COYOTES RIP KINGS, AS DOES MURRAY : PHOENIX 6, KINGS 3.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

When Kings first-year coach Andy Murray called timeout early in the third period Friday night, he was one angry parent.

The team had blown a two-goal lead and the Phoenix Coyotes looked like they were ready to pour it on. When they did so, with five consecutive goals in a 6-3 victory in front of a booing crowd of 16,572 at the Staples Center, Murray really went off.

He benched his top two lines for the final six minutes of the game and blasted the entire team when it ended.

``I wanted them to hear the crowd,'' he said. ``I wanted them to see them leaving. There is a reason there are guys who have played a lot of playoff games and there is a reason guys haven't. You saw tonight why our guys don't have a lot of playoff games.''

Murray's strict style was brought here to end a string of five non-playoff seasons in the last six years. The Kings have never played well against the Coyotes, who went 5-1 against them last year.

This was the first true test of the season that began 3-1, a division opponent with just one loss in their first nine games.

``This was a measuring stick here,'' Murray said. ``We talk about wanting to change things in Los Angeles and everything has been positive. Then we put in an effort like tonight. It is a pretty tough thing to accept.''

Murray, whose timeouts have helped rally the team earlier this year, knew the Kings were in trouble, but he had no idea how bad the meltdown would be. With less than six minutes remaining, Phoenix forwards Keith Tkachuk and Mika Alatalo scored just 10 seconds apart.

``On that second one, they blew by us like we weren't even there,'' Murray said.

With the exception of third-line center Ian Laperriere, who scored his first two goals of the season, they weren't.

First-liners Luc Robitaille, Josef Stumpel and Ziggy Palffy had one shot in the third period before they were benched. Palffy did not have one after the first period. The Kings had just four shots on Phoenix goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov during the first 10 minutes of the period and 26 overall.

Shtalenkov, elevated to No. 1 goalie in the absence of holdout Nikolai Khabibulin, stopped only seven shots in the third period to raise his record to 5-1-1. Fiset, who has played in all but one period of the Kings' first nine games, had 28 saves.

``I will not speak about the rest of the team,'' Fiset said. ``I know I had a bad game and that is not acceptable.''

Laperriere's second goal, which beat Shtalenkoa close in after a pass from Brad Chartrand, came just 1:13 into the second period and gave the Kings a 3-1 lead.

But against the Coyotes, no lead was safe.

Even on the power play.

The Kings had a man advantage with 15:35 left in the second period when defenseman Keith Carney went off for hooking. But Tkachuk, the Coyotes' captain, won the ensuing faceoff and passed to Teppo Numminen, who got the puck to Dallas Drake at center ice.

At the Kings blue line, Drake fired a long shot past Fiset to cut the lead to 3-2. Drake's shot tipped off defenseman Garry Galley and the misdirection confused Fiset.

``That was a turning point for us,'' Laperriere said. ``We weren't the same after that.''

Murray said it was important to address the team before this morning's practice at the Iceoplex. But now they are preparing for San Jose on Sunday. The Sharks' 14 points are the most in the league.

``(They) really have to question themselves after this game,'' Murray said. ``We'll see what our team is made of. We have the best team in the NHL coming in. We haven't faced any real crisis or controversy. We'll see how we matchup under these circumstances.''

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PHOTO The Kings' Brad Chartrand and the Coyotes' Keith Carney battle for the puck at the Staples Center on Friday. Phoenix won 6-3.

John Hayes/Associated Press