Power Surge Shocks Kings

VANCOUVER, Canada —  This time, there was no miracle comeback by the Kings, no spirit-raising rally, no point on the road.

This time, there were only frustration and lament about squandered opportunities Thursday night after the Kings lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 18,422 at General Motors Place.

“We deserved better tonight,” Coach Andy Murray said.

Playing on the road for the 10th time in 12 games, the Kings lost for the fifth time in six games, the sixth in eight since Jason Allison was sidelined. They gave up three goals in a period for the sixth time in seven games, the Canucks scoring theirs in the second period and making them stand up for their fifth victory in six games.

Unlike Tuesday night, when the Kings overcame a 3-0 deficit in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, they fell behind and stayed behind, though their determined effort was reason for encouragement.

“You’ve got to give them a little credit,” King defenseman Mattias Norstrom said of the Canucks, who scored two power-play goals 34 seconds apart. “They had some good scoring chances and they put the puck in the net.

“From our standpoint, we’ve got to do a little bit more of the same because if we keep playing the way we played tonight we’re going to win more games than we’re going to lose. There’s no satisfaction in losing, but you’ve got to look at the game and evaluate it. We did a lot of good things, but not good enough.”

If the Kings’ travel schedule was ever going to catch up to them, this figured to be the night, especially with injured scoring leader Adam Deadmarsh sidelined.

The Kings, whose eight-game trip started Nov. 5 at San Jose before taking them to Eastern Canada for three games, arrived at their hotel at about 4 a.m. Wednesday after flying all night from Toronto, including a refueling stop in Calgary.

They are reluctant, though, to blame the schedule for their woes, and they called this their best game of the trip.

“The schedule’s done,” winger Ian Laperriere said before the game. “They tell us to play somewhere, we just have to go and play. We’ve been complaining about it, but if we keep complaining, it doesn’t do us any good. It won’t win us any games.”

Only 2 minutes 45 seconds into the game, Canuck center Matt Cooke was slapped with a double minor for high-sticking Norstrom. But the slumping Kings were unable to capitalize during a four-minute power play.

The Canucks, limited to three shots on goal in the first period and one in the third, didn’t put a shot on goal in the first 12 1/2 minutes.

At 1:05 of the second period, the Kings took the lead thanks to a great individual effort by rookie Alexander Frolov, who carried the puck from the right corner behind the net to the other side before slipping it past goaltender Dan Cloutier.

Trevor Letowski pulled the Canucks even less than three minutes later, scoring from the slot by redirecting a pass from Cooke at 3:54.

Later in the period, Markus Naslund scored two power-play goals, the first on a blind backhand shot from the goal line at 10:17 with King defensemen Aaron Miller and Mathieu Schneider in the penalty box for holding.

Only one second remained in the five-on-three situation when Naslund scored. With Schneider still in the penalty box, Naslund scored again at 10:51, his 10th goal of the season, on a shot from the left faceoff circle.

Derek Armstrong brought the Kings to within 3-2 at 9:27 of the third period, carrying the puck from the left corner to the slot before slapping it past Cloutier, but that was as close as the Kings would get.