Poised Kings Drop Thrashers

A pregame trade that brought them nobody to help down the stretch could have been unsettling to the Kings, but they shrugged it off Saturday and defeated the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-1, in front of 18,118 at Staples Center.

They hardly missed defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich, who fetched two draft picks from the Philadelphia Flyers, as they opened a five-game home stand by overpowering one of the NHL’s worst teams.

And they seemed unfazed by the move, which beat the March 11 trade deadline by 10 days. “We can’t do anything about it,� defenseman Aaron Miller said, “except go out and try to win with whoever we have out on the ice.�

Yushkevich, who played only 44 games for the Kings, was one of five Kings eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.

The Russian was the first one traded but might not be the last.

“We’ve got five guys in the same boat, so everybody’s kind of prepared for it,� captain Mattias Norstrom said. “Not a big surprise.�

Another of the potential unrestricted free agents, Bryan Smolinski, bolstered his chances of getting a new contract from the Kings -- or perhaps made himself more attractive in a trade package -- by scoring two goals and assisting on another.

“I try not to think about it,� Smolinski said of a possible trade. “Obviously, it’s there. It’s always going to be there until 10 days from now.�

Less, perhaps.

Told that he had made himself more attractive to somebody, if not the Kings, by scoring 11 goals in his last 15 games and six in his last five, Smolinski smiled and said, “I’m a good-looking guy. That’s what my wife thinks.

“Obviously, I can help myself and that’s what I’m trying to do.�

Ziggy Palffy, under contract through next season but also the subject of trade rumors, scored his 29th goal, continuing a hot streak in which he has scored 17 in 20 games, and Lubomir Visnovsky scored his first since Jan. 4.

With Jamie Storr stopping 18 shots and the Kings killing five penalties, three in the third period, the Thrashers were overmatched, even though the Kings were without eight regulars, among them seven forwards.

Smolinski got them started, scoring a short-handed goal on a breakaway off a feed from Palffy at 14:45 of the first period.

Ilya Kovalchuk tied the score with his 31st goal at 8:36 of the second. But only 20 seconds later Marc Savard was hit with 24 minutes in penalties, including a game misconduct, after tangling with Yushkevich’s replacement, rookie defenseman Joe Corvo, giving the Kings a four-minute power play. Smolinski scored on a rebound at 11:36, his team-high eighth game-winning goal.

Visnovsky padded the lead two minutes later and Palffy scored a third-period goal, improving the Kings to 16-0-2 over the last four seasons when he and Smolinski each score.

Palffy, who played a season-high 28 minutes 46 seconds Thursday night, logged another 26:05 and had a game-high six shots on goal.