KINGS STUMBLE TO UNEASY VICTORY : KINGS 3, PHOENIX 2.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writer

The Kings haven't played consistently well since the Olympics break, with only a few exceptions.

Still, they've managed to grind out a record of 6-5-2 in that period and remain in good position for the playoffs. In one sense, that's a good sign: The team has proved it can win even when it's not at its best. In another sense, it's a concern: Inconsistent teams don't do well in the playoffs.

The Kings' 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes before an announced crowd of 14,687 Saturday at the Forum was a typical performance of late: They blew a 2-0 lead after the first period only to sneak away with two points when Sean O'Donnell slapped in the winner with 8:19 left in the game.

Since the break, the Kings have lost eight leads in 13 games. Although they are 4-2-2 in those games, a tendency to cruise at times and the inability to hold a lead engenders an uneasy feeling with only 14 games to go in the regular season.

``The last two or three weeks, it's been awful (holding leads),'' said right wing Glen Murray. ``If we're up 2-0, we have to play like it's 0-0 not sit back, we have to keep playing the way we were playing when it was 0-0 and maybe we'll put teams away earlier.

``You can't sit back, lay back. . . . That's when teams come at you. It happened tonight. We've got to get that bad habit out of our game.''

The Kings, 2-3 in their last five games, struggled in other areas.

Most significant, they had only two shots in the third period (when Phoenix had three power plays, which limited the Kings' opportunities) and only 20 in the game. Fortunately for them, one of the final two shots went in and it decided the game.

And they were ineffective once again on their own power play, going 0-4. Among their chances was a five-minute major in the first period on which they could have taken a commanding 3-0 lead but managed only one shot.

That gave the Coyotes a window of opportunity and they climbed in. Oleg Tverdovsky and Daniel Briere scored 29 seconds apart in the second period to tie it 2-2. Thus, coach Larry Robinson had mixed feelings about the game.

``To me that's not a team that's playing well, or playing at the top,'' he said of the wasted five-minute penalty. ``Again, we have to get everyone on the same page. We tell them exactly what we want them to do, and then all of a sudden they get on the ice and they change it to the way they want to do it. Now, you have half the guys thinking one way and the other half thinking the other.

``So, these are little parts of our game we have to get more solid at.''

One part of the game that has almost always been solid is the goaltending. And it was again on Saturday.

Stephane Fiset was coming off one of his worst performances of the season, a 4-3 loss to Dallas on Tuesday he attributed to his own play. On Saturday, he was determined to make amends and he did.

Although Phoenix had a so-so 26 shots, many of them were good scoring chances that Fiset turned away. In the final seconds, he faced an unnerving barrage of shots to save the game.

``It was important for me to come back strongly for that game, to be ready for that game,'' Fiset said. ``It was important for the team to come back strong, too. . . . It was like playoff hockey tonight so it's good we won that game.

``It'll prepare us better for the playoffs.''

After the game, Robinson wasn't too hard on his players.

Again, they hadn't played particularly well. However, the fact they're finding ways to stay in almost every game and win their share down the stretch is as significant as their deficiencies.

As he said, ``I'd rather have two shots in the third period and win than have 15 (Phoenix had 10) and lose.''

``I think it's important,'' he said. ``No matter how you're playing or what you're doing, you're always going to come to the rink with a much more positive attitude with a win than you are with a loss. And seeing that we had a 2-0 lead, I think that's doubly important to come back after the other team ties it up and get a win out of it.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Phoenix's Jim McKenzie, left, tries to escape the grasp of the Kings' Matt Johnson and deliver a punch in an altercation in the first period.

(2) Kings goalie Stephane Fiset, left, held off several late scoring bids, including one by the Coyotes' Rick Tocchet and Shane Doan (19).

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press