After a strong win on Monday night to break their eight-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Kings are back in the loss column, falling to the Dallas Stars 5-1.
This makes it one win in the Kings' last 10 games as they continue to give up ground in the Pacific Division.
The Kings started Tuesday's game poorly, putting up just three shots in the first period, giving up two goals in the process.
They then put together a strong second that saw them pull within one, but things quickly fell apart in the third.
Wyatt Johnston put the Stars up two 5:49 into the period, then within five minutes the Stars had put the game to bed.
Two more goals in quick succession gave the Stars a four goal lead against a Kings team that was quickly running out of gas.
The Kings sputtered their way to the finish line and finished their poor road trip with a whimper.
It was a tough performance from top to bottom for the Kings, as Mikey Anderson and Brandt Clarke were the only players who left Tuesday's game without a negative plus-minus.
One thing to keep an eye on is the play of Cam Talbot, who hasn't won a game since Dec. 23, an eight-game stretch.
I certainly wouldn't blame Talbot for the Kings' struggles and would point more toward the lack of support in front of him, but his play is dipping in the wrong direction.
The Kings' next game is at home on Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
The Kings need to get out of their current funk, but a poor home record this season won't give fans a ton of confidence heading into this one.
I'd also briefly circle back to my discussion the other day about Todd McLellan's future.
One win in 10 games is enough to bring up question marks surrounding any coaches future, but I don't expect McLellan's job to be in danger between now and Thursday.
Rob Blake is committed to McLellan and I don't think this poor run changes that.
I do think the conversation should start and McLellan's seat has to be warming up. The underlying numbers haven't been bad for LA in this stretch, but this win-loss record isn't good enough for a team with Cup ambitions.
Again, I don't think McLellan's job is in immediate danger, but I'm wondering when it will be.
Will it take a 15 game slide? Twenty? Hopefully, for the Kings' sake, they won't have to make that decision.