LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE ON POWER PLAY ATTRITION CATCHES UP WITH KINGS, WHO LOSE GOALIE GARON TO INJURY TAMPA BAY 4, KINGS 1.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

No lightning strikes, falling trees or other acts of nature. Craig Conroy somehow made it through Tuesday night's game unscathed, which put him in the distinct minority among the Kings' top players.

What were the Kings missing on Tuesday? Only three of their top four scorers: Pavol Demitra, Alexander Frolov and Lubomir Visnovsky, who have combined for 50 of the 160 goals scored by the Kings this season.

Then, as only things can for the Kings, things managed to get worse during the game.

In a development that surprised nobody who has followed the team this season, the Kings lost goaltender Mathieu Garon to a bruised left shoulder after the first period. Matters didn't improve much from there, as the Kings lost to the Tampa Bay Lighting 4-1 in front of 17,017 at Staples Center.

Injuries have become a way of life for the Kings, who also have been without Eric Belanger, Aaron Miller and Jeremy Roenick, and it seems that the attrition is catching up with them.

``We're banged up right now, but we still have to find a way to get points,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``I can't fault the effort of our team, but we needed to have a smarter effort.''

Defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay entered the game with losses in three of its past four games and had failed to score a power-play goal in 2006, with an 0-for-40 skid that dated back to Dec. 26.

But the Lightning scored two power-play goals on its first three chances Tuesday, and Ruslan Fedotenko added a goal late in the second period to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead.

By that point, Jason LaBarbera had been pressed into duty in goal. Garon played the entire first period but was hit by a shot late in the period and was replaced by LaBarbera to start the second period.

Garon said he will have a MRI today. X-rays revealed nothing more than a bruise, although Garon also required two stitches to close a cut caused by the shot. But the short-term prognosis doesn't look good for Garon, who had limited mobility in his left arm after the game.

``I felt good and I didn't want to get off the ice,'' Garon said, ``but I thought it would be better for the team if I stayed off.''

LaBarbera was informed that he would be going in with just seven minutes left in the first intermission, he said. LaBarbera had not played since a Dec. 29 loss to Phoenix, and in his relief role Tuesday, LaBarbera stopped 11 of 13 shots.

``It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's part of the job,'' LaBarbera said. ``You're a professional, so you should always be ready.

``It's been pretty interesting around here. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it, with guys going down left, right and center.''

Since Garon's injury was only the latest in a string of bad twists for the Kings, it rated as only a mild surprise when the Lightning broke its string of power-play futility seven minutes into the first period.

Brad Richards faked a shot from the slot, then passed to Martin St. Louis, who was stationed to the side of the net. St. Louis flipped a shot toward the net, and the puck deflected off the back of Garon and into the net to break an eight-game power-play drought for the Lighting.

But with 4:04 left in the period, Dustin Brown came through with a real highlight when he stationed himself in front of the net and knocked in the rebound of a shot by Sean Avery.

The Kings recorded only three shots on goal in the second period and LaBarbera, without much defensive support, allowed two goals, to Vincent Lecavalier and Fedotenko, to put the Kings down 3-1.

Norman Milley added an empty-net goal for Tampa Bay with 1:10 remaining in the third period.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Kings' Michael Cammalleri tries to catch up to the puck during the first period Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

(2 -- ran in Final edition only) The Kings' Tom Kostopoulos and Tampa Bay's Cory Sarich Mix it up at Staples Center.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer