Kings Get Flapped by Red Wings

The record is glossy, the point total is impressive and their place in the standings suggests that the Kings are one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

Does all that really matter against the Detroit Red Wings?

In an opportunity to prove their worth against a long-time nemesis, the Kings showed only that they aren’t ready for elite status just yet in a 5-2 loss in front of 18,118 on Monday night in Staples Center.

As they prepare for a four-game trip that includes their first tour through the Eastern Conference, the Pacific Division-leading Kings also failed to make a statement against the team they haven’t beaten in more than three years, including the first three meetings this season.

“We’ve lost three times to them,” Coach Andy Murray said. “The way we played tonight, you’d have to say they’re better than us. Tonight, they’re better than us.”

The Kings may have their elderly scoring line in Luc Robitaille, Jeremy Roenick and Derek Armstrong, but they were done in by the Red Wings’ old guard of Chris Chelios, Mathieu Schneider and Steve Yzerman.

The trio, who are a combined 119 years old, scored goals in the second period to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead on the way to extending their streak to 10 games without a loss to the Kings. Yzerman also had an assist, and Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom scored third-period goals.

Roenick was one of several Kings disgusted with the effort.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they had more jump than we did,” he said. “We didn’t have anywhere the kind of work [ethic] that they did.”

Roenick acknowledged his performance was miserable and added: “It goes right down the line. Especially in our own building.”

Detroit, which has a Western Conference-leading 38 points, won easily despite starting Jimmy Howard in goal because of a knee injury to Manny Legace and an ineffective Chris Osgood.

Howard, making his first NHL start after being called up from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League, made 22 saves and played a solid game in net despite facing a penalty shot that the Kings’ Joe Corvo converted in the second period.

Chelios, the oldest player in the league at 43, scored his first goal since Jan. 16, 2004, when he ripped a slap shot past Jason LaBarbera at 4 minutes 3 seconds of the second period to start the scoring.

The momentum appeared to turn in the favor of the Kings when Corvo was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped by Kirk Maltby. The defenseman deked one way to draw Howard down and chipped the puck past the rookie.

The 36-year-old Schneider and the 40-year-old Yzerman killed the Kings’ hopes with power-play goals, converting on two of six man-advantage opportunities while the Kings failed in their seven chances.

“They just beat us in special-teams situations tonight,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “You’re not going to beat a team like that by going to the box. One thing just kind of led to another.”

Sean Avery scored with 1:01 remaining for the Kings but the goal didn’t save much face as they again came up empty against the Red Wings.

They now open a four-game trip against Chicago on Wednesday before visiting Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

“You want to prove to everybody that this team is for real,” forward Craig Conroy said.

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King enforcer Ryan Flinn said he remembered fighting Chicago’s Jim Vandermeer on Saturday night and then he “kind of remembered being in the ambulance” on the way to the hospital after hitting his head on the ice when he fell during the scuffle.

Everything in between is a bit hazy.

Flinn suffered a mild concussion and needed several staples or the equivalent of 10 stitches to close the wound, according to a team official.

The left wing will sit out the next few days and be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

“Hopefully, it won’t take too long to recover,” Flinn said.