November 2008 Archives

Jack Johnson has been participating in full practices with his teammates this week, but he is wearing a yellow (non-contact) jersey. Johnson says nothing has changed and he won't be back from his shoulder surgery until after the all-star break, but...I don't know. Watching him skate, it's hard to believe he's going to stay out of the lineup for another two months. That's just my opinion. Johnson said he occasionally experiences mild pain after practices, and the Kings are tentative to push his comeback because they're concerned about what will happen the first time he takes a big hit, but it's definitely worth taking a closer look at this situation over the next month.

Jason LaBarbera beat Edmonton on Wednesday and Erik Ersberg beat Chicago on Saturday. Tomorrow night against Toronto, the Kings will go back to LaBarbera, who has a 2.87 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage this season, compared to Ersberg's 2.29 and .900. After practice today, I asked Terry Murray how he planned to handle the goaltending situation in the near future...

MURRAY: ``We'll play LaBarbera tomorrow. We've got four games in six days. We've said this all along, that it's important to have two goalies who are capable of playing and do keep playing. I really like Barbs' game when he played in Edmonton. He had a big win for us there and it was important to bounce back and do the right stuff as a team and get the win on the road under our belt. He's ready to play and he's hungry and he wants to get back in there, so he will get the game tomorrow. I know Toronto has some very big forwards who go to the net real hard, and Barbs is a big man who can match up to that battle that's going to be there in front of the net.''

To follow up, I asked Murray if, in general, he felt comfortable rotating goalies, or whether he would prefer to pick one goalie and stick with him...

MURRAY: ``If I had a number one guy that could play 82 games, I would do that. But you take a look around, and there's only three or four of those guys in the league. In our situation, I'm going to keep going with two goaltenders. I have confidence in both guys. I think after 20 games now, the first 10 belonging to Barbs and the next 10 basically belonging to Ersberg, I got a feel and read as to what their games are about. That was important for me to be able to see that, and to get to know who they are. From here on out, I can't make a statement today as to how I'm going to deal with it, but I know that this week, with four (games) in six days, both goalies are going to play.''

Brian Boyle got sent to Manchester of the AHL today. He has played in 14 games for the Kings this season, with one goal, zero assists, a minus-7 rating and 12 penalty minutes. Boyle's problem, in the eyes of the coaches, is the same thing that drew criticism from the previous coaching staff: a perceived inability to play a consistent two-way game. Boyle's season has been a series of fits and starts, and the Kings felt it was time to make a move, particularly with John Zeiler returning from his three-game suspension. Here's what Terry Murray said about Boyle and his play this season...

MURRAY: ``We need a lot more from him, yeah. He needs to go play and find the kind of game that is going to be there day in and day out in the National Hockey League. He had some good games, but obviously we need to be more consistent in the performance. We had a couple conversations here in the last two or three days. We watched video together. We watched some of his games, the last three games he played, and critiqued it. Then we spoke again this morning. In my mind, he has a very good idea and understanding of where I am with him and what he needs to give a big push to in his game when he's playing in Manchester.

``The thing we know happens when a player goes down, he's going to play in all situations. He's going to be able to put his points up on the board, but I wanted to keep his focus on the areas of his game that I'm talking about with him. I reminded him of that, that even though you're going to be able to do things playing in the American Hockey League, it's very important that you keep this part of the game in your mind, that this is what I need to see the next time you come play for us.''

As previously posted, Denis Gauthier suffered a right foot injury when he blocked a shot in the third period yesterday. Gauthier will have a MRI on Monday, but he's already walking around with a soft boot on his foot. Here's what Gauthier said about the injury and the nature of how it happened...

GAUTHIER: ``There was a lot of swelling today so they immobilized it and we'll see what happens. We're going to get a MRI tomorrow, so we'll be able to know how bad it is. Hopefully how good it is. ... It felt a little (worse) than usual. Most defensemen block a million of those in their careers, so it's just part of the job. You take the pain and it doesn't change the way you play. That's what we've got to do. We've got to help out and play good defense and block as many shots as we can. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. It can happen any time. Sometimes you see (the shot) and sometimes you don't. This time, I just happened to position myself in the right spot and the guy had a lot of time to take the shot. He took a couple steps and was able to get a lot on that shot.''

And here's Terry Murray, talking about Gauthier's status, the probability that he could return to the lineup soon and who might take his place if he can't play...

MURRAY: ``He's got quite a bit of swelling. I was talking to him before the practice and looked at his foot. He's got some swelling and, I don't know, I doubt it. I don't know. We'll get some doctor information tomorrow. ... Harrold would be the guy going in. We have six defensemen here who are healthy and ready to go. ... Even if (Gauthier) is out, I don't think there's going to be a need to call anyone up. So we'll just get Peter in. He played well in his last game, and we'll let him go.''

A couple quick things, with more quotes and notes to follow...

- Denis Gauthier hurt his right foot while blocking a shot in the third period yesterday. He didn't skate today and will have a MRI tomorrow, but he's walking around on a boot so that's not encouraging.

-- Jason LaBarbera will start in goal tomorrow. Terry Murray cited the upcoming compact schedule and also said, beyond that, that both goalies will play regularly.

No other lineup changes, it seems. Quotes a bit later...

Brian Boyle has been sent down to Manchester. There isn't expected to be a corresponding move.

Former Kings winger Lauri Tukonen is on the move again. Tampa Bay acquired him from Dallas in exchange for defenseman Andrew Hutchinson. Tukonen has been playing in Finland this season, where he has five goals and eight assists in 22 games.

I'll be heading out to practice this morning. Anyone have any questions they'd like to get answered?

Derek Armstrong scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to give the Kings a victory. The Kings scored three in the third period. Notes and quotes follow:

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, one of the sport's top scribes, took a look this week at the Kings' (rather bleak) goaltending history. His first paragraph really puts it in perspective...

``The Los Angeles Kings have been around for more than four decades, but have had only three goalies who could be considered real stoppers.''

There's some good stuff in this story. Nothing terribly new for anyone who has watched the Kings for more than, oh, 20 minutes or so, but it's a very good read...

Elite goalies not part of Kings' men

Hope everyone had a good holiday yesterday. And for those who don't have to work today, congrats, and thanks for staying off the 405 this morning.

A couple items of note on the Manchester Monarchs. They got off to a pretty bad start, all around, but now they're surging, with five consecutive victories heading into tonight's game against Portland. Who's making the noise? Well, after a bumpy start, Jonathan Bernier is coming around. He has won four consecutive starts and had a shutout last weekend against Lake Erie. Bernier has a 2.50 goals-against average this season. He's still splitting time with Jonathan Quick, who has allowed two goals in each of his last four starts and has his GAA down to 2.87.

On the scoring side, Justin Azevedo is back, after his training-camp wrist injury. He's back, all right. Azevedo has four goals and three assists in his first five games. Teddy Purcell has also been strong offensively in the last two weeks, with six goals and six assists in his last seven games. Purcell now leads the Monarchs with team highs of eight goals and 17 points in 17 games. Gabe Gauthier has 13 assists (16 points) and Trevor Lewis has four goals and seven assists.

On defense, Alec Martinez has one goal, one assist and a plus-4 rating in his last six games, Joe Piskula is plus-4 in his last four games and Viatcheslav Voynov has two goals, two assists and a plus-4 rating his his last six games.

To all of you in the United States, a very Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all enjoy your day, and thanks, as always, for the great support!

A good bounce-back win for the Kings, probably exactly what Terry Murray had in mind. More importantly, it was a fun night for those of us at the Redondo Beach Cafe, where Jim Fox got the Chicken Noodle Soup named after him and a sizable crowd watched the game. For those in the area who might not have been able to make it by right before the holiday, it's a great spot for some good food and hockey. The cafe's menu is great and the service is even better.

