KINGS INSIDE LOOK: PENALTY KILLS SAP KINGS.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

The Kings killed four penalties in the first period, but they might have also killed their chances to win Game 3 against Colorado on Monday night.

That's because even though the Kings didn't allow a goal in those shorthanded situations, they burned a lot of energy early in the game and couldn't get into an offensive rhythm. Those two aspects of the game came back to haunt them in the third period, when the Kings' third-period rally fell short and they lost to the Avalanche 4-3 at Staples Center.

``We just took too many penalties early,'' said Luc Robitaille, who was guilty of interference just over five minutes into the first period.

``Even though they didn't score, it takes our players out of their flow and they can't get going. It also takes a lot of energy out of those penalty killers, and you can't give a team like (Colorado) too many chances.''

The Kings spent eight of the 20 minutes in the first period killing penalties, which didn't allow for a lot of time in the Colorado zone.

Eight of the Avalanche's nine first-period shots came with the man advantage, and the Kings had only four shots total in the period.

``It's tough to get shots when you spend all your time killing penalties,'' said center Ian Laperriere, who played a gritty game but managed to stay out of the penalty box. ``We just have to be smarter about that sort of thing.''

There was a direct connection between the Kings' penalties and offensive chances. They took two penalties in the second period and had seven shots, and in their smartest period, the third, the Kings took only one penalty and peppered Patrick Roy with 14 shots.

Just over five minutes into the first period, the Avalanche was on its second power play and the Kings had yet to put a shot on goal.

The prevailing thought after the game was that the Kings, who scored twice in the third period, would have been even fresher had they not spent most of the first period chasing the puck around while killing penalties.

``It burns the guys who are on the penalty kill,'' Robitaille said, ``and it also burns the other guys who are just sitting on the bench, because they can't get into the flow of the game. We'll get it straightened out.''

Also frustrating to the Kings was the type of penalties that were taken. Only one, Mattias Norstrom's roughing penalty midway through the third period, would be considered an aggressive penalty. The others were for holding and interference (twice each), tripping and high sticking.