Kings let one get away at the end against Avalanche

It has been described as a jolt or even a little shock to the system.

But that is probably underselling the recent arrival, and subsequent impact, of Darryl Sutter as Kings coach. That would be too subtle. In fact, the Sutter effect has been more like a grenade rolling through the Kings’ dressing room.

Try seven games without a loss in regulation in the first two weeks of Sutter’s coaching regime. The surging Colorado Avalanche defeated the Kings, 2-1, in a shootout Monday night at Staples Center.

The Kings’ goal in regulation came from their captain, right wing Dustin Brown, who scored at 1 minute 34 seconds of the second period. It was the end result of precise work from his new linemates, Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards.

In the shootout, all three Kings players -- Jarret Stoll, Kopitar and Brown -- failed to score and Colorado got the only goal it needed, from forward Milan Hejduk.

We had some chances, but we didn’t bear down on them and it came back to bite us,” Kopitar said.

Jonathan Quick had been 5:43 from securing his sixth shutout of the season before a turnover led to the only Colorado goal in regulation. Ryan O’Reilly capitalized with his 10th goal of the season, scoring from the right circle.

Quick faced 21 shots and only 12 shots through two periods. He didn’t have much action until the Avalanche stirred to life in the second half of the final period. For Colorado, the star of the game was Semyon Varlamov, who faced 32 shots.

The Kings are 4-0-3 under Sutter and are in lockstep with the only other legitimate coaching change success story this season, Ken Hitchcock in St. Louis.

St. Louis also went six games without a loss in regulation (4-0-2) before falling to the Kings just before Thanksgiving, at St. Louis.

Moreover, the Kings have been surviving recent injuries, managing without left wing Simon Gagne, who has sat out the last four games because of a concussion, and defenseman Slava Voynov (upper-body injury) was out against Colorado and replaced by Alec Martinez.

Passivity has been replaced by assertion.

They’ve taken their already capable penalty-killing skills to a new level, having killed 27 straight penalties. Their power-play woes remain a mystery, however.

Sutter didn’t have to make radical changes.

But ?

“Sometimes guys need a little shock to the system,” defenseman Matt Greene said at Monday’s morning skate. “That’s what a coaching change is. I think Darryl has done a great job of coming in here, bringing energy and a different style into his preparation for the game.

“I think guys will respond to that right now. Guys respond to that and it’s bringing success. And I think he’s going to run with it.”

Greene said that management could have made some player personnel changes. But, as he said, the Kings’ front office had confidence in the composition of the current roster.

“You have to figure out what you really need,” Greene said. “Darryl came in there and hasn’t really missed a beat. He’s obviously put his own spin on things, but we haven’t changed a lot system-wise. It’s the way the guys approach the game now.”

Darryl & Daryl

So it was a night of Darryl ? and Daryl.

The Kings had another one of their Legend Nights, honoring former star forward and current radio color commentator Daryl Evans with a pregame ceremony.

Evans used the word “humbling” to describe how he felt and later brought forth a loud round of cheers, saying: “I really believe we’re in a decade where we are going to reach our final goal -- winning the Stanley Cup.”