On to the game...Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan each had one goal and one assist and Jason LaBarbera stopped 22 of 23 shots. The Kings went scoreless on the power play again but also kept the Oilers' power play off the board. In his return to Edmonton, Jarret Stoll was credited with three shots and four hits.

In Tuesday's loss to Calgary, the Kings took 15 penalties. Of course, five of them came from one incident, the one involving Sean O'Donnell and Raitis Ivanans in the second period, but the Kings also took eight penalties of the hooking/holding/interference variety. Here's what Terry Murray thought about the penalties, in particular the incident between O'Donnell and Dion Phaneuf that led to an O'Donnell instigator penalty...

MURRAY: ``The puck over the glass (penalty) was one of those things that happen in a game. When O'Donnell was in there with the scrum and ended up with Phaneuf, I really liked what he did there. It showed a lot of experience and toughness for his team when he stood in there with Phaneuf. Quite honestly, I didn't see it as an instigator penalty. It wasn't as if he came in from the blue line and tapped the guy and said, `Let's go.' It just happened in relation to everything else that was going on. I didn't think it was an instigator. There were a couple others we deserved We got into hooking and reaching from behind, and that's going to get called.''

Here are Terry Murray's thoughts about the Kings' need to bounce back from last night's dreadful 6-2 loss to Calgary...

``It was the first game, out of the 20 that we've played, that was well below par, way below the bar. I guess you could go back to the first game at San Jose as well. But we came away from that and while we weren't pleased with what happened, at the end of the day we still had half the team where we said, `Hey, they did a pretty good job.' Last night was one of those you wanted to move by quickly. I felt from the beginning that we didn't have it. The passing, the receiving and the coordinated effort we've been seeing just wasn't there. The key is, how do we respond against Edmonton? We want a good result, a good response to a subpar effort. That's part of the growth process, the need for mental toughness and the attitude of, we need to come back with a solid team effort. We need to execute for the entire 60 minutes.''

On Jason LaBarbera, who will make his first start in goal since Nov. 1...
``LaBarbera will play. I planned that before the road trip and I told him that he would be playing this game.''

On the insertion of Brad Richardson into the lineup. Richardson will play his sixth game of the season and his first since Oct. 27...
``We will take Boyle out of the lineup and put Richardson in. It's his first game in a long time. He will center a line with Raitis Ivanans and Simmonds on the right side. He's been waiting patiently and working hard in the practices. His game is a skating game and this team does have that kind of a team. I know it's hard, when you've been out, to jump back in and be on top of things, but we're looking for him to have a good game.''

On moving Wayne Simmonds down to a line with Richardson and Ivanans...
``It was something in (Simmonds') game. I don't want to get into a `number one' or `number four' line thing. I feel it's very important that we have four lines that can go out and play on a regular basis. His game last night was good at times. He made a good play on the shorthanded goal with Frolov, and there were other good plays, but there were a couple other times when he tries to do a little too much with the puck and turned it over in the neutral zone. That's a learning process. It's not a punishment. He's going to play and the line is going to play.''

On keeping Derek Armstrong in the lineup and moving him to center, with Handzus and Calder...
``Armstrong will be in the middle. I'm going to put him at center, which is his natural position and where he feels comfortable. He's going to play minutes and an important part of the game. He's been sitting and waiting patiently.''

I just got off the phone with Terry Murray, who will make a couple lineup changes tonight:

-- Jason LaBarbera starts in goal in place of Erik Ersberg. Murray said he planned for the goalies to split these two road games before the trip.

-- Brad Richardson goes into the lineup in place of Brian Boyle.

-- The traditional ``top two lines'' should remain the same, but then look for Derek Armstrong to center a line with Kyle Calder and Michal Handzus, and for Richardson to center a line with Raitis Ivanans and Wayne Simmonds.

I'll have some quotes transcribed regarding these changes in a little bit...

Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun wrote a story today on Kings defenseman Kyle Quincey. Quincey seems to be picking up continent-wide attention, based on his play and the circumstances of his departure from Detroit. One interesting note is that while Quincey didn't get his name on the Stanley Cup last season, the Red Wings allowed him to spend a day with the Cup and will give him a championship ring when the Kings visit on Dec. 20. Here's the story...

Quincey what doctor ordered

You've now seen Jason LaBarbera start 10 games and Erik Ersberg start 10 games. Going forward, for the next stretch of games, which goalie would you like to see get the majority of the workload?

Looking for a place to watch tonight's Kings-Edmonton game? The Redondo Beach Cafe will have it on the big screen, and before the game the cafe will honor Kings broadcaster Jim Fox and officially name its Chicken Noodle Soup after him. As I understand it, the owners of the cafe are big hockey fans and have invited everyone down for a viewing party, so I will be there to check this out, and I encourage everyone to come hang out and watch the game with Jim. (Plus it's supposed to be a $2 draft beer night, I believe...)

The Redondo Beach Cafe is located at 1511 S. Pacific Coast Hwy in, you guessed it, Redondo Beach. It's at the corner of PCH and Avenue H.

Redondo Beach Cafe

Anze Kopitar scored with 50 seconds left, but it did little to ease the pain. The Kings were outshot 35-25 and were never really in the game. As usual, Dustin Brown is the standout for the Kings, with seven shots on goal. Cammalleri had eight for the Flames...

The hits just keep coming...Bourque with his second goal of the night at 9:20, even strength.

The Kings showed some life, then had it taken away just as quickly. Alexander Frolov with the shorthanded goal at 3:38, off a pass from Simmonds, but that was followed by Moss on the power play at 3:58.

Jason LaBarbera is in for the Kings in place of Erik Ersberg, after the Flames' fourth goal. Craig Conroy tipped a shot that went off the post and bounced out, but then was knocked in by Glencross. The goal came 10:07 into the second period. Ersberg allowed four goals on 18 shots but probably only one that could be classified as ``poor.''

Jarome Iginla scores a 5-on-3 goal for the Flames, with Brian Boyle in the box for holding and Michal Handzus in the box for delay of game. The goal came four minutes into the game, on a one-timer of a puck that came off the back boards hard.

Calgary 2, Kings 0

Michael Cammalleri scored 9:11 into the game and Rene Bourque scored with 1:31 remaining in the period, both at even strength. Erik Ersberg stopped 9 of 11 shots and the Flames outshot the Kings 11-9 in the period.

Just to clarify, for those who have access, the Kings' games will be available tonight (on Center Ice) and tomorrow (on the NHL Network). There will be no blackouts in the Los Angeles area.

According to the Kings' website, Derek Armstrong will play in place of John Zeiler and skate with Brian Boyle and Raitis Ivanans. Peter Harrold will play in place of Tom Preissing and Erik Ersberg will start in goal.

Here's what Armstrong said about his sometimes-in, sometimes-out situation:

"You've got to play the young guys here. When I get a chance, I've got to go in and play as hard as I can. I appreciate every moment I get to go in and play a game in the NHL. I've accepted this role and hopefully we can continue to win. That's the most important thing."

More information can be found here.

Just stumbled across this on ESPN.com. Felix Potvin is now working as an assistant coach for a Midget AAA hockey team in Quebec. An interesting read about the last goalie to lead the Kings to the playoffs...

In small Quebec town, Potvin more than content in his post-NHL life

First, thanks much to Jill for taking the initiative to keep things going while I was out jet-setting (translation: flying Southwest Airlines) and taking a few days off. It's pretty much a given that someone will get suspended, hired or traded during one of my days off...

Obviously the team is in Calgary today, but for some interesting reading material, here's a story from a newspaper in Niagara Falls about Marcel Dionne, whose post-hockey life now includes a hands-on business selling hockey memorabilia.

