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Three takeaways from the Kings’ 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins

Kings winger Kyle Clifford (13) and Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid (54) battle for the puck during third period Thursday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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With six losses in their last eight games, the Kings are in their deepest funk of the season. They’re also in their worst scoring drought, with just six goals combined in those six losses – two of which ended in shutouts. If fact, when Boston scored a pair of empty-net goals in the final 62 seconds Thursday, that matched or surpassed the Kings’ scoring total in seven of their last nine games.

And that slump couldn’t have come at a worst time since the playoff race is entering its final lap. With that in mind, here are three takeaways from Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

  1. The Kings are going the wrong way in the playoff race

The Kings have won just two games since Feb. 4, earning four points in the standings. Over that same period, Calgary and Nashville have each picked up nine points to claim the Western Conference’s two wild-card playoff berths. And now the Kings have Winnipeg to worry about as well, with the Jets gaining four points on the Kings in the last three weeks to tie them in the standings.

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Calgary and Winnipeg have both played more games, which gives the Kings additional opportunities to gain points down the stretch. But with only 22 games left on the schedule, they’ll have to get going in the right direction soon.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to win games,” the Kings’ Jeff Carter said. “We need all the points we can get. It’s coming down to crunch time here, and we’ve got to get it going.”

  1. The Kings aren’t just chasing teams in the standings….

….they’re chasing them in games as well. In their last six losses, the Kings never led.

“Can’t chase the lead,” Coach Darryl Sutter said. “Early goal, just a constant theme. Chase the lead. Need some production out of the top end of your lineup to overcome that.”

Actually, production from anywhere would help since the Kings have the sixth-worst offense in the NHL, one averaging 2.42 goals a game.

Sutter has been mixing up his lines searching for a winning combination but Carter said that juggling isn’t responsible for the team’s feeble attack.

“No, there’s what, two or three new guys in the room this year?” he said. “So there shouldn’t be any lack of chemistry. Everybody’s played with everybody. The way he changes them up, we should be comfortable with everybody.”

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  1. There’s still a path open to the postseason…

… but it’s a narrow one. The Kings trail wild-card leader Nashville by five points and both teams have played 60 games. But the Kings are just four points behind Calgary and have a game in hand, giving them a chance to earn an additional two points. And they have three games in hand over Winnipeg, which entered Friday tied with the Kings in the standings.

But if the math works in the Kings’ favor so does the schedule. The Kings have four games left with Calgary, and even though three of those are in Canada, that’s not the hurdle it might be with other teams since Calgary’s 14 home losses in regulation is the second-highest total in the Western Conference.

“We’re confident,” Carter said. “But it’s time. We’ve got to win.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Twitter: kbaxter11

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