KINGS' HOMESTAND STARTS POORLY CALGARY 3, KINGS 0.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The Kings' recent upturn in fortune began nearly three weeks ago with a shutout of Calgary, so the Flames' arrival for the start of a crucial eight- game homestand seemed to be a positive omen.

But the momentum of a strong road trip died on the Staples Center ice Thursday night, as the Kings sputtered on offense in a 3-0 loss to the defensive-minded Flames in front of 13,616 fans.

``You don't want to say a game is a must-win, because they are all must- win,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``But we talked about treating these four games before the all-star break as a miniplayoff, so obviously this is disappointing.''

The Kings, who had won five of their past seven games and three of four on their recent trip, returned home flat offensively and continued their recent woes on the power play by failing to score on six opportunities. The Kings now have gone scoreless on their last 11 attempts with a man advantage.

``We need to be quicker and sharper on the power play,'' Murray said. ``Our five power-play players need to be sharper overall, not just on the power play. . . . We knew it was going to be a tight checking game, and if we had scored the first goal, I think we might have won 3-0.''

Kings goalkeeper Jamie Storr lost his second consecutive start but made just one mistake, when he stopped but could not control Scott Thomas' slap shot late in the second period.

Calgary's second goal came with four minutes left in the third period - three seconds after another Kings power-play failure. Mathieu Schneider's pass was taken by the Flames' Cory Stillman, who left a drop pass for Dave Lowry, who slapped the puck past Storr.

Stillman scored an empty-net goal with 1:54 left.

Storr, who seemed to cement his place as the Kings' starting goalie during the team's strong run this month, stopped 21 of 23 shots but received little offensive support for much of the game.

Calgary goalie Fred Brathwaite, who sat on the bench during the teams' last meeting, a 5-0 Kings victory Jan. 6, didn't get much more help but stopped all 21 shots he faced.

Calgary showed little spark at either end until late in the second period, when the Kings' Stu Grimson was whistled for roughing 16:15 into the period.

Less than a minute later, Morris, a Calgary defenseman, picked up a loose puck just inside the blue line and fired a slap shot at Storr, who had a clear look and made the stop but let the puck trickle through his pads and into the net.

The Kings' pedestrian second-period play (just six shots on goal) came as a surprise after a strong first 15 minutes of the first period. They thwarted two Calgary power plays and held the Flames to just seven shots in the period and failed on two excellent opportunities themselves.