Kings really needed this win

The Kings found a way to end a five-game winless streak:

Play a team that's worse than they are.

That limits the range of prospective victims, but they capitalized on that rare opportunity Thursday to scratch out a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers at a largely empty Staples Center.

The crowd was announced as 11,267, believed to be the smallest to attend a Kings game since the team moved here for the 1999-2000 season. It was just as well the audience didn't extend much beyond friends, family, and the few loyal fans the Kings haven't alienated over the last five playoff-less seasons.

The Panthers, near the bottom of the East and in an 0-4-1 slide, were flat. The Kings weren't much better, barely holding on to end their 0-3-2 slide after Nathan Horton's shot deflected off the foot of teammate Richard Zednik and past goaltender Erik Ersberg to pull Florida within 3-2 with 50.2 seconds left.

To the Kings, who are now 4-6-2 and starved for rewards after coming oh-so-close in one-goal losses to the Red Wings, Flames and Ducks on this homestand alone, the victory was a thing of beauty.

"We had a great game," rookie defenseman Drew Doughty said after earning the first two assists of his NHL career.

"We've been frustrated by some of those losses, so we came out aggressive. Some of those losses were heartbreakers that we lost in the last minute. Hopefully this will get us rolling."

Crawling will suffice, as long as they're going forward.

Before the game, veteran defenseman Sean O'Donnell mused that a prolonged slump could tip the season irreversibly in the wrong direction. This is a young team, and although the season is also young, players needed the affirmation of a victory and not the consolation of a good performance.

"Some of the young guys have been here a couple of years and they've struggled with the rebuild," he said. "I think guys want to see that light at the end of the tunnel, and it's up to all of us to try and put a couple of wins together and kind of get some excitement back in the room."

They got one win, anyway, and it wasn't easy.

Ersberg, making his second successive start, allowed a weak goal on a 48-foot shot by Anthony Stewart at 2:09 of the third period. But he made a sensational glove save at 14:26 when he snared a snap shot by Bryan McCabe, and he couldn't be faulted on Horton's goal.

Ersberg faced only 15 shots, nine in the third period, in earning his first victory since April 3.