Long List of Road Trip-Ups

Lowlights from an 0-3-1 trip:

* The Kings, who have converted 20.4% of their power-play opportunities and killed 87.2% of their penalties, were successful with the man-advantage only 10.5% of the time on their swing through Phoenix, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, and killed only 73.1% of their penalties.

* After giving up more than two power-play goals only once in their first 72 games, they surrendered three each against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames.

* They were outscored, 15-5.

* They failed to earn points in three of the four games after establishing themselves as one of the best road teams in the league by garnering points in all but one of their previous 11 road games and 14 of their previous 16.

* They returned home with only a three-point lead in the race for the final Western Conference playoff slot, after leaving with a seven-point cushion.

“We came up with one point out of a possible eight,” defenseman Mattias Norstrom said.

“Really disappointing for this time of the year, but I think it’s important for us as a team, with seven games left, not to hang our heads and start to think too much about what happened.

“We know what we’re capable of--we did it not too long ago, we see it in spurts--so the most important thing right now is to shake off these few games and just grab the bull by the horns with the challenge we’ve got at home now.”

The Kings play two of their last seven games against the ninth-place Canucks, Tuesday night at Staples Center and April 11 at Vancouver. Also remaining are home games against the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars and Mighty Ducks. Their final road game is April 13 at San Jose.

“I know how hard we’ve worked to put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs and I fully expect that we’ll finish strong,” Coach Andy Murray said. “But there are no guarantees in this business.”

*

Defenseman Aaron Miller and winger Kelly Buchberger gave the Kings some good news Sunday, reporting that they felt better after suffering injuries that forced them out of Saturday night’s 5-3 loss at Calgary.

Murray listed them as probable for Tuesday’s game.

“If they show as much improvement tonight as they did just in the last 24 hours,” Murray said Sunday night, “that’s a good sign.”

Miller left Saturday’s game after suffering a right rib strain when hit from behind late in the first period. Buchberger suffered a bruised right thigh when he blocked a shot in the game’s final minutes.

They’ll be reevaluated today.

*

Eric Belanger, who Murray said would possibly be sidelined until the playoffs because of a slow recovery from wrist surgery, will practice with the team this morning, the coach said.... The Kings’ four-game winless streak is their longest since the last week of December, when they went 0-2-2.