L.A. takes what it can get

Kings Coach Marc Crawford didn’t take long to ponder the question about consistency this week. He fired off a response quicker than the shootout goal that beat his team Saturday.

“I’ve seen progress, I haven’t seen consistency,” Crawford said after practice Friday.

That has framed the Kings’ season to date.

And it summarized their performance in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars in front of an announced 15,846 at Staples Center.

Mike Ribeiro took his time, with two fakes and a stutter step, before lifting the puck over goaltender Barry Brust for the only shootout goal. The Kings’ performance, like the result, was mixed.

They got a point, but had a chance for two. They scrambled back from a 2-0, first-period deficit, yet let a one-goal lead slip away with five minutes left. They strung together points in back-to-back games against quality teams, yet the playoff race is something that seems to be happening in other cities, such as Anaheim, for example.

What’s a team to do?

“We have to start feeling like we can win from the start of the game,” defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky said. “We have to be ready to win. It seems like we kind of hesitate sometimes. Something goes wrong and we go, ‘Whoa.’ It’s a mental thing. We can’t just say we’re going to win, we have to feel it.”

The feeling afterward included the we-got-a-point sound bite, though it was delivered in a tone a bit reserved.

The Kings got goals from Dustin Brown, Sean Avery and Rob Blake, and another solid performance by Brust in his second NHL start. Yet, the poor start and final result were bookends that held another loss, leaving the Kings with 29 points in 34 games, half as many as the Pacific Division-leading Ducks.

“You look at the 60 minutes and for the first 20, they really took it to us,” Kings captain Mattias Norstrom said. “But I was impressed with how we responded.”

The response was overwhelming at times, as the Kings were working toward consecutive victories for only the third time this season, linking impressive games against the San Jose Sharks and Stars, two Pacific Division heavies.

Blake, playing one of his best games this season, parked in front of the net and was in perfect position to poke in a loose puck for a 3-2 Kings lead 12 minutes 18 seconds into the third period.

The moment was there, then was gone three minutes later, when a shot by Brenden Morrow went off Norstrom’s stick and into the net.

“If we knew the answer, we’d do something about it,” Blake said when asked about the team’s inconsistency. “We have to understand what kind of team we are and what we want to accomplish. We’re not a team that can take a night off, or a power play off, or a penalty kill off.”

Or a period. The Kings, playing a matinee, left a wake-up call for the second period. By the time they rose, the Stars had a 2-0 lead on goals by ex-King Philippe Boucher and Stu Barnes.

“It wasn’t Blake or Norstrom or [Aaron] Miller who were inconsistent, it was our young players,” Crawford said. “They have to get to the point where they know how they have to play to be successful.”

But, he said, “I think we recaptured some consistency the last two or three games.” Which is the curve the Kings are grading themselves on -- small victories, even when they’re not victories.

“For us to play a team of Dallas’ ilk and get a point, well it’s not what we came here for, but it’s something to build on.”

chris.foster@latimes.com