if we don’t turn things around.”