[0] SLIPPING KINGS FALL TO CAROLINA ANOTHER LESSER TEAM TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE CAROLINA 5, KINGS 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

A week ago, the Kings were flying, and not just across Canada, on their longest trip of the season.

They were no longer scratching for that final playoff spot, they were taking it to teams. The question was not if but who they would play in the first round.

But suddenly they have only a tie to show for three games against lesser opponents, including Thursday's dreary 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a stunned crowd of 15,424 at the Staples Center.

This was a point in the schedule where they expected to accumulate points and solidify their position, but the Kings got just one out of a possible six. With 18 games left and Nashville in town on Saturday, the Kings should be making a move. Instead, they are standing still.

Not only are they not scoring, the Kings are taking bad penalties.

Against the Hurricanes, there was plenty of time for a comeback when the Kings entered the third period trailing just 2-1. But when Gary Roberts scored his second goal for Carolina just 25 seconds into the third period, it was too late for a wakeup call.

Martin Gelinas made it 4-1 when he beat Kings goaltender Stephane Fiset with a blast from the right slot less than seven minutes later. But at that point, the Hurricanes were just piling on.

The Kings now have threee goals in the last two games and five in the last three. Their first goal came from Luc Robitaille, who now has 33 and a league-tying 15-game scoring streak.

But the Kings offense looked a lot like it did in Tuesday's 1-1 tie against Vancouver. Robitaille's linemate Ziggy Palffy had the only goal in that game.

Kings coach Andy Murray spent much of Wednesday meeting with members of the team's sluggish second unit. Center Bryan Smolinski does not have a goal in eight games and just one in the past 12.

The team also isn't sure what to do with Donald Audette, who has returned from six weeks on injured reserve with a badly sprained left ankle but hasn't been the same player who scored 10 goals in the first 25 games.

The Hurricanes, who challenged Florida for the Southeast Division lead earlier in the season, came in struggling. They had just two victories in their previous seven games, including a 7-5 loss in Phoenix on Wednesday night. But the Hurricanes, who end their trip Saturday in San Jose, scored four goals in the third period of that game and appeared ready to keep it going against the Kings.

After Sami Kapanen scored with 7:32 gone in the first, the Kings needed almost an entire period to regroup.

The Kings finally tied the game at 6:05 of the second period when Robitaille took a pass from Jozef Stumpel in the slot and beat Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe. But much of the second period looked like the past two games, a loss to San Jose and a tie with Vancouver. The Kings often looked out of sync.

Midway through the period, the Kings went on the power play when Gelinas was whistled for roughing at 8:50. But only 38 seconds later, Blake ended the man advantage when he was called for elbowing.

But the worst came after Smolinski was called for roughing at 12:31. The Kings were 18 seconds from killing the penalty when Garry Galley was whistled for holding.

The momentum was killed and moments after Galley went off, the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead on Roberts' goal.

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Photo: Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe reaches out a grab a shot from the Kings' Luc Robitaille

E.J. Flynn/Associated Press