Mixing business with pleasure

Here's what Dean Lombardi told the Daily News via e-mail what he thought about the NHL giving John Zeiler a three-game suspension for his hit against Colorado's Adam Foote.
"We do not agree with (the suspension),'' Lombardi said. ``(We) think the sentence was excessive, but we will live with it. Every good army needs a couple of criminals."

Here's the release the Kings just sent.
KINGS' ZEILER SUSPENDED FOR THREE GAMES

TORONTO (November 24, 2008) - Los Angeles Kings forward John
Zeiler has been suspended for three games, without pay, as a result of a
boarding incident that took place during NHL Game #295, Nov. 22 against
the
Colorado Avalanche, the National Hockey League announced.

Zeiler was assessed a major penalty for boarding and game
misconduct for hitting Colorado defenseman Adam Foote at 6:51 of the
second
period.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and
based
on his average annual salary, Zeiler will forfeit $8,770.17. The money
goes
to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Zeiler will miss tomorrow night's game at Calgary; Nov. 26 at
Edmonton and Nov. 29 against Chicago. He will be eligible to return
Dec. 1
against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

John Zeiler received a three-game suspension from the NHL for his hit against Adam Foote on Saturday night. More soon.

Here's today's storyon the Kings' loss to the Avalanche last night.

The Kings will not practice today following their 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche last night, so there won't be an update.

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: getting the shootout point) "I thought it was a good point. In the early part of the game we were not the same as what we were, or wanted to be, as the energy we showed in the Washington game. Then it became a game of specialty teams and that takes a lot of flow out of the game from both sides. They were stronger on the puck, they were controlling the small areas of the game in the first two periods but to come back the way we did in the early part if the third period is a big effort and it's a good point."

(Re: Drew Doughty's play/rumors about Calder Trophy) "He's played well and he's improved his game since the start of training camp. He does play a lot of minutes on our team, but I think the Calder trophy is a long way away. He's playing good, he's an 18-year-old that's playing an important part of our hockey club and we have a team now that's been playing some pretty good hockey."

KINGS DEFENSEMAN DREW DOUGHTY:

(Re: game recap) "Maybe we had a few let downs, but we've just got to work from that. I'm sure we'll watch video at the next practice and learn from our mistakes and I think we'll take it from there."

(Re: early Calder trophy consideration) "I try not to think about that at all. It's so early in the season; it would obviously be awesome to win that award, but there are so many good rookies in this league and all I'm focused on is the LA Kings and just playing my best every night."

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re: game recap) "It's a good point. You look at that game and we obviously didn't play as well as we would have liked in the second or the first, but we battled back and that's the key thing. A shootout loss is a shootout loss. It's fifty-fifty really. They had better shooters than we did. The bottom line was the shootout and it's an extra point for them."

(Re: game recap) "They have a lot of skilled forwards and they all shoot the puck. A lot of their chances were off the scramble of blocked shots. Whether they were getting blocked or Ersberg was making saves, it's hard for our defensive group to respond to all the shots."

AVALANCHE HEAD COACH TONY GRANATO:

(Re: Hits during the game): "I don't know if I've noticed more hits from behind. It's always hard when you are going hard in on the fore-check you can expect that you might get a hit from behind. Sometimes when you're going full speed and with the fore-check you might not pay attention to that, but it's certainly a major penalty."

(Re: Peter Budaj's performance): "Peter's been very sharp. He has gained confidence, experience and the knowledge of the shooters. The research that he does on the shooters with Jeff Hackett certainly helps. But he has been very solid the past couple of weeks and when you're confident in your goalie that makes a difference everywhere in the game."

(Re: game recap):

AVALANCHE FORWARD IAN LAPERRIERE (the former King)

(Re: Hit by Zeiler on Foote): "I saw Foote on the ground and I kind of knew it wasn't a clean hit because he was hit from behind. We all jumped in there to back our teammate up. But those hits have to stop before someone gets hurt or even killed. Guys have to be smarter and it has to come from the players, the league can only do so much."

(Re: On tonight's win): "It's a huge win, we're playing good hockey. We came here for a battle and we came out with two points."

(Re: Kings Alternate Jersey): "They're nice, very nice. It's a mix of the old and new Kings colors and a new logo. It's refreshing."

Here are some notes from tonight's Kings game.·
Tonight was Sean O'Donnell's 400th game as a King. He ranks 10th all-time among Kings defensemen in games played.

· The Kings allowed 29 shots tonight. The last time they gave up that many was Oct. 27 vs. Detroit. They've only allowed 29-plus shots three times this season (the other was 41 Oct. 11 at San Jose).

· Drew Doughty played a season-high 28:57 tonight. He also had four blocked shots.

· The Kings are now 4-1-5 all-time in overtime against the Avalanche.

· Dustin Brown had seven shots on goal tonight. He now has 87 this season, which is third most in the NHL.

· Anze Kopitar is now two assists away from 100 as a King and in the NHL. He leads the Kings this season with 12 helpers overall.

I'll be on assignment today, so please feel free to use this post to comment on the game. Did you change your mind about the jerseys once you saw players wearing them for the first time?

The Kings (8-8-2) host the Avalanche (8-10-0) tonight...and, of course, there's the unveiling of the third jersey. The Kings have a countdown on their Web site and are really hyping the jersey, but you can see pictures of the jersey that were posted on this blog earlier this week.
The Avs were shut out against Calgary in a 1-0 loss on Thursday and are really struggling offensively. The Kings might be coming out of their offensive slump as evidenced by a five-goal outburst - two goals of which was empty-netters - against the Capitals.
Erik Ersberg gets the start again in goal tonight. No other expected changes.

CAPITALS HEAD COACH BRUCE BOUDREAU:

(Re: Johnson's performance): I thought he played great. He deserved a better fate. I thought that second goal was a little soft and it was a tough goal, but he kept us in with the point blank shots. We needed at least three of four tonight to win anyway.

(Re: First Period): They had 18 shots in the first period and kept on top of us. When you can't get a shot on goal at even strength that means your team isn't working hard enough. We didn't get a shot on goal at even strength and the only three shots we got were by Alex Ovechkin.

CAPITALS FORWARD ALEXANDER OVECHKIN:

(Re: game recap): The Kings moved faster than us, with shooting and everything. We just didn't get the puck to the net.

(Re: Hit by Brown): I didn't hit him, he hit my ear. Just a guess, and I'll watch the replay, but I think he didn't see me, I went to the net and turned around and was hit.

KINGS FORWARD PATRICK O'SULLIVAN:

(Re: his goal) "Obviously to get a goal there was a little bit of a relief and our team played a solid game against a real good team so that's important too."

(Re: his return to the top line) "We're good buddies off the ice and I think you can see out there, watching our line play, that if we are responsible defensively we're going to create some chances going the other way. I know we went head-to-head with Ovechkin's line and we did a pretty good job, so I think that's something we can build on and continue to get better."

(Re: adding him to the top line) "I think it adds something else that the other team has to worry about. Obviously Kopitar and Brown are the top guys on our team and adding me, I'm going to shoot the puck when I can and try to open up so space for those guys to get in the on the fore-check. Like I said, we all bring something different and a little bit of a different style and I think we compliment each other pretty good."

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re: Ovechkin's hit) "I was coming back to the net and I'm not sure what he was thinking. We were battling all night. I haven't seen it yet but, he kind of came in and caught me when I wasn't looking without the puck and then we ended up capitalizing and that was the game."

(Re: being at .500) "It's a good feeling. Obviously we need to push forward here. We've been playing pretty good hockey for the most part and if we continue to do that...we've got to enjoy this one tonight and then focus in on tomorrow and Colorado."

(Re: controlling Ovechkin) "He had a few good chances but nothing. We kept him in check for most of the night and I thought we were pretty good physically with him. I had a few hits on him and some other guys put hits on him. I think he's one of those players, he likes giving the hits out and if you can slow him down offensively and be physical with him he gets a little frustrated out there."

