from Rich Hammond of the Orange County Register,

Life is tough in the NHL. The Kings’ recent eight-game win streak did little more than get their heads above turbulent water in the Western Conference playoff race. Now the Kings have to start swimming.

With 21 games remaining in the regular season, the Kings are fighting simply to make the postseason. They did it to themselves, largely because of an awful January. The good feelings built up during the winning streak have now dissipated after consecutive losses to Ottawa and the Ducks.

The Kings, who play Sunday afternoon in Winnipeg, suddenly find themselves back in regroup mode.

“We’ve just got to keep winning,” defenseman Matt Greene said. “I think we’ve got ourselves in a position where we’re back in the hunt. Now we can’t let our foot off the gas. These last two games haven’t been to the level that they were at and we’ve got to get back to that level in a hurry here with two more on the road.”

Kings captain Dustin Brown laughed sardonically after Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Ducks when a media member asked him about consistency issues. An eight-game win streak is fairly consistent, indeed.

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