from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

Maybe it wasn’t John Stevens’ fault the Kings sat at the bottom of the NHL standings when he was fired last Sunday.

Maybe it wasn’t Stevens’ fault they lacked passion, a shortcoming that general manager Rob Blake cited as crucial when he let Stevens go and installed Willie Desjardins as the interim coach for the rest of the season.

Maybe the problem was — and still is — that the Kings have become a rudderless team that can’t finish and can’t maintain the speedier tempo that’s required to succeed in the NHL. Those flaws are beyond the power of a new coach to fix.

Winger Ilya Kovalchuk, 35, was the Kings’ best player Saturday night in their 1-0 loss to the Calgary Flames at a sometimes silent and much-less-than-full Staples Center. That says a lot about Kovalchuk’s desire to have an impact in the NHL after a five-year absence. It doesn’t say much about his teammates’ determination to turn around a dismal start. In being shut out for the first time this season the Desjardins-led Kings looked as uninspired and disjointed as the Stevens-led Kings, and that’s not a good look.

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Game highlights are below.