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: game recap): "We got a good effort tonight from everybody, from the top right through the bottom. I thought the team dug in...the puck movement and the play away from the puck was tremendous. We're aware they were missing a couple of key players and they played last night, still it doesn't take away from the effort we gave. It was a great team effort."

(Re: O'Sullivan line) "They played against a Backstrom line and their responsibility tonight was to go in with a checking mindset and to make sure to try and limit the opportunities that a guy like Ovechkin is going to get and we did that tonight. As a result of it, you work hard to get the puck and I saw some good things tonight. The goal that O'Sullivan scored, that's a goal- scorers goal. There aren't many guys on our team or any team that are going to be able to finish on that play."

The Kings beat Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals 5-2 tonight. The Kings frustrated Ovechkin, who was held to just one assist. Patrick O'Sullivan, who moved to the top line, scored a goal for the first time in 12 games. Anze Kopitar scored an empty netter with one second left. Dustin Brown scored a power play goal (and how about Kyle Quincey attacking with the puck and the nice assist), and Drew Doughty scored the first goal of the game. There was plenty to celebrate for the Kings, including another fine performance from Erik Ersberg, who made 19 saves.

Here's some notes from the game:

Dustin Brown (1-1=2) had his fifth multi-point game of the season. The Kings are 6-0-0 in those games. Brown now has 65 hits on the season. To view Brown's hit tracker and his partnership with KaBOOM! log onto www.lakings.com/kaboom.

· Teams combined for 63 total hits tonight (Kings 34, Washington 29).

· Drew Doughty has six points in the last seven games (2-4=6).

· John Zeiler had five hits in his season debut tonight.

· Michael Handzus (1-1=2) had his second multi-point game of the season.

· The Kings are now 5-0-0 when leading after two periods.

· The Kings are 3-0-0 against Southeast Division opponents this season.

· The Kings are 4 games away from 3,200 in franchise history.

Just wanted to let you guys know both Rich and I are on assignment today and tonight, so no one will be posting updates on the blog during the game. You can use this post to make comments before and after the game, and when I get home tonight, I'll try to post stuff. Thanks for your patience.

Defenseman Sean O'Donnell and Drew Doughty draw a tough assignment as they'll probably log the most ice time when Alex Ovechkin and the Captials' top line is on the ice.

Here's a couple of things from O'Donnell, who turned on last night's Ducks-Capitals game when the Capitals already had a 2-0 lead.
``You hear a lot about Ovechkin and Semin. Last night, I watched most of the Ducks-Capitals game. They seem like an exciting team to watch. They've got speed and skill. They're at the top of their division and they've beaten good teams for a reason.''

Does he like the challenge of facing Ovechkin, the reigning MVP, and the young and talented Capitals?
``There's some good players around the league, obviously. Ovechkin is a special player. If he's not the best, he's certainly 1A. You can make a strong argument he is the best. There's nothing he doesn't do well. He's big, he has speed, good shot, physical. Realistically, you're supposed to get up the same for all 82 games and ideally that's what you should do. I think most players would be lying if there weren't certain matchups or players we play against that we don't get more excited for. You go up against a guy like Ovechkin and their power play and the way they're going, it's an easy game to get excited for.''

Bruce Boudreau tells the Washington Post he should be thankful that the Kings fired him from their organization in 2005. Boudreau coached the Manchester Monarchs.
"I should be doing cartwheels and be thanking them for doing what they did," he told the Post. "No one ever likes to get fired. But there's no chance I would be having the time of my life like I'm having now."

Alexander Ovechkin will probably help boost ticket sales for tonight's game against the Capitals. Here's an Ovechkin featureI wrote for today's paper.
Also, Ovechkin's linemate, Alexander Semin (who along with Ovechkin leads the league with a +17 rating), will miss his third straight game with an upper back/shoulder strain, according to the Washington Post.

All looked the same this morning, meaning Patrick O'Sullivan will be on the top line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar and Erik Ersberg will be in goal against the Capitals tonight. Will have more later.

Now that you've had some time to digest it...

Bruce Boudreau said out of habit he still watches the Kings ... Here's why:
``It's the same as here (in Anaheim), George Parros, who I really like and had him the first three years, and Dustin Brown, when I see those guys, it's like you have a soft spot for them,'' Boudreau said. ``They were such great guys when I had them in Manchester. The memories are all fond. There's been dramatic turnover since I was there four years ago but at the same time, there are still some players I had that were great kids. You like to see them do well.''

Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau - the former Manchester Monarchs coach - talked about the Kings after the Caps practiced Tuesday. He conducted the interview after finishing some In-n-Out french fries. There's no In-n-Out on the East Coast, so several Caps officials were partaking.
Here's Boudreau's thoughts on the Kings:
``We're running into three of the top five teams in the Western Conference out here and another team (the Kings) that's playing a lot better than people figured they would going into the season. ... I know L.A., just out of habit (I) watch them all the time. They work so hard. Even if they have young players and everyone's predicting them to be in the cellar, with (Erik) Ersberg playing the way he is, they can go very high.''

The Kings had something of a rarity this week: two days of practice between games. The Kings normally take Sundays off, but this week they were able to practice Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation from tomorrow night's game against Washington. Here are Terry Murray's thoughts on how the Kings prepared, and what they might be up against in facing the Caps...

MURRAY: ``Well, we've gone through quite a few things here in the last couple days, with meetings and on ice, just trying to fine tune things. Sometimes when you get away from playing a lot of games, every second day, you get away from fundamentals and you want to bring a focus back to them again. We know we're going to have to have good execution against this team. They're high skilled and have some top players, and we're going to have to make sure we're checking on every shift. It's not checking the puck. You're going to have to stay above the puck and stay above the man. They're very good on the attack one-on-one, so we have to be heads up to it.''

Here's what it will look like, courtesy of the folks at icethetics.info

Here's what Patrick O'Sullivan said today regarding his reunion with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar on the Kings' top line...

Question: Happy to be back with those guys?

O'SULLIVAN: ``Yeah. I think everyone knows what we did last year and all that stuff. So we're familiar with each other, and hopefully we'll get a chance to put some good games together and try to create more offense for our team. We'd like to score more goals. We've been playing really well defensively, so if we get a few more goals we'll be giving ourselves a better chance. At the end of the day, putting us three together was probably the goal. I think we can all score more than we have been.''

Question: Do you guys have a good understanding, from the coaching staff, of what you need to do in order to stay together a while?

O'SULLIVAN: ``Well, obviously if something is working, it's going to stay. At the same time, you need to play together to get the most out of it. Obviously I'm familiar with them, but I haven't played with them (this season) except for one game. The more we're together, the better we're going to get. We're so familiar with how everyone plays. We each play a little different style that complements each other.''

For the last two days in practice, Peter Harrold has been wearing the black jersey of a defenseman. He had been skating at right wing for the past couple weeks, alongside Patrick O'Sullivan and Brian Boyle, but Terry Murray's shuffling has put Harrold back at his natural position. It also seems to have put him out of the lineup, at least temporarily, but after practice Murray talked about the value of Harrold's versatility...

MURRAY: ``I really want to look at him as a utility player. I think that's a great kind of player to have, if you can develop it and if a player is willing to buy into it. It's a defenseman and a forward who can play on the power play when he's in the lineup. Eventually, I'd like to see -- if he's in the lineup as a forward -- him get into the penalty kill as a forward, and still slide back into a blue-line situation if need be. I think that with the way the game is today, it's a great asset for an organization. The reason he has been on the blue line in the last couple days of practice is, because I'm a little prejudiced toward the D, I think it's a little tougher place to play than a wing. I just don't want him to lose sight of what it is.''

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Here are Harrold's thoughts on the right-wing experiment...

