KINGS AREN'T FEELING HOMELY PHOENIX 6, KINGS 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Staples Center will prove to be either home sweet home or a house of horrors for the Kings.

With a playoff spot well within reach, the Kings entered Tuesday with 16 games remaining in the regular season, including 10 at home and only three games outside the Pacific time zone.

Recipe for success? Yes, if the Kings do it right. Otherwise it will be an opportunity gone to waste.

The Kings' home stretch got off to an auspicious start Tuesday, as the Phoenix Coyotes scored three goals on their first five shots and defeated the Kings 6-2 in front of 18,118.

Nashville's victory over Vancouver prevented the Canucks from passing the Kings for sixth place in the Western Conference, but that provided little solace to the Kings on a night when they suffered frequent neutral- zone breakdowns and struggled against a team that had lost four of its previous five games.

Jeff Cowan gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a goal 4:11 into the game, but by the 10-minute mark, the Coyotes led 3-1, as Shane Doan, Oleg Saprykin and Boyd Devereaux all scored within a span of 1:49.

The raw numbers reflected poorly on Kings goaltender Mathieu Garon, but two of the goals were scored on breakaways and the other was scored on a crisp centering pass from behind the net.

The Kings played a tighter game to start the second period, but it mattered little.

Less than five minutes into the period, Derek Armstrong took a double- minor penalty for high sticking Dave Scatchard, and Mike Ricci scored 1:51 into the four-minute advantage for a 4-1 Phoenix lead.

Cowan provided the only highlight of the period for the Kings, when his check on Phoenix's Tyson Nash dislodged the glass and caused a brief delay in the game.

The Kings outshot the Coyotes 15-6 in the second period and appeared to have some momentum, but Geoff Sanderson scored 67 seconds into the third period to give Phoenix a four-goal lead.

Scatchard added a power-play goal 7:32 into the period, and for the Kings, who had won four consecutive games at home, the disappointment was palpable.

Things had gone about as well as possible for the Kings of late. Without Pavol Demitra, who returned Tuesday, and Alexander Frolov, they won four of their first six games coming out of the Olympic break.

But the good times were few and far between Thursday. The Kings showed some spark early, and looked as though they might be in for a good night. Four minutes in, Jeff Giuliano tied up goalie Curtis Joseph behind the net and Cowan picked up the puck and scored on a wraparound for a 1-0 lead.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com