Kings Falter in End

This was a game to win. A chance to send a message. A moment to take a small step.

Instead, the Kings were left crushed and more than a bit bewildered.

After Chris Simon wheeled and whipped a shot, catching the upper portion of the net with 29 seconds left, the Calgary Flames gritted out a 3-2 victory in what was a hard-hitting, somewhat chippy game in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,118 Sunday night in Staples Center.

That it came down to that moment was what perplexed the Kings the most.

They had seen a 2-0 first-period lead evaporate. They rode an emotional pendulum in the third period. They had seen goaltender Mathieu Garon play his best game this season.

What it got the Kings was an end to their three-game winning streak.

“I don’t have an answer for that one,” Jeremy Roenick said. “They kept coming and coming. We couldn’t sustain it.... That was a bad, bad two points to lose.”

Those points slowly slipped away, though the end came quick enough.

Simon came from behind the net, with King defenseman Mike Weaver in tow. The Flames’ Jarome Iginla crashed the net and, faced with a choice, Weaver went with Iginla. Simon turned and fired, scoring his second goal of the game.

“We would like [Weaver] to stay with Simon,” Coach Andy Murray said.

The game was lost then, but it had turned much earlier.

The Flames were Stanley Cup finalists in 2003-04 and were pitched as a contender this season by nearly everyone.

Calgary was ranked last on the power play and next to last on the penalty kill before the game. Toss in some spotty goaltender from Miikka Kiprusoff and the Flames had that burned-out-from-the-lockout look.

The Kings feasted on those things early and were in control, getting goals from Luc Robitaille and Derek Armstrong two minutes apart in the first period. It was Robitaille’s 543rd goal as a King, seven shy of Marcel Dionne’s team record.

The lead looked strong, especially with Garon in net. He denied Iginla on three point-blank shots, all on the power play, and finished with 28 saves.

But things turned when the Flames began pushing Kings around the rink.

“They initiated the physical play and that got them on the power play,” King defenseman Mattias Norstrom said.

In other words, the Kings took the hits, and also took the penalties.

The Flames spent nearly nine minutes on the power play in the second period and the Kings seemed to wear down.

Andrew Ference made a no-look pass to set up a Simon goal to cut the lead in half 8 minutes 41 seconds into the second period. Five minutes later, a Dion Phaneuf shot from the blue line went off Tim Gleason’s skate and into the net for a power-play goal, tying the score.

The Flames had 10 power plays and scored on two.

Pavol Demitra appeared to give the Kings a 3-2 lead when he buried a one-timer on a power play. But Derek Armstrong was bumped by a defenseman and was called for being in the crease, nullifying the goal.

Moments later, Calgary’s Marcus Nilson broke in alone with the puck and was taken down by Gleason and Nilson was awarded a penalty shot. Garon bailed out Gleason with a pad save.