Kings go back into full retreat

At least the Kings had three full days to bask in the glow of Sunday’s victory over the Ducks. Then it was back to being worked.

Long after the Nashville Predators had cruised to a 4-1 victory at Staples Center on Thursday night, Kings players were hunkered down in what a team spokesman said was a players-only meeting.

The Predators’ victory was thorough and complete, with power-play goals by Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen and Alexander Radulov. As a bonus, Kings defenseman Peter Harrold, perhaps remembering the season, gift-wrapped a turnover in the slot that Jerred Smithson buried for a short-handed goal.

The only King who made himself available, and accountable, afterward was Coach Marc Crawford.

“I can only apologize for that,” Crawford said.

Those among the announced 15,119 ticket holders who passed on the game may have been better off Christmas shopping. Those who showed up provided the sound bite, expressing their displeasure.

The Kings provided the mental mistakes, while the Predators picked up power plays as if they had two-for-one coupons.

This came against a team that was more Predator-light. Nashville was without goaltender Tomas Vokoun, forward Jason Arnott and forward David Legwand, all out with injuries, then lost Steve Sullivan to a groin injury in the first period. On top of that, they were less than 24 hours removed from a 4-0 loss to the Ducks.

Those appeared to be significant handicaps that the Predators faced. But the Kings have been an NHL care package more than a few times this season.

The Predators cashed in on three Kings penalties with the power-play goals -- moments that turned the Kings’ dominating victory over the Ducks into an anomaly.

“You would like to think after the game in Anaheim, our players would like to respond with an even better performance,” Crawford said. “I think we came out like we thought this would be easy.”

It was -- for the Predators, who packed three goals into an eight-minute stretch in the second period, followed by the Kings’ waving the white flag.

This was hardly precedent-setting. Every step forward by the Kings usually has been followed by a quick reversal.

They beat the New York Rangers in October, then lost four of the next five games.

They beat the San Jose Sharks in November, then lost three of the next four.

The Kings have won back-to-back games only twice this season, and they followed up one of those moments by losing to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Thursday night’s loss not only dropped the Kings into 12th place in the Western Conference, it left them five points behind the eighth-place Calgary Flames and only six points ahead the St. Louis Blues, the conference’s last-place team.

The Predators worked harder, as when Hartnell won an elbow duel with Aaron Miller in the crease, leaving him in perfect position to redirect a Martin Erat pass into the net for a power-play goal and a 1-0 lead 6 minutes 46 seconds into the second period.

Things spiraled downward for the Kings from that point. Harrold fanned on a pass, leaving the puck for Smithson, who flicked a wrist shot from the high slot for a short-handed goal and a 2-0 Nashville lead 10:51 into the second period.

It was left to Timonen to send a shot through traffic to beat surprised goaltender Dan Cloutier for another power-play goal and a 3-0 lead four minutes later.

chris.foster@latimes.com