Question: What do you take away from this experience that might help you as a defenseman?

HARROLD: ``It gives you a little better respect for what forwards have to do. I'd never really played forward, so it was kind of a first-hand experience as to what they have to do in their own end. It helps me as a defenseman, because now I know where they need to be and what they expect. I need to make sure the passes are tape-to-tape, and it's hard to battle on the wall if you don't do a certain thing for them. It's little things like that.''

Question: Do you feel like you're more valuable to the team, if they know you can play both positions?

HARROLD: ``That's a big thing for me, to be able to learn how to do something like that. That makes me a little more valuable and it adds another dimension to my game. Hopefully, if they need me, they can plug me in anywhere. That's a good asset to have.''

The Kings on Wednesday activated forward Richard Clune from injured reserve and assigned him to Manchester. Clune, who started to earn a name for himself in training camp with some feisty play, hasn't played a game this season. He got hurt in a preseason game, an injury he described as a broken bone in his chest but has officially been listed as a broken rib.

Marc-Andre Cliche remains out with a separated shoulder.

As expected, Erik Ersberg will make his eighth consecutive start in goal when the Kings host Washington tomorrow night. Overall, Ersberg has a 1.95 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in nine games. As a starter, Ersberg has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his seven starts and has yet to allow more than three goals in a game. Here's what Terry Murray said about staying with Ersberg...

MURRAY: ``Ersberg has been good. He has played well. We've had half a dozen or seven real good hockey games that we could have had a better result in, just with us finding a way to score at the right time and the appropriate time, maybe on the power play. But we've had a good run here and we want to snap back after a two-game losing streak and get back into the winning ways. But I'm certainly not putting LaBarbera on the shelf. I know we've got a couple back-to-backs coming up, so we'll get him geared up and ready to go there.''

Here are Terry Murray's thoughts about this week's line changes, most notably the one that elevated Patrick O'Sullivan back to the first line. I started by asking Murray whether he had any general motivation when he shifted the players to their new roles...

MURRAY: ``Well, for every action there's a reaction. The one move that was the priority, for me, was to get O'Sullivan up on the left side with Kopi. We simply want to get some scoring going again. We've scored one goal in the last couple games and our power play has been off. We've had some good puck movement and offensive-zone time, but we need to get some pucks into the net. So I want to put Sully in more of a, I guess you would say, an offensive situation, playing with those two players. So that kicks in a lot of other moves, or a few other moves, with Calder going to Handzus' line and Raitis with Boyle. Zeiler is going to go into the lineup. It's the right thing. If you ask a player to go down (to the AHL) for conditioning purposes for a couple weeks and he does that, then you have to respect him when he comes back, ready to play. You get him into the lineup. So he will play.''

Question: You tried that top line once and went away from it pretty quick. What do you need to see from them in order for them to stay together for a while?

MURRAY: ``A lot to do with that was probably the fact that Sully had just started to work his way back into the lineup. He was trying to get his game going and trying to get himself on top of things. Maybe, at that time, it was a little unfair to have the high expecations of the good things that happened for them when they played together last year. That's why I backed away from it, to try to buy a little bit of time and try to get him more in the flow of the game, through playing with a line that maybe had a little less expecations, but not a lot less. You're still looking for that line to score goals. So now the time has gone by and games have happened and I'm seeing more of a reaction, more of a reactive kind of game from Sully. That's the kind of game he needs to play, instinctive and reactive to the play. So it's time to get it back together and hope that good things can happen with the chemistry that they have and that they can bring it back together quickly.''

A couple quick things...

-- Erik Ersberg will indeed start in goal tomorrow.

-- Peter Harrold will be the spare defenseman, with the pairings remaining the same.

-- Terry Murray gave some fairly extensive comments about why the first line is back together and why he broke them up so quickly last time.

Lots of quotes and notes to come...

In practice, the lines remain:

O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Stoll-Moller
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Boyle-Zeiler

Armstrong and Richardson remain the spare forwards. I'll try to determine who the spare defenseman is, now that Harrold is back on defense.

Now that the blog issues are (hopefully) resolved, I'll be able to post a full report from practice today about everything that's going on heading into tomorrow's game against Washington.

Reports out of El Segundo this morning are that Patrick O'Sullivan is skating on the first line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar.

Of course, you won't see this post for hours, because our blog system is messed up for the second consecutive day, but I'm trying.

The Hockey News has asked all of its correspondents to rank the top five NHL rookies this season. Who are yours? Rank them one through five...

We'll see if anything interesting comes out of this morning's practice. John Zeiler is expected to be back on the ice and Kyle Quincey is expected to skate, even though he suffered a fairly deep cut on his leg during Sunday's game.

Last night was the Kings' 17th game of the season, and with the loss they remained stuck on 16 points (7-8-2 record).

Last season, the Kings' 17th game was also against the Ducks, and it was also a loss in Anaheim, albeit in a shootout. That point gave the Kings 17 points for the season.

From that point, the Kings lost four consecutive games and went 4-16-1 in their next 21 games. You probably remember that.

Does anyone fear a similar slide with this team? There seems to be quite a difference of opinion in terms of what direction this team is headed. Where do you anticipate the Kings will be in six weeks?

What did everyone think of FSN's telecast last night?

The Kings fall to 1-1-1 in the season series against the Ducks, as they win the shot battle, 29-26, but go 0-for-5 on the power play and generate few memorable scoring chances.

The Kings had their chances early, with almost six consecutive minutes of power-play time in the first period, and they deftly killed a 5-on-3 Ducks power play in the second period.

Erik Ersberg stopped 24 of 26 shots and once again allowed fewer than three goals in a game, but the Ducks' second goal looked shaky and Jonas Hiller stopped all 29 shots he faced.

Drew Doughty led the Kings with 28 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time, yet another astounding total.

The Kings will take tomorrow off and return to practice Tuesday. They face Washington on Thursday.

Bret Hedican blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line that did not appear to be deflected. The goal cleanly beat Ersberg and came with 4:20 remaining. The Kings continue to outshoot the Ducks but that's not going to matter much in another four minutes without a dramatic turnaround

Ducks 1, Kings 0

The Ducks, helped by power plays, outshot the Kings 13-6 in that period.

Corey Perry picked up a rebound right in front of the net and knocked it past the prone Ersberg at 11:36. It came two seconds after a Ducks power play. The Kings have already taken three penalties in this period.

The Kings have brought back John Zeiler from his conditioning ``loan'' to Manchester. He will practice with the Kings when they get back on the ice Tuesday in El Segundo.

No score.

The Kings spent almost six consecutive minutes on the power play, had eight power-play shots in the period and outshot the Ducks 14-6 but couldn't get on the board.

Drew Doughty played 10 minutes, 6 seconds of that period.

Erik Esberg will start in goal for the Kings tonight, against Jonas Hiller. Armstrong and Richardson are the healthy scratches once again...

As you probably know, FSN is scaling back its ``Rinkside View'' telecasts starting with tonight's game in Anaheim. The network promises that the broadcasts will be more traditional and feature fewer of the robotic ``rinkside'' cameras, thus making it easier for viewers to follow the action. Even this would be easier to follow:

Today's game could be an opportunity for Terry Murray to give Jason LaBarbera a start, otherwise, Erik Ersberg would be playing on back-to-back days. Murray hasn't tagged Ersberg with the title of No. 1 goalie, though he started the last six games in which the Kings are 4-1-1. The 3-1 loss to Nashville certainly wouldn't be blamed on Ersberg (and one of those goals was an empty-netter). The Kings netted 34 shots, but only scored once, which was the major problem Saturday. Who would you like to see in goal today?

"We had a lot of good looks in the game. Especially in the second period, we had 27 shots after two periods and probably had a dozen great scoring chances. We just couldn't find the way to get the job done in the offensive part of it here tonight."

