Los Angeles: This was not the ripple effect the Los Angeles Kings sought.
Dustin Brown’s hit on Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Justin Schultz resulted in a five-minute boarding major that the Penguins used to put the game away 3-1 and send the Kings to a season-high fifth-straight loss in front of 18,230 fans at Staples Center.
The reverberations were felt in the standings, too, because the Kings fell to ninth in the Western Conference, or out of the play-off picture for the first time this season.
“It’s been tough,” Brown said. “It’s frustrating to lose five straight, especially in the situation we were in. It’s one of those things where you have to realise where you are. It’s been hard. It’s been brutal here for us, frustrating. But we’re still fighting for a spot.”
