[0] FALTERING KINGS CAN'T CONQUER HOT COYOTES : PHOENIX 2, KINGS 1.

Byline: Roger Phillips

Victory was there to be taken.

But the Kings' power-free power play was up to its old tricks again Saturday, struggling to get the puck out of its own zone most of the night - never mind producing genuine scoring chances.

Then came the mistake, the late defensive breakdown that resulted in Greg Adams' goal with 2:33 to play, which was the difference in a 2-1 victory by the Phoenix Coyotes before a crowd of 13,898 at the Forum.

The Kings (10-21-3), who are 0-3 against the Coyotes (19-6-5) this season, now face the daunting task of visiting Phoenix on Monday night. The Coyotes (20-6-4) are 10-1-1 at home.

``We can keep saying it and keep saying it,'' Kings winger Glen Murray said. ``But special teams win games. We should have won this game on the power play, and we didn't.''

In their first two power plays, the Kings failed to generate a single shot. In three more power plays in the third period, they again went without a shot until finally managing to get two weak ones off.

``We knew they pressured a lot,'' Kings coach Larry Robinson said. ``We didn't make a lot of good decisions with the puck on the power play. Getting one there certainly would have made a huge difference.''

Less than a minute after the third power play of the third period failed, Adams scored the game-winner when he took a pass from Shane Doan at the blue line, skated around Kings defenseman Doug Bodger, drove to the net and swatted the puck into the net while falling to the ice.

``He made one more move than I thought he was able to,'' Kings goalie Jamie Storr said. ``He made a great play. Guys like that, that's why they make the big bucks.''

Coyotes coach Jim Schoenfeld said: ``It was a great individual effort by Adams. He took charge of the situation and won the game for us.''

It was a night when zeroes dominated the Kings' thoughts. The Kings have zero victories and zero points against their own division, the only team in the NHL still able to claim such a dubious distinction.

And the Coyotes' presence evoked additional hollow images. In their first meeting with Phoenix this season, the Kings were 3-0 losers. In the next meeting, Phoenix won 4-0.

But for the first 11:30 Saturday, the Kings weren't worried about getting a goal. They were worried about getting a shot on goal.

Finally, rookie Pavel Rosa - who had six of the Kings' 27 shots - managed to put a long shot at Coyotes goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who easily made the save. Then at 12:03, Rosa stole the puck along the right boards in the Coyotes' zone and passed it to Vladimir Tsyplakov, who fired the puck over Khabibulin's glove and into the net, ending Phoenix's shutout hex of the Kings at 139:22 dating back to last season.

But it would be the only offensive highlight for the Kings, who managed just 10 shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes against the Coyotes, who are playing without star left wing Keith Tkachuk, sidelined with a sprained knee.

Phoenix trailed after one period despite outshooting the Kings 14-4, but 4:08 into the second period, the Coyotes got on the board when Roenick scored. It was the first goal allowed by the Kings in 114:14, a span that began in their 4-1 victory in Chicago a week ago.

The next goal they allowed was the one by Adams, which forced the Kings to pull Storr in the last minute for an extra skater. But the Kings could not get the equalizer and fell to 0-7 against Pacific Division teams.

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PHOTO GREG ADAMS

He broke the tie with 2:33 to play as Phoenix continued its domination of the Kings.