"Their goaltender played great. Give Ellis a lot of credit, he was the difference in the game and he's the reason why they won tonight."

That surely was a scary moment for the Kings when Erik Ersberg was upended by Martin Erat, who went sliding toward Ersberg. Drew Doughty was penalized for hooking on the play, and Ersberg tried to jump over Erat, but he couldn't avoid the contact. Ersberg said he wasn't hurt.
``I saw the replay,'' Ersberg said. ``I almost knocked the crossbar out ... I tried to jump out, and he hit me. I'm on my way up, so I flew even higher. I didn't hurt myself at all. You kind of get the wind knocked out of you. If you look at it, you might think a groin or something, but nothing happened there. I was lucky.''

· The Kings are 4-1-1 in their last six games.

· Kyle Quincey, who had an assist tonight, leads all Kings defensemen with eight points (2-6=8).

· Drew Doughty played more than 20 minutes for the 13th time this season. His ice time during the last four games: (21:23 tonight; 27:05 at Dallas Nov. 13; 25:41 vs. Dallas Nov. 11; 25:09 vs. St. Louis Nov. 8)

· Michal Handzus picked up his fourth goal and eighth point tonight. It took him 31 games to reach 8 points last season.

· The Kings out-hit Nashville 30-22 tonight. They have been out-hit only four times this season

· The Kings allowed 22 shots tonight. They entered the day leading the NHL in fewest shots allowed per game (24.1)

The Predators scored an empty-netter by with 47.7 seconds left by Shea Weber. The Kings had 34 shots on goal, two shy of their season-high 36, but for the Kings, that's not the stat that matters.

J.P. Dumont scored a power play goal with 2:28 left. Drew Doughty was penalized at 16:30 for hooking, and the Predators took advantage of the power play. Dumont also assisted on the first goal.

Michal Handzus scored his fourth goal of the year on assists from Kyle Quincey and Peter Harrold to tie the game at 15:06 in the second period. Quincey fired a shot from just inside the blue line, and it went off Handzus' right skate and in.

Jason Arnott scored his eighth goal of the season to give the Predators the early lead. Arnott scored a transition goal when he took a pass from J.P. Dumont from the left faceoff circle and beat Erik Ersberg between the pads at 10:26 in the second period.

One of the keys for keeping the confidence of his young team is a positive approach, Terry Murray says. He said he's the same way with a veteran team, too. It seems to be working with the Kings. Much of that confidence after losses is built during the post-game analysis.
``We take the positive side of things here, with the young guys,'' Murray said. ``We're showing and re-capping our game in meetings the next day, trying to focus in on system play on all the good things we did, the number of shots, for and against, we're trying to highlight a lot of information for them so they can come away and understand we're close and here maybe is the difference, a couple of situations. The result will be there. I think that's important for a young team, to be able to understand that. That it's very close on a given night.''

The Kings met at their practice facility in El Segundo and took the bus to Staples Center. They're leaving immediately after the game to travel to Anaheim, where they'll play the Ducks tomorrow. It's noteworthy that players didn't drive their own cars from their various homes since there were traffic problems on the freeways tonight.

For those who had tickets but couldn't make it to tonight's game due to problems because of the fires, you can exchange your ticket for one in the same price range for these games: Dec. 6 (Columbus), Dec. 13 (Minnesota) or Dec. 29 (Chicago)...Subject to availability. For more info, call 1-888-KINGS-LA

Here's the Kings starting lineup vs. the Nashville Predators

G-Erik Ersberg
D-Matt Greene
D-Kyle Quincey
LW-Raitis Ivanans
C-Michal Handzus
RW-Wayne Simmonds

Fans might have a good excuse for not coming to tonight's game. There are a plethora of traffic problems as a result of freeway closures due to the fires, making the trek to Staples Center difficult depending on where you were coming from. We'll see what the attendance is tonight. Let's keep in mind that some people may have lost their lives, and many their homes, so please don't complain about the traffic.

The Kings will leave for Anaheim after tonight's game. In the past, the Kings have left the morning of games against the Ducks. That's one of the changes Terry Murray has made.
``I'm treating it as the road game that it is. Every other road game we travel, we get into town as quickly as we can and get ready for the game that night. That's the approach I've taken all the time. Even when you're on the East Coast, you have lots of games that you could travel in the morning if you'd like to. This is serious business. We want to get focused and stay focused and get prepared. Get there. Do things we normally do the morning of the game. Have our meetings, get organized and get ready to go.''

When Murray took over the Flyers in 1994, he changed their travel schedule, too.
``I can go back to the days when I took over the Flyers, we used to fly in and travel in the morning just in time for the exhibition games. It wasn't right. That's the way it was, and I changed that. You can travel to New Jersey in 45 minutes and walk off the bus and get ready to play. I didn't like that. I felt we were trying to bring something together, make this a team. It's about bonding, spending time together and developing the attitude that's very important for a hockey club. After those first couple of times, I always felt it was important to get to the stadium of the team you're playing as soon as you can.''

I asked Terry Murray this morning how satifsying it is as a coach to watch this young team rebound from a five-game losing streak to a four-game win streak.
``It's important to see some results at the end of the day for your hard work. The first part of the season I thought we were playing pretty good, but we weren't able to close the game down. We weren't able to find a way to get the goal we needed to get at the right time. We've been able to do that the last four games. We're starting the game with a better tempo, attitude. We're starting to play more 5-on-5, too. You remember, we went three games in a row where we were shorthanded the first minute, one game we were down 5-on-3. (It's a) better commitment to the composure to playing smart the first 10 minutes to get everybody in the game, establish a game plan and get our feet going.''

Everything is expected to be the same for tonight's game, barring anyone coming down with flu-like symptoms or anything like that.
Will have some more posts from the morning skate in a bit.

Tonight the Kings get a chance to avenge a frustrating loss when they host Nashville. The Kings lost to the Predators, 5-4, on Oct. 25 in Nashville, one night after an impressive 4-0 victory over St. Louis. In that loss, the Kings fell behind 3-0 in the first 13 minutes and goalie Jason LaBarbera got pulled in favor of Erik Ersberg, The Kings trailed 5-2 in the third period before they scored twice to make a game of it.

Question: Anything in particular that you take away from that last game?

TERRY MURRAY: ``They're a very good hockey club. They have a team that gets on the attack. They have a blue-line core that has very high-end skill players who really are jumping up and getting involved in the offensive part of the game. The one thing that we took away from the last game, in my mind, is the puck management through the middle of the ice. We did get into some turnover situations. That's a transition team, and they come at you very hard with five guys, so the decisions we have to make against this team with the puck are crucial, once you get across the neutral-zone red line.''

Question: I imagine you pretty much know what you're going to get with that team, after all these years...

MURRAY: ``Their M.O. is well known. They've gone through an awful lot of adversity since their team has come into being. They've had a lot of player movement and been forced to make deals because of financial reasons, and now losing a good player like they did this year going back to Russia, those are devastating situations. But their mental toughness, as an organization, is a great example for the rest of us in the league.''

As pointed out yesterday, and in previous posts this season, perhaps the Kings' biggest improvement has come from limiting opponents' shots on goal and scoring chances. Erik Ersberg is playing well, but he's also benefitting from a team defense that is allowing an average of 24.1 shots on goal per game, the lowest average in the NHL. I asked Ersberg if he noticed a big improvement in the Kings' defense since the end of last season...

ERSBERG: ``Absolutely. There's way less shots in the games. We limit (opponents') chances and we don't have to make as many good saves as we had to make last year. Everybody is digging in really well.''

