Blackhawks clean up on Kings’ road woes

CHICAGO â€”  Team Inconsistency was at it again, defying all attempts to attach any label with any staying power this season.

Other than this dubious distinction: last place in the Western Conference.

That one remains firmly fixed to the Kings after the Chicago Blackhawks defeated them, 6-3, on Wednesday night at the United Center, using a blend of speed and physical presence to end a four-game losing streak, ripping through two goalies, starter J.S. Aubin and youngster Jonathan Quick. And it reinforced the Kings’ seeming inability to beat any other team than the Sharks on the road, save for an aberration at Vancouver on Oct. 19.

Let’s put it this way. The Kings are much closer to the No. 1 pick in June’s draft -- bring on teenager Steve Stamkos -- than they are to the playoffs.

There were the usual Kings missteps contributing to the loss. Defenseman Rob Blake took an untimely penalty that created a two-man advantage and led to forward Martin Havlat’s second goal of the game, which gave Chicago a 4-1 lead at 5:05 of the second period.

Two massive hits established the tone early and cemented it later.

Tuomo Ruutu ran over Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky with less than five minutes left in the first, and Chicago defenseman Dustin Byfuglien cleaned out enforcer Raitis Ivanans about three minutes into the second.

“A momentum hit,� Kings Coach Marc Crawford said of Ruutu’s. “And the other kid, whatever you call him, he made the hit on Ivan. We had a number of our players that responded the way we should have, but we need all of them to respond and battle these physical type of players.

“We got it to 4-3 and got out-muscled in the corner. [Visnovsky] got out-muscled in the corner by the young kid [Jonathan] Toews. Those are the types of battles we need to win.

“We probably had five forwards that played pretty well. We didn’t get a lot from the other group.�

The Kings were already down 3-0, on nine shots, with Aubin getting pulled at 14:06 of the first, before the situation grew tougher.

Defenseman Brad Stuart came to Visnovsky’s defense after the Ruutu hit and received a game misconduct, and Kings center Derek Armstrong was tossed after the ensuing fracas, leaving the Kings woefully thin at center and down to five defensemen.

The Kings goals were scored by Michal Handzus (fourth of the season), Patrick O’Sullivan (sixth) and Anze Kopitar (15th). Sullivan, though, was a minus-three. Toews had a goal and two assists.

Handzus noted the Blackhawks were a desperate team, saying: “That’s the problem. They needed a big game. We needed to have a big game to get it going. They responded and that was the difference.�

The saga of Dan Cloutier, firmly entrenched in the minors in Manchester, N.H., took another turn when Kings President and General Manager Dean Lombardi and assistant GM Ron Hextall met with Cloutier and a doctor over the weekend.

This resulted in a bit of a last-ditch move for the struggling goalie, who hasn’t been right since hip surgery.

“They say he’s been at about 80%, in and out of the lineup, and we’re going to shut him down for at least six weeks,� Lombardi said Wednesday in Chicago.

TONIGHT

at Dallas, 5:30 p.m., FSN West

Site -- American Airlines Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Kings 12-17-2, Stars 16-11-4.

Record vs. Stars -- 1-3.

Update -- Help on the way? Kings forward Alexander Frolov, who has missed 10 games because of an injured groin, skated Wednesday morning and said afterward that he expected to play against the Stars. He said he received a pain-killing injection on Monday and wanted to have the full benefit of the shot.

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