LOS ANGELES -- This was the kind of game that shows the difference between a promising young team and one delivering on that promise.
Despite strong play for much of the game, the Kings found a way to lose 3-1 on Monday to an undistinguished and rather slow Toronto team. (If the Montreal Canadians have historically been known as the "Flying Frenchmen," these Maple Leafs should probably be known as the "Anchored Anglos.")
"It seemed like we found a way to lose," said goaltender Jason LaBarbera, "instead of a way to win."
That way to lose was on specialty teams: The Kings bombarded Toronto on a 4-on-3 power play late in the second period and failed to score, then gave up two power-play goals in 1:21 early in the second period that springboarded the Maple Leafs in front. Toronto added an empty-net goal at the end for the final score.
"Your power play can win you a game," said Kings coach Terry Murray. "Your penalty killing will lose you a game. We had an opportunity in the second to build on the 1-0 lead. They were good on their penalty kill; their goaltender was very good in that situation.
"When you get down to going into the third period and both teams are in it like that, it is a matter of a turnover or one play to the net that can turn the momentum to either way."
The young Kings are still learning lessons about what it takes to win, and the one delivered Monday, Murray said, was how small that margin is between success and failure.
"You make a mistake handling the puck and we're shorthanded," he said, referring to the penalty on Sean O'Donnell just 12 seconds into the third period that gave Toronto the man advantage. "Now we are killing a penalty, and we take a run at a guy, and now we're down two men."
Dustin Brown took the second penalty, for tripping at 1:59, and Toronto needed just 10 seconds to convert on the two-man advantage to tie the score. Before Brown's penalty expired, the Leafs had the lead.
"It's a penalty-kill situation first," said Murray. "You can't look to hunt people down in a penalty-kill situation. You've got to make sure you're doing the job to get back to five-on-five."
One more detail: The Kings did generate quite a bit of pressure late in a bid to tie the score, but didn't have the luxury of using their time out to give the attackers a breather or talk things over. That's because Murray had used his time out in the first period after the Kings took an icing call after some sustained pressure by the Leafs. Under a rule change this season, a team that takes an icing call can't change its personnel, so the already tired group of Kings had to stay out. Murray wanted to give them a breather right then, a strategy that is becoming more common under the new rule.
"It probably bought them a minute to recover," he said. "It's a zero-zero game and you've got to be careful. You expose some players to fatigue, and they make a change and have fresh players coming at you.
"Again, that's the margin of error that can be there. You've got to be careful and manage it the right way. ... There's no sense saving it until the end of the game. You might not have to use it."
Traveling men: The Maple Leafs' visit -- only the third to Los Angeles in the last 10 years -- provides a good reminder of the dramatic difference in the travel burden faced by Eastern and Western Conference teams.
The Maple Leafs' longest road trip of the season is a four-game sequence with games in Buffalo on Feb. 4 (after which they'll undoubtedly go home), Montreal on Feb. 7 (after which they'll probably go home), Florida on Feb. 10 and Tampa Bay on Feb. 12. That's four games in nine days -- and the players will probably be able to sleep in their own beds at least five nights during that stretch.
Even when the Leafs do travel, they rarely go too far. They opened the season with 15 games in the Eastern time zone, went on a three-game trip to Western Canada, went back to the East for five games, are on a three-game Western swing, then play their next 21 games in the East. After games Jan. 27 in Minnesota and Jan. 29 in Colorado, they get to stay in the Eastern time zone for the final 33 games of the season. Their total number of games outside their home time zone: eight.
The Kings, on the other hand, play 32 games outside of Pacific time. Their longest stretch of games without leaving the time zone was the seven-game homestand in late October and early November. And at the end of the season -- when they're paying the price for all the early home games by playing 24 of their final 35 on the road -- they have two five-game trips (one to Montreal, Ottawa, Washington, New Jersey, and the New York Islanders; one to Minnesota, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and Columbus) and a six-game trip (Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas and Nashville). No sleeping at home during those trips.
No. 2 man: The Ducks' backup goaltender, Jonas Hiller, was No. 2 in another sense last week, named Second Star in the NHL's Three Stars of the week.
Hiller was 2-0 with a 0.50 goals against, .984 saves percentage and first NHL shutout, beating Chicago 1-0 on Nov. 28 and Carolina 4-1 on Sunday. He's now 6-1-1 this season with a 1.94 goals-against.
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (six goals, three assists in three games) was the First Star of the week. St. Louis goalie Chris Mason (2-0 with a
1.00 goals-against and .974 saves percentage) was the Third Star.
No notebook next week: I'll be away. Check back Dec. 16.