The heavy workload is just fine with Drew Doughty, who logged a season-high 27 minutes, 5 seconds. I asked him about the increased workload and about his transition to the NHL. As a side note, it's often easy to forget that Doughty is 18 years old, but sometimes it comes through. While I was talking to Doughty, he had his eyes clearly fixed on the ping-pong table, anticipating the upcoming big doubles match. I felt bad for him, so I stopped asking questions. As I left, Brian Boyle and Patrick O'Sullivan were getting the better of Anze Kopitar and Kyle Quincey. Anyway, back to Doughty...

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Question: I take it you don't mind playing 27 minutes a night...

DOUGHTY: ``For sure. Believe it or not, I really wasn't even that tired. A lot of the shifts were power play and stuff like that, so it was great to play that many minutes. I enjoy a lot of minutes, and I feel I play better when I get a lot, so it was great and hopefully I can do it a couple more times.''

Question: The physical conditioning, and getting in better shape the way you did this summer, how much does that help?

DOUGHTY: ``It helps out a ton, just because I'm in such better shape than I was before. My cardio is up, and just in general I can skate faster with less effort. It's so much easier, just because of the weight loss.''

Question: Are there things that get progressively easier for you with the more games you play?

DOUGHTY: ``It's definitely become a lot easier. The first couple games were a learning experience, and pretty tough for me, but after that I got more ice time and played in more games and got a lot more comfortable.''

From the moment the Kings drafted Drew Doughty in June, the expectation was that Doughty would make the team this season. Few could have guessed, though, that Doughty would arguably be the Kings' best defenseman and regular leader in ice time, while playing big minutes on both the power play and the penalty kill. Doughty has responded well to every challenge he has been given, and his ice time continues to increase. Here's his last four games:

Nov. 6 vs. Florida: 20 minutes, 54 seconds
Nov. 8 vs. St. Louis: 25:09
Nov. 11 vs. Dallas: 24:41
Nov. 13 at Dallas: 27:05

For the season, Doughty is averaging 22:32 per game, 10 seconds fewer than Kyle Quincey. Here's what Terry Murray said today about Doughty's development...

Question: Before the season, did you have any particular expectations for Doughty, in terms of how much he would be able to play and contribute?

MURRAY: ``I didn't know what to expect. Of course, I've seen many 18-year-olds over the years, players who have come in and played, and played well. I think in my past experience, the top 18-year-olds have adjusted very well, but with Doughty, he's certainly a player who is taking a big part of the minutes right. He played 27-plus minutes last night and that's pretty exceptional, I think, for a player that age. He handles it with such composure and poise. There's no doubt that O'Donnell has really helped him a lot in his development to date. As the game goes on, and the more minutes he plays in any particular game, he seems to get to be a better player. He just gets into a zone. You hear that often talked about with athletes, and you just let them play. You're so focused on playing that the amount of the workload really has no effect on you. He seems to be that kind of a player. That's something that will never go away, when you have that kind of skill, that aspect to your game. It's pretty special.''

Question: Going forward, what do you have to guard against with him? Anything you have to keep an eye on?

MURRAY: ``Yes. The one thing you need to be conscious of, at least from a defenseman's aspect, is that they're not trying to do too much. In the juniors, when you have a player of that ability, they can take a game over and control a game for the 35 minutes or 40 minutes that they're out there. It's a different animal here. If you're going to play at a young age, we really want the focus to be on smart defensive-zone play, reading the rush and handling that part of it, and know that when you do have the puck on the breakout, we're looking for you to pass it and make good decisions with it. We're not looking for a young guy, or even a veteran, to transport the puck from one end of the ice to the other. You do get into many situations where it will come back on you. So that's the habit you've got to be alert to, and have constant reminders and reviews that you just have to play within the game, play within the system and those opportunities to really jump out and do something special will always present themselves to those kinds of players. That's when they can recognize it and they can do it.''

Practice today clocked in at just about a half-hour, short by NHL standards but not shocking given that the Kings played in Dallas last night and have a home game tomorrow night. In general, Terry Murray seems to keep his practices shorter than both Andy Murray and Marc Crawford did, and there seems to be more teaching involved, as indicated in a previous post. Twice in today's practice, Murray stopped action completely to address small groups of players after a drill. I asked Murray about his brief-but-intense practice philosophy...

MURRAY: ``We've got two games in less than 48 hours, so 30 minutes (of practice) is good, with good tempo and good execution. There was a purpose to what we wanted to get done, and once we get it done, let's get off the ice. Sometimes you can stay out a little too long after everything is over, and we're going to need the energy.''

Question: I've seen it from time to time, and a couple times today, where you completely stop practice and talk to a couple guys about a drill. Is there still quite a bit of teaching going on still, more than there would be on a veteran team?

MURRAY: ``There's always teaching going on. We review the game from last night, breaking it down with probably six or seven minutes of clips, and we highlight a few things in the meeting. We try to address those areas that we meet about with a couple drills in practice. It's probably something that never goes away, as far as the teaching part of it. Whether you're a young hockey club, like we are, or you've been established for 10 years, there's always the need to readdress, making sure that stuff doesn't slide too far, and keep the habits good, keep the repetitions going the right way all the time.''

It's been a few games since Terry Murray went public saying that Anze Kopitar needed to elevate his game. Has it worked? Kopitar didn't record a point Thursday, but in his previous three games he had one goal and five assists. Kopitar still doesn't seem to be the dynamic type of player he was last season, but I wanted to get Terry Murray's thoughts on whether Kopitar is making strides...

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Question: It's been a little while now since you talked about the need for Kopitar to elevate his game. Have you seen improvements there?

MURRAY: ``What I've noticed is, and it's difficult to say this after last night, because I know he played upward of 22, 23 minutes last night, but since we last spoke about it, I've been trying to make sure his minutes-played are in that 18-minute area. It seems to me that his play, and the line's play, has responded and played better as a result of fewer minutes. They're of a higher quality. The work has been there but I guess the execution, the being able to get accomplished from what you'd like to see from your No. 1 line, is happening on a more consistent shift-to-shift basis now. I'm seeing more from the line here, from the O-zone time they have played. They're stronger on the puck, cycling and generating chances, generating pucks to the net, attacking with possession now more consistently. They're really trying to be more of a threat on a shift-to-shift basis, and that's an attitude that I really like from a line that is to be, quote, your number one line. They're the guys that you look to, at any particular time, to take the game over and make things happen. That attitude seems to be coming to the surface more in a game-to-game situation now. It's good stuff.''

Question: What you're talking about, with keeping the minutes down, is that a legs thing? A mental thing?

MURRAY: ``It's just a work load that... It's very hard to play at a pace that we are asking our top line to play at, if you get extended into the mid-20s, 22 or 23 minutes per night. Because of the schedule and the traveling that you have to go through, playing the four lines and cutting back the minutes to 18 or so seems to me to be the best thing, to allow them to be a more effective line, and we hope he can be a more effective player for us. The bottom line is, he's a stronger player with the puck, and also on the defensive side of things I've seen a better hockey player. His reads are sharper. He's executing with the proper positioning in our D-zone and he's very responsible.''

Sports Illustrated's Allan Muir wrote a solid piece today on the development of Kings rookies Drew Doughty and Oscar Moller. The Kings' defense, in general, receives solid praise...

Kings have gems in Doughty and Moller, Flames go cold, more

Given that Jack Johnson's recovery from shoulder surgery is progressing faster than expected -- he had another vigorous skating session with Daryl Evans this morning -- it seemed that Johnson might be in line for a mid-to-late December return. Not so fast. Looks as though cooler heads have prevailed. Johnson said on the game telecast last night that he still didn't intend to return until after the All-Star break in late January.

Johnson said, ``It is true that I am way ahead of schedule, but myself and the doctor are both pretty set on returning after the All-Star break and there really isn't any need to rush. I am just trying to get healthy and as strong as I can before I come back.''

