ANOTHER VANCOUVER REPLAY KINGS, PALFFY AGAIN TURNED AWAY BY CANUCKS VANCOUVER 3, KINGS 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

VANCOUVER - Ziggy Palffy's hands were raised and his slump was over.

It would have meant his first goal since opening night and a tie against the Vancouver Canucks and maybe a lift during a frustrating stretch that began in Montreal and has moved to western Canada.

Despite replays to the contrary Thursday, Palffy's goal midway through the third period of the Kings' 3-2 loss in front of 18,422 was waved off, and the Kings never recovered.

``It was in, I know it was in,'' Palffy said quietly after the Kings' third consecutive loss. ``I could have made a big difference. I need to turn this around. I am just not playing that well.''

Although they held the Canucks without a shot in the first 16 minutes of the third period, Palffy and the Kings could not solve the Vancouver jinx that began last season with three disheartening games down the stretch.

Even without injured Adam Deadmarsh, the Kings had a power-play opportunity in the final four minutes after Todd Warriner was whistled for hooking Mathieu Schneider. But instead, the Canucks nearly scored again then held on for their third consecutive victory.

Markus Naslund had two goals for Vancouver, which was coming off an impressive home victory over the St. Louis Blues. Trevor Letowski scored the Canucks' other goal.

Alexander Frolov gave the Kings (7-6-2-2) the lead early in the second period, and Derek Armstrong scored early in the third on an assist from Palffy.

But this one will be remembered for the goal that got away. Palffy took the shot down in front of Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier. At the same time, Cloutier was pushed into his own net by Brent Sopel.

Cloutier was sitting on the puck as Palffy raised his fists. Referee Mick McGeough emphatically waved off the goal.

``It's one of those plays where you can't get a second opinion,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``We played hard tonight, and we deserved more than this. We should have come out of here with a point, maybe two.''

Palffy's linemate Bryan Smolinski said Cloutier covered up the puck. But he said he feels badly for Palffy in his rough stretch.

``I love the guy, I want to see him do well,'' he said. ``We're a much better team when he is scoring goals. They'll come. He's too good not to score.''

Coming off Tuesday's overtime loss in Toronto, the Kings controlled Vancouver in the first period and took a 1-0 lead after one minute in the second.

Frolov, who played sparingly during the third-period comeback against the Maple Leafs, looked a lot like injured teammate Jason Allison when he circled behind the Canucks' net and poked the puck past Cloutier.

With two rookies in the Kings' slumping lineup, Frolov's fifth goal of the season was an eye opener. But the euphoria was short-lived.

Three minutes later, Letowski took a pass from Matt Cooke in the high slot and beat Kings goalie Felix Potvin with a high shot to tie the game. The Canucks had just three shots against Potvin in the first period and none in the first 11 minutes.

The Kings helped out midway through the second when when holding penalties by Aaron Miller and Schneider gave the Canucks a five-on-three advantage for 16 seconds.

The Canucks worked perhaps the prettiest play of the season against the Kings and suddenly began to take charge.

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski wound up from the point but passed instead to Mattias Ohlund to the left of Potvin. Instead of shooting, Ohlund made a no-look backhand pass to Naslund in front.

That made it 2-1 and forced the Kings to call a timeout. But it didn't erase the Vancouver power play. With Schneider still in the box, Todd Bertuzzi got the puck to Naslund, who slid it past Potvin at 10:51.

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Photo:

(color) Vancouver's Dan Cloutier deflects the puck wide of the goal as the Kings' Eric Belanger looks on Thursday.

Richard Lam/Associated Press