Once again, too little too late for the Kings

After Saturday’s morning skate, Kings Coach Terry Murray wondered how his team would fare against the Blues two days after losing a furiously contested game to the Red Wings.

“It comes down to an attitude and pushing yourself through the adversity,” he said, “and that’s why I welcome adversity.”

Memo to Murray: Be careful what you wish for.

The Kings were on the short end of a bizarre play in the opening minute and although they pulled even early in the second period on Brandon Segal’s first NHL goal, they never got much going until it was too late and lost to St. Louis, 4-3.

The Blues, winless in their previous seven games, gave new Coach Davis Payne the first victory of his four-game tenure. They scored on their first two shots of the third period to chase goaltender Jonathan Quick and leave the Kings 0-2 in a seven-game homestand they had hoped would solidify their place in the top eight in the tight Western Conference standings.

Instead, the Kings are one point ahead of the ninth-place Red Wings after Detroit’s 4-1 triumph Saturday at San Jose. The Red Wings, who withstood a 52-shot barrage by the Kings on Thursday in a 2-1 victory, have a game in hand.

Anze Kopitar, who brought the Kings to within a goal during a power play at 16:08 of the third -- less than four minutes after Dustin Brown snapped a shot past Chris Mason to cut the Blues’ lead to 4-2 -- said his team should have been boosted Saturday by its late push against Detroit.

“We dominated the last 15 minutes of that hockey game. That should be exciting for us and we should carry that over, not the frustration that we didn’t score,” he said.

It didn’t work out that way. And although defenseman Randy Jones’ ill-advised pinches in his return from an upper-body injury were contributing factors in this loss, they weren’t the only reasons the playoff race is tighter than the Kings want.

“We came out flat. After losing that heartbreaker last game we’ve got to come out even stronger and do the same things we did last game, but we failed to do that and that’s why we lost the game,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who assisted on the Kings’ last two goals.

“We’re battling for a spot in the playoffs now and all of us in here, our main goal is making the playoffs and doing well in the playoffs, so we really have to pick it up here in this last half of the season.”

The Blues scored 14 seconds into the game but got a penalty because the starting lineup they submitted to the official scorer didn’t match the players they sent onto the ice.

They listed their forwards as Brad Winchester, Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes but started David Perron in place of Boyes. Barret Jackman and Roman Polak were designated the starting defensemen and did start the game but were quickly replaced by Mike Weaver and Carlo Colaiacovo.

The Blues scored when Winchester deflected home a blast by Colaiacovo after a clearing attempt by Jack Johnson skipped past Wayne Simmonds along the right-wing boards. The goal was upheld because the players involved were on the ice legally; if Perron had scored the goal would have been disallowed.

The Kings tied it at 6:09 of the second period on Segal’s blast from the top of the right circle, which glanced off the blade of Blues defenseman Erik Johnson’s stick before sailing over goalie Chris Mason’s right shoulder.

The Blues took a 2-1 lead at 18:54 of the second period after Perron made an excellent move by holding on to the puck and faking out Brown, freeing himself to beat Quick to the glove side with a snap shot from about 30 feet out.

The Blues extended their lead to 3-1 at 1:35 of the third period on another unusual play. T.J. Oshie skated in on the left side and cut toward the middle, holding the puck and waiting for Quick to commit. The goalie went down to the ice and Oshie lifted a shot over him. The puck went in and out of the net quickly, surprising some fans when the red light went on, but the goal stood.

Quick’s night was over at 5:21 of the third period, after B.J. Crombeen beat him to the stick side. The Kings’ woes continue, with the Red Wings hot on their heels, but Kopitar said the Kings must look ahead and not at who’s behind them.

“It’s all about us right now,” he said. “We know what we’ve got to do. Tonight, clearly, for the most part we didn’t do it.”

Murray said he expects the playoff scramble to go down to the final day of the season. “There’s going to be some teams sitting on the other side of the fence wishing they could have won a couple of games in a very critical situation,” he said.

The Kings shouldn’t be one of them. But they can’t play as they did Saturday and expect a better fate.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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