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Kings focus on Dallas Stars after worst loss since 2009

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Although acting coach Trent Yawney said the Kings would not talk about their 7-0 humiliation at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Monday ahead of their game in Dallas against the Stars on Wednesday, it bore some mention in the context of the team’s worst losses historically.

The shellacking marked the 11th time in franchise history that the Kings had been shut out 7-0 and the 39th instance in which they had lost by seven goals or more. Given some of the scoring opportunities Boston had, it could have become the 13th contest in which the Kings lost by eight or more goals since their inaugural season of 1967-68.

The organization’s worst losses came by nine-goal margins. They lost 10-1 to Buffalo on Jan. 14, 2006; 9-0 to the Hartford Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes) on Nov. 27, 1985; 9-0 to Montreal on Oct. 8, 1975; and 11-2 to Boston on Nov. 14, 1971.

Setting the record books aside, the question in the near-term is how to rebound from this most recent defeat, which was their worst since 2009. After the game, Yawney offered a simple but sweeping notion of what was needed to right a ship that had previously sailed through five wins at the end of a 12-game stretch that included points in 11 and wins in nine.

“Get back to our game. In the last couple of games prior to this game, all four lines had an impact, we talked about that the other night,” Yawney said Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. “I don’t know if there was anybody that had an impact tonight.”

The Kings have not lost consecutive games since Jan. 20, when they dropped their third game in four nights. But there are some parallels between the start of that brief funk and Monday’s game.

They’ll play a dense schedule on this four-game road trip, beginning in Dallas. Their prior slide started in similar fashion, with a 6-2 loss to San Jose in which the Kings surrendered a pair of power-play goals and five goals to forward Timo Meier. On Monday, they also gave up two power-play goals and were torched by winger Jake DeBrusk for a natural hat trick and four points.

“We’ve got four (games) in six nights coming up, they’re coming every other night, and I think that’s a good thing, too” Yawney said. “You don’t have too much time to dwell on one game and you’ve got to get ready for Dallas now.”

Next up, the Kings will have to contend with the Stars, who are in a points tie with Edmonton for the final wild-card spot in the West. This is their last of three meetings, with Dallas winning in overtime on Oct. 22 and the Kings shutting the Stars out on Dec. 9. The home team won both matches.

Few if any other organizations are facing the pressure Dallas is to make personnel decisions ahead of the March 21 trade deadline. The Stars are right on the playoff bubble, and their decision to make a push for the postseason or look toward the future could shape the trade market as well as the course of the postseason.

Forward Joe Pavelski, 37, is on pace to have the first point-per-game campaign of his illustrious career, thriving on a line with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. Though Pavelski leads the Stars in scoring, he is also a pending unrestricted free agent.

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On defense, Miro Heiskanen continues to set the tone and create pace for Dallas. But his occasional defense partner and the anchor of the second pairing, John Klingberg, will be an unrestricted free agent. Klingberg, who has 26 points in 45 games this season, seems unlikely to return to Dallas next year, leaving them with a conundrum if they are still competitive March 21.

Kings (29-18-7, 65 pts) at Dallas (29-20-3, 61 pts)

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas

TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeartRadio

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