Shootout loss helps Kings reach a goal

The end of the season is on the horizon. The hopes for the playoffs long ago set into the Western Conference.

So what’s a King to do to keep up that “Play Hard” image?

“We have a theme every game, something to build on,” Coach Marc Crawford said.

And Thursday’s working title was simple.

“Get out of the cellar,” Crawford said.

Consider that mission accomplished, at least for a couple of days.

It may go into the books as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, but it put the Kings in an unfamiliar position -- looking down on someone. The one point allowed them to slip ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes and into 14th place.

Those among the sparse crowd of 16,110 at Staples Center saw the Kings blow a third-period lead, when Tuomo Ruutu danced around the Kings’ Rob Blake and Jamie Lundmark before tucking in a backhander with eight minutes left. They then lost the game when Nikita Alexeev scored in the seventh round of the shootout, which was followed by Nikolai Khabibulin’s glove save on Brian Willsie.

Still, a certain amount of dignity was achieved climbing a rung in the standings, even if it might hurt the Kings in the draft lottery.

“At this point, we’re playing for ourselves,” forward Dustin Brown said. “It’s good to have something expected from you in a game. You’re expected to play a certain way whether you’re in first or last place.”

The Kings had been in last place so long, the team could have received mail addressed to the “cellar.” That changed with a recent stretch, where they collected points in 14 of their last 18 games. While seven of those were in shootout or overtime losses, it can be considered a hot streak when grading the Kings’ season on a curve.

That’s enough for Crawford to see hope. He points to the number of one-goal games the Kings have been in as a positive sign, even though they have lost 23 of 32 in those games.

“First, you have to get into close games, then you have to get comfortable playing in them, then you start to win them,” Crawford said. “Right now, we’re still getting comfortable playing in those type of games.”

The Kings felt anything but comfortable the first 13 minutes Thursday, after the Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead on their first five shots. Lundmark and Willsie got the Kings even by the end of the first period, and Scott Thornton gave the Kings the lead five minutes into the second period.

“Everyone in the organization is being looked at now,” Brown said. “The way you play right now, in this situation, shows who you really are.”

Who the Kings are today is one spot better than they were yesterday.

chris.foster@latimes.com