ENERGY-SAPPED KINGS LOSE AGAIN VANCOUVER KNOCKS L.A. OUT OF FIRST VANCOUVER 4, KINGS 0.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

VANCOUVER - Suddenly, the six-game winning streak that had Staples Center rocking just five days ago, seems very far away.

Instead of the team that reached the top of the Pacific Division, the Kings looked sluggish for a second consecutive shutout loss, this time 4-0 to the Vancouver Canucks in front of a sellout crowd Tuesday night at GM Place.

Both games were against opponents below the Kings in the Western Conference standings and desperate to sneak into the playoffs.

And as in Sunday's 4-0 loss in Phoenix, the Kings did not have the energy that made them one of the NHL's hottest teams since Deeember.

Against the Canucks, who are 10th in the West, the Kings had no answer for Todd Bertuzzi, the league's hottest player, who had a goal and an assist. Burtuzzi now has eight goals and 13 points in his last eight games. More important, the Canucks are 6-2 during the stretch.

Unfortunately for the Kings, San Jose defeated Dallas 3-1 to retake sole possession of the Pacific Division lead. The Sharks now have 87 points, two more than the Kings, who remain in fourth.

That position will give them home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but with the Western landscape changing almost daily, nothing is certain.

The Kings came in with the league's best penalty-killing unit but allowed three power-play goals to the Canucks.

Goaltender Felix Potvin, who was 49 seconds from pitching back-to-back shutouts at the end of his six-game winning streak, has played poorly in his last two starts.

Against the Coyotes, he was pulled after just one period. Against the Canucks, the team that traded him to the Kings in February 2001, he allowed three second-period goals on just nine shots.

And it doesn't get any easier.

The Kings fly this morning to Edmonton, where they play the streaking Oilers on Thursday.

Edmonton has won five consecutive games behind goaltender Tommy Salo, who has named the NHL's top player last week.

It was hard enough Tuesday against the Canucks' Dan Cloutier, who was rarely challenged in his seventh shutout of the season and eighth of his career.

The game was scoreless after one period, but the Canucks already were showing they had far more energy.

That paid off in the second period when Brendan Morrison gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at the 3:00 mark with a power-play goal.

With Cliff Ronning off for hooking, Vancouver put pressure on Potvin in front of the Kings net and Bertuzzi first took a couple of whacks. That left Morrison alone in front, and he scored his 20th goal of the year.

Just three minutes later, the Canucks were at it again. Scott Lachance took a long shot from beyond the left faceoff circle. Henrik Sedin was cutting across the Kings zone and redirected the puck past Potvin for his 13th goal.

Murray, sensing his team was losing its edge, immediately called timeout. But against Vancouver, which is second to Detroit with 221 goals, there was no turning back.

At the 15:10 mark of the second, Bertuzzi got his 30th goal of the season on a give-and-go with Andrew Cassels, firing between the legs of Potvin from the left faceoff circle.

At that point, the Vancouver fans who booed Potvin out of town 13 months ago began a long and loud chant of ``Pot-win''

They repeated it several times, including at 13:47 of the third period, when Andrew Cassels walked in on Potvin and beat him with a wrist shot.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Vancouver's Andrew Cassels is checked by Kings' Philippe Boucher (43) during 4-0 Vancouver victory that knocked Kings out of first place.

Richard Lam/Associated Press

Box:

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS