Can the Kings rebound from their epic collapse?

It probably isn’t a stretch to say that the Los Angeles Kings are the most haunted team in any sport right now. With all apologies to Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, the Vancouver Canucks and any other losing team from Tuesday, no other team is losing more sleep than the Kings. For an in-depth recap of the biggest playoff comeback in 26 years, click here.

Obviously, the question is: can the Kings rebound from this stunning loss? To look at it in the most literal way, I checked to see how the three other teams who lost a playoff game after building at least a four goal lead fared in their series.

• The Chicago Blackhawks recovered and beat the Minnesota North Stars 4-2 in their 1985 series.
• The Edmonton Oilers lost that 5-0 game to the Los Angeles in OT and the Kings won that 1982 series 3-2.
• The 1971 Montreal Canadiens came back to beat the Boston Bruins 7-5 and won that 1971 series 4-3. The Canadiens went on to win the Cup that year, while the Bruins used that tough loss as motivation to win the Cup in 1972.

While I will provide my own take, I asked Chris Kontos from the great Kings blog The Royal Half to answer the same questions. (Here’s his recap, too.)

Possible scapegoats and how they will react.

Honestly, I can’t really blame Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Much like Ilya Bryzgalov against Detroit, Quick’s team hung him out to dry. To be honest, both Kontos and I think that Quick is the kind of goalie who can bounce back. (I mean, if the guy keeps rolling after allowing a half-ice goal, he isn’t easily shaken.)

Beyond blaming the entire team defense, though, someone will be labeled a goat by Kings fans. Kontos shares his choice: recently acquired winger Dustin Penner.

Even though he had an assist, Penner will be remembered for his half-hearted backcheck on Devin Setoguchi’s game winning goal. People only remember the last goal scored in a game like this, so Penner will be seen as a goat for some time.

How the young Kings will react and where they can find hope.

While Ryan Smyth, Willie Mitchell, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll are playoff-tested, most of the Kings’ core young players played their first postseason series last season.

Jack Johnson can be a feast or famine guy for the Kings, but Drew Doughty is a guy who needs to be a steady force. He’s been his all-world self again for much of this series, but will he bounce back like Danny Boyle did after his infamous own-goal? Kontos thinks Doughty will be fine.

I don’t think the comparison is similar to Boyle’s. Doughty didn’t fail by trying to do too much in this game tonight... he failed by doing too little. He put it into neutral after the four-goal lead and the rest of the defense followed his lead.

Trouble for coach Terry Murray?

For whatever reason, Murray strikes me as a “transitional” coach: a guy who excels at making a bad, young team into a playoff squad but cannot get over the hump. If the Kings fail in this series, I wonder if Murray might get fired. Would the outcome be different with a time out or lineup change?

Kontos provided his insight on Murray.

With Anze Kopitar being out and Justin Williams at 80 percent, I think that Coach Murray has done as well as he could. I don’t think any fault rests on him yet... but after the way Penner played Tuesday, if Coach Murray doesn’t scratch him in favor of Oscar Moller, Kings fans will want his head.

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Many people will question the heart of this Kings team, but I think Los Angeles still have a chance to win the series. As cliched as this statement may be, they just need to treat this like any other game and win three of their next four.