Which Kings will show at start of year?

A reminder that today’s Kings-Sharks game is a 6 p.m. start. At that point, it will be a game of “Which Kings Team Will Show?” Will it be the one that beat Anaheim and San Jose by a combined score of 8-1, or a the one that lost to Phoenix and Philadelphia by a combined score of 13-7? The Kings’ advantage, in terms of games in hand, has mostly disappeared, so the need for wins is immediate. With 45 points, the Kings are in fourth place in the Western Conference, but are just two points ahead of ninth-place Columbus. Contrast that to the East, where fourth-place Philadelphia is already 13 points clear of ninth-place Carolina. Here’s what Kings captain Dustin Brown said about breaking out of the two-game losing streak…

BROWN: “At the end of the day, a 1-0 loss is the same as a 7-4 loss, or a 6-3 loss. A loss is a loss. It doesn’t matter how it happens, really. The great thing about the NHL is, we’re playing again. It’s one of those things where we’ve got to get back on track here.

“The last couple games, we haven’t played a full 60 and there have been lapses in our compete level, which can’t happen. Mistakes are going to happen in a hockey game. That’s what hockey is all about, but you can’t have a lack of compete level. There’s no way you’re going to win if you’re not working and competing. In the last two games, we’ve had spurts where we haven’t done that, and that’s not acceptable.”