Wake-Up Call Is Too Late

For two periods against Detroit on Monday night, the Kings played like a team looking ahead to the off-season.

Their offense was nonexistent and their defense wasn’t much better as Detroit’s Kris Draper, Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg scored goals against goalie Jamie Storr, who was pulled in favor of Cristobal Huet midway through the second period.

Then the third period began and suddenly, the Kings played like a team determined to stay in the playoff race. But all that got them was close, not over the hump, and they lost, 3-2.

Defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored a goal and so did winger Ziggy Palffy, but the Red Wings rode goaltender Manny Legace’s 27 saves to victory in front of a standing-room crowd of 18,344 at Staples Center.

“I didn’t like the goals that we gave up,” Coach Andy Murray said about the Kings, who dropped three games under .500 at 29-32-4-4. “They were goals that we could have made better plays on.... In the third period, we generated some offense with our forecheck.”

So with the NHL trade deadline today at noon and the Kings’ once promising season in disarray -- they trail Edmonton by eight points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference -- let the trades begin.

“It was a busy day. I was on the phone a fair amount,” said General Manager Dave Taylor of the possibility of any last-minute deals.

One King rumored in potential deals is Schneider, who is second on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 43 points and would be attractive to a playoff-bound team.

“Anything can happen,” he said. “A lot of trades have already happened and I’m just waiting like the rest.”