Another shutout loss for the Kings

DALLAS -- Funny how seminal moments often play out in the NHL.

What should have been a spirit-crushing loss in overtime with dire implications for one team, and a season-turning moment for another has hardly followed the script.

First, the latest.

The Dallas Stars defeated the Kings, 3-0, on Monday night at American Airlines Center with goalie Mike Smith recording his fourth career shutout, making 22 saves in front of 17,208. It is the first time the Kings have been shut out in consecutive games since late in the 2001-02 season.

This was the first meeting between the teams since the Kings’ improbable comeback on Nov. 10 at Staples Center, scoring five third-period goals to erase a 4-0 deficit before ultimately winning in overtime against the Stars.

Dallas had a major management shake-up after that collapse, getting a new team president and two interim general mangers, one of them former star player Brett Hull.

So, to say that game at Staples was not on the minds of the players and members of both organizations would be fiction.

“It seemed like they wanted to make sure they weren’t going to be foiled again,” Kings Coach Marc Crawford said.

Said the Stars’ Niklas Hagman, who scored on a breakaway at 13:10 of the third to make it 2-0: “I think it was good to play the way we did in the third, especially remembering what happened last game against these guys.”

Since that game, the Stars (9-7-4) have earned points in their last two, most recently, a 6-1 victory against Colorado. The Kings (8-11-1) got a point against the Ducks on Tuesday but have lost the last three, and have one win in their last six games, which was the Dallas epic.

Which leads to this question: How can a team with the offensive firepower of Michael Cammalleri-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown -- the No. 1 line was reunited on Monday -- not score in 120-plus minutes? The last Kings goal came with 3:19 remaining against the Ducks on Thursday. Phoenix and Ilya Bryzgalov shut them out Saturday and now Smith.

The last time a drought like this hit the Kings was when they were shut out at Phoenix and Vancouver in March 2002.

Back to the No. 1 line. Brown was asked about the state of his line. “It’s kind of the opposite right now,” he said. “We’re getting Grade A opportunities and they’re not going in.”

Said Crawford, of the top line: “You’ve got to be simple in your game and the complicated plays will come. They come down on the two-on-one today and they try to overpass. Got to be direct. They’re young guys still. They haven’t learned every lesson this game is going to teach them.”

Crawford was pleased by the effort and approach in the first period. But oh so gradually, Dallas took control, double-shifting Mike Modano. Still the first goal came from an unusual source, Steve Ott, who scored on a deflection at 18:37 of the second for only the 12th goal of his career.

The Kings were caught unaware on the Hagman breakaway, his ninth goal of the season, and the third goal, by Jere Lehtinen came on the power play.

“The breakaway happened so fast,” said Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera, who faced 26 shots. “He just popped in there, and I didn’t have time to get set.”

Said Crawford, speaking of defenseman Brad Stuart: “He didn’t do a good job letting Hagman get behind him. He’s got to be more observant.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com