Maybe it was playing the second night of back-to-back games. Maybe it was missing a trio of injured players who have combined for 24 goals. Maybe it was just unrealistic to expect the Caps to keep rolling after an unbeaten run that had reached eight games.

Whatever the reason, when it was over the Caps offered no excuses after a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.

Right wing Dustin Brown scored a goal and assisted on another and Los Angeles (8-8-2) added two empty-net tallies in the final 40 seconds to secure the victory. Nicklas Backstrom scored a power-play goal for Washington (11-5-3) and Brooks Laich added an even-strength goal in the third period.

“I think we were humbled a little bit tonight,” said Laich, who was also part of a key 5-on-3 penalty-killing sequence in the second period. “I think it was a hockey team that we should have beat. We expect better out of ourselves, but tonight it didn’t happen and we have to get back to basics.”

Maybe the best news of the day came off the ice, where defenseman Mike Green underwent an MRI procedure that showed no major damage to his right shoulder.

Green, who did not participate in the Caps’ morning skate on Thursday, was hurt on a hit by Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger on Wednesday night and did not return to that game. He was wearing a sling after that contest, but his arm was free of one on Thursday night after the MRI. Green is officially listed as day-to-day with a bad bruise, although he is unlikely to play on Saturday at San Jose. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau speculated Green could miss a week, but hopes for a quicker return.

“We were worried about that one – a labral tear or a rotator cuff or something,” Caps general manager George McPhee said. “It was nothing.”

After a physical game against Anaheim on Wednesday, the Caps struggled to generate scoring chances in the first period against the Kings, who outshot them 12-3. The period’s lone goal came at 13 minutes, 58 seconds when a point shot by 18-year-old rookie Drew Doughty deflected off Caps forward Alex Ovechkin’s stick and changed direction on goalie Brent Johnson. The puck fluttered off Johnson’s catching glove and in for a 1-0 lead.

“We can surmise all we want – whether [the physical toll of the Anaheim game] did or whether it didn’t,” Boudreau said. “But I just think they were more emotionally into the game then we were at the beginning. That’s the part that’s unacceptable.”

About the only positive for the Caps in the first was that they didn’t take a penalty. But they also failed to score on a pair of power-play chances. That changed early in the second, however, when the Caps were granted a 5-on-3. It took less than a minute for Viktor Kozlov to patiently thread a pass through the crease to Backstrom at the doorstep for a tap-in goal at 4:48 to tie the score.

A key sequence occurred at 10:53 of the second when Caps forward David Steckel was whistled for a high stick. With Chris Clark already in the box, that left the Caps down two men for 1:24. For most of that power play, Laich was without a stick. He had handed his own off to defenseman Tom Poti, whose stick had been snapped by an errant shot. On three separate occasions during that shift Laich dropped to the ice to block a Los Angeles shot and the Caps escaped unharmed.

“He was Quintin Laing tonight. He was great,” said Boudreau, invoking the name of Laing, who excelled at blocking shots during his time in Washington last season and is now back at AHL Hershey. “And it’s an amazing thing how you get rewarded. You do that stuff and somehow you usually end up with a goal and Brooks did. And that’s because you pay the price and you show the courage.”

But the game turned again late in the second. Kings center Patrick O’Sullivan took off up ice on a 2-on-1. He had a teammate in front with a Caps defender nearby. So O’Sullivan instead chose a bad-angle shot that slipped between Johnson’s pads at 18:25 for a 2-1 advantage.

“That was definitely my goal. I definitely want it back,” said Johnson, who was sharp otherwise with 28 saves on 31 Los Angeles shots. “But it was a good play by him. I don’t think even he knew he was going to shoot it because he didn’t look at me the whole time.”

The final blow came with 12:52 to play. Ovechkin collided with Brown in front of the Los Angeles goal, but earned the worst of the collision when Brown fell and clipped the right side of Ovechkin’s head with his skate. Ovechkin, however, was the one whistled for interference and Brown quickly earned his revenge.

While the shorthanded Caps pushed the puck up ice, Steckel was stripped and a rush began the other way. Los Angeles defenseman Kyle Quincey swept a backhanded pass in front of Johnson, who was easily beaten by Brown for the 3-1 lead.

A wild final five minutes did little to change the result. The Caps crept back to within 3-2 after Laich scored at 15:26 on an assist by teammate Michael Nylander. But the Kings took advantage when Johnson left his net for the extra attacker. Forward Michal Handzus fired a shot into the empty net at 19:20 to seal the victory. Anze Kopitar then added insult to injury with his empty-net goal a fraction of a second before the final horn sounded.

“I think we’re 6-0-2 in our last eight and lost one out of our [previous] 11,” Boudreau said. “It’s a pretty good pace to keep up and you get a little bit spoiled. But we demand perfection all the time I guess.”

Caps notes


» The Caps lost one defenseman, but another returned to the lineup. Shaone Morrisonn – out for six games with a groin injury – played against the Kings. He logged 16:36 of ice time and recorded two hits.

» The Caps were again missing center Sergei Fedorov (lower-body injury), who did participate in the team’s morning skate. He has now missed seven games in a row. Right wing Alex Semin (upper-body injury) was also scratched for the third straight game along with Green (shoulder).

» Caps forward Brooks Laich on blocking three shots on a second-period penalty kill: “[Caps defenseman] Tom Poti broke his stick and I lost my stick. So if I’m not blocking shots I’m basically useless out there. At the time it was still a very close hockey game. You just try and pay the price.”

» Caps left wing Alex Ovechkin had his goal-scoring streak snapped at five games. He did provide a secondary assist on Backstrom’s power-play goal.

» Attendance at Staples Center was 17,428 on Thursday.