It was an early start. They've played more games than most teams and traveled twice to the East Coast. Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi are injured. Their dog ate their homework.
The Kings have a choice. They can wallow in excuses and permit opponents to dictate their fate, as the Calgary Flames did in scoring three times in the third period of a 5-2 victory Saturday at Staples Center. Or they can take the last, toughest step toward maturity by learning to ignore distractions and disadvantages and consistently play hard and tough and with emotion.
"These last two games are two great teams," goaltender Jonathan Quick said of the Kings' losses to the Flames on Saturday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, "but if that's where we want to be, we have to prepare ourselves mentally and physically and come up with better showings than we have these past two games. We're better than that. We know that."
Then it's time for them to show it for more than a period at a time.
Saturday's matinee began turning from a competitive matchup to a rout when Daymond Langkow scored a short-handed goal at 7:22 of the third off a nifty feed from Curtis Glencross. Shortly after the Kings flailed through a futile power play, Jarome Iginla completed his ninth career hat trick by rifling home a rebound from the right circle, at 15:53.
David Moss' power-play goal at 19:14 sealed the Kings' third straight home loss, but it was inevitable long before then.
"We didn't have a lot of energy. It's irrelevant why we didn't have it," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "We need to bring it. Especially at critical games."
Every game is critical for a team still forging its identity and seeking leadership and goals while Smyth recovers from his mysterious upper-body injury.
No one has stepped up yet. That has to change.
The Kings took only three shots on their three failed power plays and gave up their fourth short-handed goal-against this season. They took only five shots at Miikka Kiprusoff in the final period.
"We're just not making plays. We've got set plays that we're supposed to execute and we're just not doing it. It's frustrating," Anze Kopitar said. "It's 2-2 in the third period and the game is right there."
And then, it wasn't.
They did display some resilience early. Iginla scored his first goal on the Flames' first shot, using defenseman Sean O'Donnell as a screen and blasting a wobbling 50-footer past Quick 13 seconds into the game.
