Los Angeles Kings Hockey Team

After the Kings trailed the New York Islanders for most of the night, Jack Johnson gave them a win with one shot in the shootout. Johnson scored the only goal of the shootout in the final round as the Kings beat the Islanders, 4-3, on Tuesday night. Johnson faked a forehand and got Yann Danis to move before he slipped in a back-handed shot to give the Kings their fourth victory in a row. "He made a pretty good move," Danis said. "I tried to stack my pads, and somehow, it squeezed through."

After being traded by the Kings last summer, Michael Cammalleri rented out his Hermosa Beach home to three members of this year's team. As it turned out, he played as if he owned the Staples Center ice too on Thursday night, scoring an early goal that Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff made stand up in a 2-0 victory over the Kings. The loss, sealed on Rene Bourque's empty-net goal with 36 seconds left, ended a four-game winning streak for the Kings.

VS. EDMONTON Time: 1 p.m. On the air: TV: FS West. Radio: 1150. Where: Staples Center. Records: Kings 24-22-7, Oilers 27-23-4. Record vs. Oilers: 1-0-1. Update: After winning the last four of a five-game trip, the Kings returned home Thursday to be stymied by the Flames and a strong performance by goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. After today, the Kings have only nine home games left.

The scrums after nearly every whistle, the teeth-rattling checks that sent helmets flying -- those were subtle signs of the passion that simmered between the Kings and Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at Staples Center. The real indication of the fevered emotional pitch came when Terry Murray, the Kings' normally unflappable coach, pumped his fists in the air after Dustin Brown's deflection tied the score with 26 seconds left in regulation time.

And for their next act. . . . The Kings again crawled out of a hole of their own making Monday, once more getting a last-second tying goal to send a game into overtime. But just as happened Saturday against Edmonton, the Kings skated off the Staples Center ice with a shootout loss, 7-6, to Atlanta. Anze Kopitar blasted the puck past Johan Hedberg with five seconds left to send the game into overtime, capping a rally from a three-goal deficit in the final 13 minutes.

Given the Kings' failure to show up in the first period of their last two games, it was no surprise they didn't show up for their scheduled practice Tuesday at the Toyota Center. This absence was planned -- Coach Terry Murray gave players a day off the ice before back-to-back games at Anaheim tonight and at San Jose on Thursday. He didn't grant them a reprieve from analyzing failed rallies and shootout losses against Edmonton and Atlanta.

The next Southern California hockey team that will make the NHL playoffs is the Kings. Yes, the long-hapless and until recently hopeless Kings. Not the Ducks, less than two years removed from their Stanley Cup championship but showing they need a major overhaul before they can become a force again. The teams' role reversal probably won't come full circle this season, but it will happen.

Patrick Marleau scored his 33rd goal, Joe Thornton had two assists and the San Jose Sharks earned their NHL-best 25th home victory, 4-2 over the Kings on Thursday night. Lukas Kaspar, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Milan Michalek also scored for the Sharks, who maintained their Western Conference lead over Detroit with their second straight win at the Tank after a 1-1-3 trip.

What's most grievously missing from the Kings' makeup and lineup goes beyond the obvious. It's more telling than their lack of a true first-line center, more damaging than the wearing down of their defense. The Kings don't have a commanding presence, someone who should have reamed them out Saturday for letting a second-period lead at home slip through their collective five-hole. Their previous coach, Marc Crawford, yelled too much.

Coach Terry Murray was happy with the Kings' effort Wednesday night, but Philadelphia Flyers goalie Martin Biron left them frustrated. Biron made 34 saves for his second shutout of the season and 25th of his career, and Jeff Carter scored his 36th goal in the Flyers' 2-0 victory over the Kings. "We had our looks, we had our opportunities, but Marty was really good here," Murray said. "It was a demanding game, and I was proud of our guys because we're such a young team. We have to find a way."