Game 71: Penguins 4, Kings 1;
Game 72: Blackhawks 4, Kings 1

Screw March Madness, Kings fans are in the throes of March Sadness.

For those of us who work in the sports department in the newspaper business are absolutely hammered by college basketball coverage. That explains the lack of updates this weekend from me. Watching games, scratching names off my brackets, watching more games, getting more angry as more teams are eliminated from my picks, watching yet more games, becoming irate and swear never to pick a bracket again. Yeah, it's been that kind of weekend for me.

Then again, after seeing the Kings get handed back-to-back beatdowns by the Pens and the Hawks, there no no escaping The Suck that was this weekend. With ten games to go, the Kings are all but mathematically out of it. Sure, there are a potential 20 points left to be won, and they are only 7 points back. But so many teams would have to falter, it's almost more likely the Kings will retire Steve Carlson's number.

With ten games left, all the Kings can do is possibly play spolier to some playoff teams. But other than messing with Vancouver and Edmonton, what fun is that? Dallas and St. Louis on on the bubble. Meh. There's a home and home against Phoenix, in April. Yawn. Last game of the season is against the Sharks. Oh well.

So we're now in that familiar state of flux. Not in the playoffs, and no shot at the top pick of the draft. As a Kings fan, what to do?  Maybe I'm gonna send away for that Rosetta Stone software and learn a language, like maybe French. Maybe I'll finally get a rolling mat and master making sushi. Repaint the front gate? Ahhh, decisions decisions.

• AP: Malkin, Crosby lead Penguins to victory over Kings

"Los Angeles is a team that works hard on the road," Sidney Crosby said. "It was important for us to get the lead. We did that and kept it."

• AP: Blackhawks end five-game slide, cruise past Kings

"Quick was really good for us," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "In a situation like this, when you've got a lot of desperation basically from both sides, Chicago played well. They beat us to pucks. We didn't generate a lot because they we're good."

• LAKings.com: Royal Road Report: Tough debut

“We had the shots, but I think we didn’t go to the net as hard as we should,” Michal Handzus said. “There was a rebound there we just didn’t get to and those were the shots that we should score. They got those (rebounds) sooner than us … and they just took it from there.”

• LAKings.com: Royal Road Report: A Quick 28 stops

The teams had just one win between them over their last nine days entering Sunday's match. The Kings had a 3-2 overtime win at Boston last Thursday while the Blackhawks came in winless in their last five, including two straight overtime losses.

• Yahoo: Team report

The Kings have not won a game on the road in regulation since they beat San Jose Feb. 19. Since then, they’re 2-8-1 on the road, and the victories came in overtime (Boston) and in a shootout (Minnesota).

They said it

"When you're down 4-0, you have to keep working at your game, and that is really important when you're in that situation. We're a young club that has to figure that out." – Los Angeles coach Terry Murray after the Pittsburgh game

“We hung in there and had a chance after getting our power-play goal. Then, they got their lucky third goal, which banked off the boards and both posts to go in.” – Kings captain Dustin Brown, after the Chicago game

Looking through purple-hued goggles

• The Throne Room: From disappointment, to excitement, and back again

A playoff berth isn’t impossible by any means, but it is extremely unlikely. Regardless, this season has been a success in relative terms. Many thought the Kings would be worse than last years team. One point behind last years’ totals with 11 games left, it seems safe that we will pass that. I think the team will finish within one game, give or take of the .500 mark and end the season with around 80 points.

• A Queen Among Kings: Unnecessary Hit; Penguins 4, Kings 1

With just a few seconds left in a game that you're winning, is it really necessary to take a shot to someone's head? Well, Evgeni Malkin thought it was. He gave the cold shoulder to Wayne Simmonds and the whistle blew to end the game. I'm not even upset about the loss. Who gives a shit when someone's head is involved? Who cares if it's the league superstar hitting a rookie's head? In this case, every single Kings fan whereas every Pittsburgh fan probably cheered the hit.

• A Queen Among Kings: A Poor Outing: Blackhawks 4, Kings 1

The poorest stat from this game was that the Kings only had 15 shots in the entire game, which wasn't surprising at all considering the way the first and second period were panning out. They had 5 shots on net in each period, the Blackhawks ended with 32 shots, and I just wasn't impressed with anything in this game. Things finally picked up when Doughty scored on the PP at 16:54, but nothing else happened for my boys.

From across the aisle, the Pittsburgh view

• Post-Gazette: Penguins make it three-in-a-row with win over Kings

• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Pens topple Kings to extend points streak

• PensBurgh: BEAT LA... The Penguins did, 4-1.

• Empty Netters: Penguins 4, Kings 1

From across the aisle, the Chicago view

• Chicago Tribune: Chicago Blackhawks end 5-game winless streak, beat Los Angeles Kings

• Chicago Sun-Times: Sharp scores twice as Hawks end five-game skid

• The Fifth Feather: Blackhawks 4, Kings 1

• Second  City Hockey: Hey ... I remember this feeling

• Hockee Night: Looking Sharp: Hawks 4, Kings 1

Peeping the dailies