Kings lose to Phoenix, 1-0 Consider this the Kings' audition for a slot on HBO's "24/7." Bring in a camera crew to track center Mike Richards for 36 hours, coupled with the Kings-Coyotes tightness in the standings and, well, general mayhem ensued. There were 40 minutes in penalties handed out in the first period of the Coyotes' 1-0 win against the Kings at Staples Center on Thursday night and four fights in the opening 20 minutes. Old-time hockey was alive and kicking ... and fighting. Incredibly, the first-period scraps did not involve the likes of the Kings' tough duo of Kevin Westgarth and Kyle Clifford or the Coyotes' Twitter star and enforcer, Paul Bissonnette. (Westgarth and Bissonnette, for the record, finally squared off early in the third period. At least Bissonnette, who has 224,000-plus followers, will have fresh material for his Twitter feed.) Earlier, there was the TV star himself, leading man Richards, giving up about seven inches in height in fighting the 6-foot-6 Martin Hanzal. Richards has been followed by a crew from NBC Sports Network for an episode of "NHL 36" to be aired Wednesday. Nice of Richards to help boost the ratings. And there was Coyote goaltender Mike Smith, named the league's No. 1 star of the week on Monday, apparently looking to supplement his resume. Smith went after the Kings' Anze Kopitar, who had bumped into him, and Kopitar correctly later noted that he ran out of room, saying he had "nowhere to go." Said Smith: "Wires crossed. I got hit a little earlier. That's part of the game. I understand that. But when I got hit really hard the second time, I didn't know what happened. I didn't know who it was. I felt bad after when I saw it was Kopi. He's a pretty good guy. He got pushed in, I guess. But I didn't see that and I kind of lost it a little bit and blew my temper. There were 62 penalty minutes in all. Kopitar, in a TV interview between periods, called it a "hard-fought game." Fighting aside, the outcome showed, once again, the Kings are in desperate need of a finisher. The lone goal came, via a patient power play, from Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata with 4:01 left in the second period on a shot from the right circle. "The effort was there, but it wasn't enough," Kopitar said. We've got to find a way to score goals to win games. We've struggled pretty much the whole year" to score. The Kings have been shut out seven times this season and are tied with Phoenix in the Western Conference standings with 65 points. The Coyotes hold the tiebreaker, putting them in seventh place and the Kings in eighth. The buzz around the upcoming NHL trade deadline (Feb. 27) hit another level with talk about potential destinations for Columbus forward Rick Nash. Adding a spark to the speculation was a Columbus Dispatch report that said the Kings are thought to be among the teams on Nash's approved list. In fact, talks have occurred this week between the Kings and Blue Jackets regarding what it would take to acquire Nash. Deals of this magnitude don't come together in the space of a few hours or days - and the Blue Jackets could end up moving Nash in the summer to give themselves more options - but the Kings have a promising goalie in backup Jonathan Bernier, a surplus of defensemen and youth. It adds up to a blend that Columbus General Manager Scott Howson can sell to a disgruntled fan base.