'CANES BEAT SLUMPING KINGS COWAN, BELANGER SCORE, BUT L.A. COMEBACK FALLS SHORT VS. CAROLINA CAROLINA 3, KINGS 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Kings coach Andy Murray discussed the recent struggles of one of his players, then another, then another, before he paused. The Kings, after all, were just two points out of first place in the Pacific Division.

``We're kind of having this conversation like we're dead here,'' Murray said Thursday morning.

``Dead'' certainly is too strong a word to use, but there was plenty to dissect when it came to a team that was riding high in first place for two months but seemed to be teetering on the brink of mediocrity.

In Thursday night's game against Carolina, the Kings tried to bring themselves back from that brink but, in the end, fell 3-2 in front of 17,010 at Staples Center. They played a miserable first 30 minutes but then got back in the game with some inspired play in the third period.

With 52 games left, panic is premature, but the Kings, who were trying to maintain the positive feelings of their hard-fought victory over Toronto two nights earlier, have lost four of five games.

On Thursday, the Kings didn't show any jump until midway through the second period, and by then they already trailed 3-0, and Carolina goalie Martin Gerber, a former Mighty Ducks netminder, looked good.

But momentum started to turn in the second period, and the Kings dominated the start of the third, as Jeff Cowan and Eric Belanger both scored in the first six minutes to make it a one-goal game.

The Kings later were on the power play for almost 3:30, including a 37-second 5-on-3, but couldn't score.

The Hurricanes had allowed at least five goals in five of their past eight games, but they were coming off a solid victory over the Mighty Ducks on Tuesday and continued that strong play early Thursday.

Erik Cole scored a power-play goal midway through the first period, Justin Williams scored less than four minutes later and Cole scored again in the second period to put the Kings in a three-goal hole.

Kings goaltender Mathieu Garon, who seemed to be earning Murray's confidence after a great effort Tuesday, allowed two goals on the first eight shots he faced.

The Kings, one of the league's highest-scoring teams for the first two months of the season, have now scored two or fewer goals in six consecutive games, five of which they've lost.

It's not difficult to see where the problem has been. The top line of Craig Conroy, Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov, who had a blistering November, have slumbered this month. In those five games, that trio combined for two goals, both from Demitra, and one assist, from Frolov.

The Kings finally got on the scoreboard 2:30 into the third period, when Conroy fed a nice centering pass to Jeff Cowan, who one-timed a shot past Gerber.

Murray, looking to shake things up a bit, moved rookie winger Jeff Tambellini up to play with Conroy and Demitra, but that didn't work either, and the top line was reunited briefly in the second period.

Before the game, Murray made it clear that he wanted more from Conroy, Demitra and Frolov.

``We, as a team, made a commitment to them, contractually, that they need to be leading players for us on a regular basis,'' Murray said. ``They want to be, and we need them to be in order for us to be successful. We've gone too many games without them being a major part of the game.''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Kings center Sean Avery, left, checks Carolina's Chad LaRose in the first period of Thursday's game at Staples Center.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press