Kings Take a Power Nap

This was a night of oddities.

Edmonton enforcer Georges Laraque was in the starting lineup, but started nothing else. The Oilers played the same goaltender the entire game and still won. King defenseman Mattias Norstrom scored a goal.

But what stood out the most was a night-in, night-out occurrence.

The Kings’ power play scraped bottom. The Oilers won, 5-3, Friday at Rexall Place, ending the Kings’ four-game winning streak.

“We didn’t capitalize on mistakes and let this one get away,” center Craig Conroy said. “Let’s get into Christmas and regroup.”

The Kings already returned one gift. With the score tied, 3-3, four minutes into the third period, they were handed a two-man advantage for two minutes. They couldn’t even keep the puck in the Oilers’ zone.

That effort was part of an 0-for-12 showing on the power play against an Edmonton team that gave up five power-play goals against Vancouver on Wednesday.

The Oilers were far more effective, with three power-play goals, including one that went off Ales Hemsky’s skate and was ruled a goal, breaking the 3-3 tie 13:15 into the third period.

Chris Pronger fired from the blue line and Hemsky, crashing the net, turned his left foot, redirecting the puck into the net. King goaltender Mathieu Garon charged out waving his arms, but replay officials ruled that Hemsky had not used a kicking motion to score.

“They ruled it a goal upstairs, so it must have been a goal,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “I’m more concerned about having a five-on-three for a full two minutes and not even being able to get the puck in the zone. We had our five best players on the ice. We should have at least been able to do that.”

The Kings have become toothless with the man advantage, ranking 26th in the NHL. This is a little more than a slump. They have a paltry 11 power-play goals in 109 chances in their last 15 games.

“We have to get better at getting the puck in the zone,” Conroy said. “We have the man advantage, even if we dump it in, we should get there first.”

There were plenty of power-play chances for both teams, with 26 total penalties.

What wasn’t called was a fighting major on either Laraque or the Kings’ Sean Avery. The two were sideshow buildup to the game, after Avery was accused by Laraque, who is black, of calling him a “monkey” the last time the teams played.

Laraque was thrown on the ice at the start, with Avery taking his usual starting spot for a road game. The puck dropped. The gloves didn’t.

Instead the Kings got a 1-0 drop on the Oilers 2:58 into the game, when Norstrom finished off a two-one-one break with his first goal in 84 games, dating to Dec. 18, 2003.

That didn’t bode well for Oiler goaltender Ty Conklin. Edmonton had won its previous three games but had pulled its starting goaltender in each because of poor play. But Conklin settled in and was given a 2-1 lead on goals by Jarret Stoll and Chris Pronger.

Goals by Michael Cammalleri and Conroy put the Kings ahead, 3-2, after two periods, but they couldn’t close the deal.

“The bottom line is we got to be better on the power play,” Conroy said.