LOS ANGELES — An overall sloppy performance – especially on offense – cost the Kings once again in a loss to the Blackhawks.

A scoreless first period still saw plenty of chances from both teams, but both Spencer Knight and Darcy Kuemper stood tall in net. 

Kings head coach Jim Hiller was displeased with his team’s start.

“First period was terrible, and that might be polite,” Hiller said.

Connor Bedard broke the ice in the second period, scoring less than 10 seconds into the Blackhawks’ second power play. 

On the other hand, the Kings’ power play has remained unorganized, failing to create any threatening chances due to a lack of any net-front presence and perimeter shots, finishing 0 for 4 on the night.

In the final minutes of the second period, two of the best scoring chances for the Kings stemmed from Knight turnovers behind his own net, but the Kings failed to register a shot on both opportunities. The second scoring chance was immediately followed up with the Blackhawks going down to the other end of the ice, where Wyatt Kaiser scored his first goal of the season.

As the second period came to an end, the only cheering came from Blackhawks fans sprinkled around Crypto.com Arena, with some boos heard as the Kings got off the ice.

“I don’t know if the first 40 was our best, and we pushed hard in the last 20, but it’s hard to win games like that, right?” Kings forward Warren Foegele said. “We’ve been on the right side of it, but we’ve also been on the wrong side of it with these one-goal games, so I think the disappointing thing is that we weren’t really connected in the first two periods, and it definitely bit us.”

A questionable hit on Adrian Kempe along the boards just before the halfway point of the third period went uncalled. The borderline dirty hit seemed to wake the Kings up. Shortly after the hit, Warren Foegele beat out Alex Vlasic on an icing call, setting up Trevor Moore for his first goal since October 25 against the Predators.

With 1:26 left in regulation, the Kings went on the power play, and even with a six-on-four advantage, the Kings couldn’t find the equalizer. 

“I feel for the guys right now,” Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper said. “I don’t think it feels great for them; it’s probably wearing on them a little bit, and I think just confidence is the biggest thing. Once they start going in, guys will start feeling better, and we’ll start scoring a lot more.”

In the Kings’ last nine games, their offense has scored more than two goals only twice. If this trend continues, it could force general manager Ken Holland to make a move sooner rather than later.Â