CARSON The crowd rose in anticipation as Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez walked up the penalty spot with the game tied.

However, this time, Hernandez, who had converted a penalty kick in the 88th minute, was denied by Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp, which seemed to suck the air out of the stadium.

Hernandez’s panenka attempt flew right into the hands of Pulskamp, eventually as the final whistle blew, leaving the Galaxy on 39 points and in eighth place in the Western Conference with six games remaining.

The final result saw a potential win turned into a disappointing 2-2 draw in front of 20,104 Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park.

“He buried one before and he stepped up and made a decision, it was the wrong decision,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of Hernandez’s attempt. “He knows how I feel and how his teammates feel.”

With the draw the Galaxy did extend its unbeaten streak to five consecutive games.

The Galaxy trailed 2-1 after SKC scored in the 67th minute (Johnny Russell) and 76th (Felipe Hernandez).

In the 87th minute, the Galaxy fortune changed as Kevin Cabral was brought down by Pulskamp for the Galaxy’s first penalty. Hernandez stepped up and blasted the ball into the upper right corner to tie the game.

Three minutes later, off of a corner kick, the ball came off of Douglas Costa’s head and hit SKC’s Kayden Pierre in the hand. Referee Ramy Touchan went to video review and ruled it a handball and a penalty for the Galaxy.

What followed left the Galaxy and Hernandez in a frustrated state on what should have been a memorable day for the forward. His goal in the fourth minute was his 200th goal in his club career, but his potential 202nd goal wasn’t meant to be this time around.

“My instinct today was wrong,” Hernandez said. “Sacha (Kljestan) came and he asked me do you want to take it? And I said of course. He said where are you going to shoot it and I think he was thinking about that and I said same side. I honestly didn’t think about the panenka …that’s why I shot the first one like I shot it.

“My instinct was he (Pulskamp) did a pretty good move, I didn’t think. Sometimes I score a goal and I don’t see the goalkeeper. Of course the consequences are we didn’t get the three points. It is a very bittersweet moment because I scored two goals. You play a good game at your place, you didn’t lose, you came back, something we’ve lacked in the past …I rather feel this and be brave enough to take the chance and see what happens then not take it. To the fans and everybody, I’m not going to play the victim, I’m sorry. It’s a key play.”

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The Galaxy started fast, but couldn’t generate much offense after Hernandez’s first goal. That allowed SKC to find its legs and take advantage in the second half.

“As the game progressed, we started to crowd ourselves up too much instead of opening up space for each other and then I thought because the game was a little slow, I thought at times we were a little too casual in our possession,” Vanney said. “If we were able to keep it a little bit sharper, we would have been in positions to hurt them.”

The Galaxy’s playoff chase will continue Saturday on the road against Nashville SC, followed by a short-turnaround Sept. 14 at Vancouver and Sept. 17 home against Colorado.

“We now have six finals,” midfielder Victor Vazquez said. “We have to try to take as many points as we can to get into the playoffs.