`ONE GAME AT A TIME' KINGS WITH FIFTH IN SIX GAMES KINGS 4, CALGARY 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

Kings coach Andy Murray is telling his players to forget the big picture. On Thursday night, they listened.

Instead of agonizing over their shrinking playoff chances, the Kings defeated the Calgary Flames 4-2 for their fifth victory in the past six games.

``If you look at the whole thing, it can be pretty daunting and it is easy to lose focus,'' Murray said. ``But if you go one game at a time, and do what you have to do, you can move forward.''

Ziggy Palffy excited the Staples Center crowd of 17,539 by continuing his hottest stretch of the season with a goal and two assists to give him 600 career points.

Palffy, who has five goals and six assists in his past six games, got all of his points during a three-goal second period that gave the Kings a lead they would not give back.

Palffy has nine goals in his 12 games and a team-high 22 for the season. Steve Heinze, Derek Armstrong and Joe Corvo also scored against Calgary goaltender Roman Turek.

The Kings trail the Mighty Ducks by seven points for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

Though they have won just twice on the road since mid-December, the Kings now have won four in a row at home.

They have two more games at Staples - Saturday against the New York Islanders and Monday against San Jose - before going on the road for five games in the Eastern time zone.

Calgary's Jarome Iginla, like Palffy the subject of repeated trade rumors, scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period. But after getting outshot 25-9 in the first two periods, the Flames had too much ground to make up.

Kings goaltender Jamie Storr wasn't tested until the third period, but he continued to played well. He came in 4-1 in his past five games, with a 1.75 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.

But the biggest problem for the Flames were the penalties. The Kings were 4 for 9 on the power play in the first two periods.

That never let Calgary mount any momentum. The Flames were sharper team for much of the third period, but it wasn't enough.

In the last meeting between the two teams, the Kings lost in overtime at Calgary. It was the middle game of three consecutive road losses for the Kings in mid-January that looked like it could doom their season.

This time, the Flames were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Anaheim on Wednesday night, and it showed. They were outshot 11-2 to open the game and fell behind on a power-play goal by Heinze.

But then the Kings went back into the same hole that nearly doomed them in Tuesday's narrow victory at Nashville. They briefly gave back their momentum when Palffy turned over the puck in the Kings' end and Iginla tied the game with his 21st goal at 13:37.

But the Flames never could beat the battle of fatigue. After getting whistled for five penalties in the first period, Calgary was whistled for seven more in the second.

Palffy gave the Kings the lead for good at 11:32 of the second when he scored the first of three Kings goals in the period. He took a pass from Corvo and threaded a shot through Turek.

Palffy might have been even more impressive on his two assists. Two minutes after his goal, Palffy was back on the power play and had an excellent look at the net. He faked a slap shot and passed in front to Armstrong, who scored his eighth of the season.

The final goal of the period went to Corvo, who is trying to take advantage of added power-play time.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Derek Armstrong, left, scored one of the Kings' four goals in a 4-2 victory over Calgary on Thursday.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Box:

LONG ROAD AHEAD