(*Updated to fix Atlanta nickname from Flames to Thrashers, thanks to an alert reader. I guess my age is showing.)

It's one of those glass-half-empty or half-full kind of questions: If a team is succeeding when it pulls the goalie for an extra attacker at the end of the game, is it a good thing?
Obviously, it's never bad to score. But having to score late to tie the game is not exactly an ideal situation.
But it's one the Kings had faced in their last two home games, and they did succeed twice. Dustin Brown tipped in a shot with 26 seconds left last Saturday for a 2-2 tie in a game Edmonton eventually won in a shootout, and on Monday, Anze Kopitar scored with five seconds left to create a 6-6 tie with Atlanta; the Thrashers eventually won that one in a shootout, too.
As far as coach Terry Murray is concerned, there's no question the extra-attacker success is a positive.
"It's good news," he said. "That happens a lot in the league. You have to execute and you want to get results, especially on the power play. That's a requirement if you're going to be a team that keeps moving forward I like it."
Kopitar noted both goals came with the Kings also on a power play, so had a two-man advantage that's significant -- "It doesn't matter if it's five-on-three or six-on-four" -- but was a little more qualified in his enthusiasm for the situation.
"It's been working for us, but we don't want to be in that kind of position any more.
"We don't want to be in that kind of position, but if it happens, it happens. I think we were fortunate to get a point out of each game. ...
Points are huge at this time of the year. Of course you want to get two. When you get one, it's not good, but at least you get something out of it."
Whether six-on-five or six-on-four, it's not a situation a team specifically practices, but it's not totally unfamiliar, either.
"It's a power-play look," said Murray. "So you're practicing your power play. Your six-on-four look is not something you practice, but you have a designated area for that player to go to. It ends up with a five-on-four attitude with that kind of rover that's available to either side of the ice."
As for who's going to get sent over the boards when the goalie reaches the bench, "It's going to be one of your top guys," said Murray. "You're looking at your top-six forwards, your more skilled players. You're going to get them out there. You've got some guys that are heavy guys at the net, and then with that look with Kopey the other night, as a rover, you usually want a pretty skilled puck-possession guy who can see the ice and make plays."
The Kings have now scored after pulling the goalie three times in 18 attempts, while allowing seen empty-net goals. Opponents have succeeded three times in 22 attempts, while allowing nine empty-net goals.
Out of the blocks: The other constant in those two games -- and others of late -- is that the Kings have been getting behind early. They trailed 3-0 to Atlanta in the first eight minutes, and were down 2-0 to Edmonton in the first 14 minutes.
"We've come flat and we'll be on our heels," said Kopitar. "All the games we're playing, the first period is not a good one; we fall behind and then we chase the game."
Murray said the problem was one he would be discussing.
"You make it a focal point in your meetings to have good starts and do the right things," he said. "But you go back over the five road games (when the Kings went 4-1) -- we talk about our starts, we talk about setting up and establishing a forecheck and making sure we're doing the right thing with the puck through the middle of the ice.
"So it's not a big change. You might repeat it a few more times."
Penalties, he noted, have also played into those starts. The goal that gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead came on the power play, and Atlanta had two goals with the man advantage in its 3-0 start.
"We talked about that specifically," said Murray. "Those are hard -- when they come early in the game, or you get a power play early in the game like against Calgary, you're not ready for it. So that's a focal point.
"You have to take advantage of those situations -- or at least, if you get a power play, establish some offensive zone time, get that confidence moving it around and get a couple of chances. ... It carries over to your five-on-five."