Kings’ Loss Is Indefensible

GLENDALE, Ariz. —  This may have been destined for the kind of ending that left the Kings’ dressing room closed a bit longer than usual Thursday.

Keith Ballard, Phoenix’s rookie defenseman, was woefully out of position in overtime. The Kings, pressing the issue with a four-on-three power play, had no defensemen on the ice.

A pinball moment later, the puck was on Ballard’s stick for a breakaway. His goal with 1 minute 8 seconds left in overtime gave the Coyotes a 6-5 victory at Glendale Arena, one that left the King scratching their heads afterward.

“We were just trying to figure out what happened,” Craig Conroy said.

That question could cover a lot of ice.

The Kings’ Derek Armstrong had his first career hat trick, scoring his third goal with 1:11 left to send the game into overtime. It was the third time the Kings had rallied to tie the score after trailing, 2-0, in the first period.

Ballard, a lug of a defenseman, doubled his career goal output with two, the first breaking a 3-3 tie a minute into the third period.

The Coyotes scored three power-play goals.

The Kings had a 40-26 shot advantage.

Ladislav Nagy had a goal and three assists.

The Kings’ Michael Cammalleri had one of the prettiest goals of the season, circling from behind the net to line up a back-hander that tied the score, 3-3, late in the second period.

Coyote goaltender Curtis Joseph made a score of impressive saves, and still gave up five goals, and still won.

“We got a point when it looked like we were beaten with a little more than a minute left,” Conroy said. “We’ve got to be happy about that.”

Still, Armstrong said, “It was a terrible way to lose.”

A chaotic, often ragged game had an apex moment in overtime, shortly after the Kings killed off a penalty and were given a power play of their own.

“I just happened to be jumping up and I felt I would take a chance,” Ballard said. “I got a lucky bounce so it was nice to win.”

It was nice for Ballard that he did, as his gamble left him far from the Coyote net. But by that time, the Kings were bereft of defensemen.

Lubomir Visnovsky went to the bench, expecting another defenseman to replace him. Instead, the Kings had four forwards on the ice. The puck squirted free, with Cammalleri nearly batting it to the ice, and Ballard was off. He neatly tucked a shot over goaltender Jason LaBarbera’s shoulder.

“Lubo was supposed to stay and he went to the bench,” the Kings’ Alexander Frolov said. “We can’t [mess] up like that.”

The consolation was that the Kings manufactured a point out of a game that appeared lost on a few occasions, and remained in first place, a point ahead of Dallas in the Pacific Division. The Kings play the Stars in their next two games.

Armstrong twice tied the score with goals, giving him his first hat trick since four seasons ago in Manchester. Armstrong was within inches of Joseph on all three goals.

“That’s my job,” Armstrong said. “I’m supposed to score goals.”

But scoring goals was not a problem for the Kings.

Said Coach Andy Murray: “We made some fundamental mistakes.”

Certainly one.

“It just happened,” Visnovsky said. “They got the great opportunity.”