Upon his hiring in July, Terry Murray came to the Kings with a clear directive. He wanted to immediately improve the team's defense, to cut down on scoring chances and make life easier for his goaltenders.

Murray arguably has succeeded quicker than anticipated, as the Kings' defense is much improved.

Now what about the offense?

Less than 24 hours removed from a 3-1 loss to Nashville, the Kings took the ice again and lost 2-0 to Anaheim, the second time in three games this season that the Kings have been shut out by the rival Ducks. The Kings were also shut out for the fourth time this season.

The Kings are going to need to find some offense fast, as they'll be tested in two different ways this week.

Thursday's opponent, Washington, has scored 56...

Jonas Hiller came close to posting his first NHL shutout on a number of occasions since becoming Jean-Sebastien Giguere's backup last season. This time, Hiller finally got it done. Hiller made 29 saves while Giguere got the day off, and the Anaheim Ducks got goals from Corey Perry and defenseman Bret Hedican to beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Sunday night.

The Nashville Predators felt pretty good about themselves after salvaging a .500 road trip with a three-game sweep of the California teams. J.P. Dumont scored the go-ahead goal during a power play with 2:28 left and set up Jason Arnott's goal, leading the Predators to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

Dustin Brown and the Los Angeles Kings didn't even have to throw a punch to push aside the Dallas Stars yet again. Michal Handzus and Kyle Quincey scored power-play goals and Erik Ersberg made 24 saves to help the Kings extend their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory over the Stars on Thursday night.

Dustin Brown came up with a goal and a couple of big hits for the Los Angeles Kings, including one that drew the ire of Dallas captain Brenden Morrow. Alexander Frolov scored in the fifth round of a shootout, Jarret Stoll had a power-play goal in his 300th NHL game and the Kings beat the Stars 3-2 on Tuesday night in the opener of a home-and-home set that concludes Thursday at Dallas.

This time it was the Los Angeles Kings power play that tripped up Manny Legace. Alexander Frolov, Tom Preissing and Drew Doughty scored power-play goals and Erik Ersberg made 24 saves in the Kings' 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. A 3-for-6 effort on the power play helped the Kings spoil Legace's return in his first outing since injuring a hip before a 4-0 loss to the Kings...