Kings lose a bit despite winning

This was one of those games that could affect how teams are aligned after the regular season. In other words, the Kings’ chances at the first overall pick in the draft took a minor hit Wednesday.

The Kings, so close to the Western Conference basement they could leave it as a forwarding address, managed to grind out a victory against a member of their new peer group. The 3-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets may have been mostly a talk-among-yourselves game for the announced 16,451 at Staples Center, but it altered the conference standings considerably.

Michael Cammalleri, Sean Avery and Lubomir Visnovsky scored goals, and goaltender Mathieu Garon was efficient, though hardly spectacular, in getting his second shutout of the season.

Those were the high points in a scrappy victory that allowed the Kings to slip past the Blue Jackets and leapfrog the Phoenix Coyotes into 12th place in the Western Conference badlands. A day earlier, the Kings could have slipped into last place had the St. Louis Blues managed to win.

Such is the four-team race the Kings find themselves in, tangled up with the Blues.

To leave that collection of have-nots behind, the Kings will have to do what they have rarely been able to accomplish this season -- a repeat performance.

“We can’t even look at eighth place and a playoff spot right now,” said Garon, who made his third start since returning from a groin injury. “We have to take this game into the next one.”

Goals by Avery and Visnovsky in the last 10 minutes allowed the Kings to exhale and start thinking about what was next. The unfortunate answer was the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks, the Kings’ next three opponents.

“It was a good win for us,” said Cammalleri, who ended an eight-game streak without a goal. “We stayed out of the penalty box and that keyed our power play. We deserved this win.

“But there is no secret; good teams string wins together. They go nine, 10 games in a row without losing.”

The Kings, meanwhile, have yet to win more than two consecutive games this season.

“This is why people make New Year’s resolutions,” Coach Marc Crawford said. “It’s an opportunity to reflect. We have a chance to start anew.”

The Kings did seem to leave one or two bad habits in 2006, at least for one night. They showed up on time, for starters, out-shooting the Blue Jackets, 9-1, during the first eight minutes.

That paid off when the Kings’ Derek Armstrong carried the puck into the Blue Jackets’ zone, with Cammalleri right behind. Fredrik Norrena made a sprawling save on Armstrong’s try, but Cammalleri shoveled a backhander into an open net for a 1-0 lead 8 minutes 17 seconds into the game.

It was the first time the Kings had scored the first goal of the game since Dec. 14, against the Sharks, a streak of eight games that included a 239-minute stretch where they didn’t even lead.

“We just have to try to get better each game,” Garon said. “It felt good out there tonight. The defense was solid. That’s what we can build on.”

Garon was hardly taxed, facing only nine shots in the first 30 minutes. But he kept everything out of the net, something injured goaltender Dan Cloutier cannot boast about this season. Garon’s 26 saves included stopping Sergei Fedorov on a breakaway 12 minutes into the third period.

“It’s not a good thing that Dan is injured, but this is a stretch where I’m going to get to play,” said Garon, who won for the second time in three starts since returning from a groin injury. “I just want to show them I have what it takes to be the No. 1 goalie.”

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Cloutier skated and worked out with goaltender coach Bill Ranford on Wednesday for the first time since being put on injured reserve because of hip and knee injuries.

Cloutier said that he has tendinitis in his right knee, which “may have been caused from compensating for the hip injury.” He underwent an MRI exam over the weekend but has not been told the results of the test.

chris.foster@latimes.com