KINGS LET BIG CHANCE FADE AWAY L.A.'S OFFENSE LISTLESS PHILADELPHIA 5, KINGS 0.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Edmonton already had lost, but no one on the Kings claimed to notice.

They were too busy getting overrun by the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Thursday night to give much thought to the playoff picture.

But midway through the third period, the Kings took a shot at a game that already seemed lost. Trailing by three goals, they pulled their goaltender in search of an offense that still was back in L.A.

``We needed to try something,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``We want people to know we won't give up no matter what the score. The same goes for this season.''

After winning six of their previous eight games to move within seven points of the Oilers for the final playoff spot in the West, the Kings hit the road with a thud.

It helped that the No. 8 Oilers lost to Detroit and No. 9 Chicago was defeated by Phoenix. The Kings remain three points behind the Blackhawks.

The team that might be the biggest spoiler is Nashville, which won its fourth consecutive game since losing to the Kings on Feb. 11. The Predators now are just one point behind the Kings.

``I don't allow myself to look at the scoreboard,'' Kings goaltender Jamie Storr said. ``We can't control what other teams do. The most important thing is what's going on right in front of us.''

The Kings have just two victories away from home since mid-December and things didn't get better against the Flyers, who haven't lost this year when they score first.

Ziggy Palffy, the league's hottest player, had his nine-game scoring streak come to an end. Palffy, who had 11 goals and 10 assists in his previous 14 games, had four shots against Flyers goaltender Roman Cechmanek but no answers.

Cechmanek stopped 28 shots to record the 16th shutout of his career.

Palffy had excellent scoring opportunities early in the second period and midway through the third. But after Cechmanek went high to glove a 20-foot slap shot with 9:40 left, the Kings were done.

``The Flyers didn't do anything different tonight to stop me,'' Palffy said. ``We just had some breakdowns on the defensive end that cost us three goals. Tough to come back from that.''

Even when the Flyers were whistled for a delay-of-game penalty at 9:56 of the third. The Kings pulled goaltender Cristobal Huet, who was making his NHL debut after taking over for Storr to start the third period.

They had a 6-on-4 advantage but couldn't score and never really got close.

``That was the best way to get back in it,'' said Storr, who will start tonight in Buffalo. ``You have to try things.''

After Storr left, the Kings allowed three goals in the final 20 minutes, including an empty-netter by Kim Johnsson at 16:55.

Huet returned to the ice and allowed the second of Eric Chouinard's two goals, a tap-in off his own rebound with 27:38 remaining.

Eric Desjardins assisted on both of Chouinard's goals and added a third on Mark Recchi's goal at 8:15 of the third.

After Recchi scored, Murray immediately called timeout. Not known as a yeller, Murray sternly let the Kings know he wasn't giving up.

``We made the change in goal because we thought it might spark the team,'' Murray said. ``We wanted to give Jamie a chance to focus on Buffalo. Goaltending was the least of our problems tonight. We took a chance on the empty net early because we really didn't have a choice. We need to get 92 points if we are going to make the playoffs.''

A victory would have put the Kings (25-27-4-4) at .500 for the first time since Jan. 7. With the loss, the Kings need to go 17-5 the rest of the way to reach their goal.

``We just have to remember that the only game that matters is the one we're in right now,'' Storr said.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Philadelphia's Radovan Somik (20) is set to score an unassisted breakaway goal against the Kings' Jamie Storr on Thursday.

H. Rumph Jr./Associated Press

Box:

LONG ROAD AHEAD