LOS ANGELES >> Funny thing about these NHL-mandated five-day bye weeks.
They’re good for the legs and the head and whatever ails a player at midseason.
They’re not so great for much of anything else, though.
The Kings were aware of what might happen when they returned to the Staples Center ice after their break, and it didn’t take long for things to do haywire Thursday. Center Jeff Carter was whistled for hooking the Arizona Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal only 3 minutes, 33 seconds into the game.
The Coyotes’ Brendan Perlini scored a power-play goal 1:18 later, then Arizona’s Tobias Rieder added an even-strength goal only 16 seconds after that, and before you knew it the flat-footed Kings were chasing a game they would end up losing 5-3.
The Kings (28-24-4, 60 points) weren’t ready in the beginning, were so-so in the middle, but much better at the end. As a result, they squandered a chance to pass the Calgary Flames (29-26-3, 61 points) and recapture the second of two wild-card positions in the Western Conference.
“We’ve just got to play better,” Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. “When you’re down two, you’re trying to push the envelope as much as possible and because you’re doing that, there’s some chances the other way and they were able to capitalize.”
It wasn’t as if the Kings didn’t know what could happen. They knew teams around the league were 3-8-1 in the first game after their breaks and Kings right wing Dustin Brown talked at length Wednesday about preparing mentally and physically for the challenge.
Their hearts and minds might have been in the right places to start Thursday’s return to action, but their legs were another matter. Carter was a step behind Hanzal and reached out and hooked him to prevent a scoring chance in the game’s opening minutes.
Arizona clicked on the ensuing power play when Radim Vrbata slipped a cross-ice pass to Perlini on left wing. Perlini fanned on his first shot attempt, which served to cross up Kings goaltender Peter Budaj. Perlini didn’t miss on his second try and the Coyotes had a 1-0 lead at 4:51.
Then, with Kings fans still grumbling about the goal, the Coyotes gained control of the puck and charged down the ice. Rieder skated along the goal line and then lifted a sharp-angled shot over Budaj’s left shoulder and into the top of the net to make it 2-0 at 5:07.
There was plenty of time for the Kings to rally, to counter the Coyotes’ opening salvo. Arizona goalie Mike Smith wouldn’t allow it to happen, though. He turned them away again and again during a second period surge that seemed destined to result in a Kings comeback.
Finally, Tanner Pearson’s goal ended Smith’s shutout bid at 8:38 of the third and cut the Kings’ deficit to 2-1. Perlini’s second goal of the game, at 9:55 of the third, restored Arizona’s two-goal lead. Brown then scored to make it 3-2 at 11:07, capping a flurry of activity.
Jordan Martinook gave the Coyotes a 4-2 lead with a shorthanded goal at 14:08, one Budaj surely would like another crack at stopping. Martinook added an empty-net goal to make it 5-2, sealing the deal at 18:35.
Pearson’s power-play goal in the final seconds cut it to 5-3.
“I think I played all right,” Kempe said. “First period I was a little nervous, just tried to go out there and play hard. I think after a couple of shifts, I got into it and then I think over 60 minutes, I played a pretty good game.”
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