Lowly Kings crushed again

What do Jonathan Bernier, Jason LaBarbera, J.S. Aubin, Jonathan Quick, Erik Ersberg, Dan Cloutier and Daniel Taylor have in common?

If it sounds like a good question for Morning Briefing, well, this is destined to be an excellent trivia stumper years down the road. And, perhaps by then the Kings will have consistent goaltending.

These seven players have spent hard time in goal for the Kings during this not-so-magnificent season. Not only did Dallas defeat the defense-challenged Kings, 7-2, on Saturday afternoon, but the 17,849 on hand at Staples Center watched the Kings tie an NHL record.

The rookie Taylor, who replaced Ersberg after the second period, became the seventh goalie to play for the Kings this season, tying a league mark also held by the Quebec Nordiques (1989-90) and St. Louis Blues (2002-03).

Who figured the Kings’ five-man show of last season was merely a warmup? Ah, those lonely eyes turning to Yutaka Fukufuji and Barry Brust. Cloutier, by the way, was the common denominator, appearing in 24 games last season.

Cloutier’s latest injury woes (groin/hip flexor) was the reason for Taylor’s call-up from the minors and NHL debut. The 21-year-old faced a basic nightmare scenario in the opening minutes of the third -- the Stars’ Jere Lehtinen bearing down on him on a breakaway and scoring at 4:26.

It was the first shot Taylor faced. Welcome to the NHL.

Taylor did display a nice sense of humor about his unveiling.

“Yeah, I kind of wanted a nice, easy one right in the belly to start off with and then have the breakaways or whatever,” said Taylor, who was told he was going in for the third about five minutes beforehand. “I know it’s the first game, but it’s kind of bittersweet how we lost.”

It was long gone, though, by then. After defenseman Kevin Dallman opened the scoring at 6:09 of the first, the Kings gave up seven unanswered goals -- three on the power play. Michael Cammalleri got the Kings other goal, his 19th, with 2:58 remaining. It was his first goal in 12 games.

It was the first unsteady outing for Ersberg, who gave up five goals and faced 25 shots. He had given up three goals in his last three starts, including Thursday’s 4-0 victory against Phoenix.

“They’re a good team, and when they get chances on power play they’re going to score sometimes,” he said. “I didn’t have my best night. We had a breakdown in our game the second period. . . . That’s how it goes when you fall asleep against a team like Dallas. They’re going to punish you.”

Dallas has floundered, of late, with only one victory this month before Saturday. Goalie Marty Turco, whose mental lapse in overtime in San Jose on Thursday cost the Stars, declared beforehand to the Dallas Morning News that this was “the biggest game of our careers.”

That was an unfortunate intersection for the Kings, who were running on empty and played like it in the second period, giving up four goals.

“What happened more than anything is our team hit a wall today,” Kings Coach Marc Crawford said. “You’re playing against a team that is desperate and really found themselves and that is what happens when those paths cross.”

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