Looks like it's back to broadcasting for Barry Melrose, who was fired today by the Tampa Bay Lightning after 16 games. That whole situation was weird from the beginning, and when I read a story a few days ago about Melrose skipping a practice, I started to figure that things weren't going to turn out well there. Check this one out...

Melrose takes the day off

With Andy Murray's St. Louis Blues sitting in last place in the Western Conference, it's not a great season for former Kings coaches...

Nothing terribly notable today. Derek Armstrong nearly decapitated Erik Ersberg with a high slap shot that grazed Ersberg's helmet and actually took him out of practice for a few minutes while it got fixed. Otherwise it was a brief but vigorous practice.

One thing that's notable is how often Terry Murray stops practice to teach. It's not yelling, unlike the previous regime. He will stop and talk to players -- particularly defensemen -- about how a drill could have been run better.

I have some quotes from Murray on that, as well as stuff from Doughty and Ersberg. No lineup changes expected tomorrow.

All appears normal as the Kings practice in preparation for tomorrow night's game against Nashville. No lineup changes or injuries. Lots of offensive drills so far...

It's a late start on practice today in El Segundo, but there will be a full report as soon as possible...

This time, the Kings didn't need the shootout for a 3-2 victory over Dallas. That's the fourth consecutive victory for the Kings, and Erik Ersberg improves to 4-0-1 as a starter. Ersberg stopped 24 of 26 shots and has allowed two or fewer goals in four of his five starts.

The Kings held on despite allowing two power-play goals, one in a 5-on-3 situation. They took a 2-0 lead in the first period -- remember the stat from earlier today? -- on goals by Michal Handzus and Jarret Stoll, and Kyle Quincey added a second-period goal to make it 3-1. Alexander Frolov had two assists.

Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, at an astounding 27 minutes, 5 seconds.

Are you starting to believe in this team, or is this just a good couple weeks?

The second game of the home-and-home Kings vs. Dallas series will get underway in a little more than an hour. Yesterday, Terry Murray gave a bit of a breakdown of Tuesday's game. By all accounts, the Kings played a strong final 30 minutes, and Murray talked about the Stars' strengths, what makes them difficult to play against and how the Kings turned things around on Tuesday...

MURRAY: ``They are real good at puck possession through the neutral zone, through the middle of the ice. Their defensemen are all involved, they handle the puck, they have that mentality that they want to bring it back to get it organized, and then they move off the puck very well. They did catch us several times with that look. We had a team meeting (Wednesday) morning to review some of it on video and we'll need to probably go through the process again (Thursday). But that's to (the Stars') credit. They have a team that has been together for a long time. There's quite a few players who have been there seven, eight, nine years now, so those kinds of looks are developed over time.''

Question: Was there anything on the bench that changed in the second half of the second period? Was there something said or done?

MURRAY: ``We addressed it at the end of the first period. We did see that tendency starting to come, right at the end of the first. We did bring attention to it between periods, and (the Stars) just continued to work at it. They got it into our zone and they got a lot of movement from their blue-line corps. They were cycling and finding guys, backing away and opening up. They were solid in what they were doing. I thought our composure was actually pretty good. We kept things to the outside. There were some shots coming from the perimeter, from the blue line, but sometimes you really can't do much about it when you're facing that kind of puck movement. So we dealt with it, we got some saves and we got reorganized. But we got reorganized more because of what we started to do inside their blue line with our (forwards). We found the middle of the ice again, on the defensive side of it. We had gotten too loose and they were able to make those controlled possession counters.''

For those who have joined the Twitter.com revolution, you can now get updates on this blog through:

http://twitter.com/insidethekings

I'm really hoping this works...

Tom Hoffarth, our media columnist, has updated his blog with a post about the ``Rinkside View'' situation, including quotes from Bob Miller and Jim Fox about the controversy. Tom also previews his column, which will appear in Friday's papers (and online, of course).

This not-so-rinky-dink 'Rinkside' flap

In its ``Hot List'' -- a ranking of top junior, minor-league and college players -- this week, The Hockey News listed Kings defensive prospect Colten Teubert No. 1:

``1. Colten Teubert, D - Regina Pats (WHL): Expect Teubert to make a serious run at a spot on L.A.'s blueline next year. He's already rock-solid physically, but has taken this year in junior to up his game in other categories. His 18 points in 21 games is just three off his season total from last year and his plus/minus is up 24 points to plus-16. Drafted 13th overall by Los Angeles in 2008.''

The entire list can be found here.

Sometimes stats are meaningful, other times they're just numbers. But there seems to be a trend developing with these Kings, involving early leads. The Kings have a 5-1 record this season when leading after one period and a 1-5-2 record when either tied or trailing after one period. Part of that is obvious. A team's chances of winning a game when it leads after 20 minutes are obviously higher. Perhaps there's something more to it for the Kings though, given that they have a young roster that might feel comfortable playing with the lead. I asked team captain Dustin Brown about it...

BROWN: ``It's hard to say, really. Obviously it's a lot easier to play with the lead, as opposed to trying to come back, which we had to do a lot last year. We would get in early penalty trouble or give up an early goal and have to battle back. When we get the first goal, we seem to have a little more confidence in our game and stick to the game plan a little more.''

Looking at the numbers, the first period could be important again tonight. The Stars are 4-0 when leading after the first period and 1-7-2 when tied or trailing after the first period.

Our sharp media columnist, Tom Hoffarth, will be writing an update on the ``Rinkside View'' situation, including probable ``tweaks'' that are coming to those broadcasts. Maybe Tom Feuer does want you to watch, after all...

One idea I heard, that makes sense, would be to film the game with those cameras but offer it up as an edited package, either between periods or after a game, the way NFL Films does with their highlight packages. It might look really sharp that way. It just doesn't work as a live broadcast.

Dustin Brown's big hit on Stephane Robidas last night -- scroll below for the video if you haven't seen it -- sparked quite a bit of discussion today. It's not often that you see a player in that situation get knocked clean off his feet and actually CLEAR the bench. Robidas didn't just hit his rear end on the boards and tumble over. He actually cleared the boards, like he was high-jumping. I asked Brown if it was his best hit ever...

BROWN: ``A few people have asked me that. It's hard to tell. It looked like a great hit, and it was a great hit, but it's hard to say. It might have been my best hit but not my most devastating. I've hit people a lot harder. Had the glass been there, maybe it would have been more impactful, but he just fell into the bench.''

Question: The stuff that happened with Morrow, after the Ribeiro hit, do you guys talk about that at all after the game?

BROWN: ``No. He's a pretty honest player. We've both been in situations like that before and we're both honest players. Obviously with a hit like that, it was a big hit and it turned into a bad situation, I guess, for Ribeiro. I think (Morrow) understood what happened. Had that been Kopi getting hit, I think the same thing (would have happened).''

Tuesday's victory improved the Kings' record to 6-6-2, and there's two ways to look at that. On one hand, the Kings' schedule has been so home-game heavy (11 of 14 have been at Staples Center) that a .500 record isn't shocking. On the other hand, this is a team that finished dead last in the Western Conference last season and had fairly significant player and coaching turnover. A .500 record for the whole season would give the Kings 82 points, compared to last season's 71. Here are Terry Murray's thoughts...

Question: You're now 6-6-2. I know a coach will never say he's satisfied with that, but all things considered, is that an acceptable record?

MURRAY: ``Well, if I say it's acceptable, I'm saying I'm satisfied. We're not satisfied with it, because we look back at some of the games and we felt we felt we should have... You never want to say you deserve a better fate, but we needed to find a way to get points out of those games. So you put it all in the learning mode. You take the good stuff away from the games you missed on and build on it. We are what we are right now, and we want to improve and become a better hockey club. But those kind of games like last night, those are important for us, for our confidence level and our momentum. As I said last night, with the new group of players we have on this hockey club, it's a good confidence thing for the team.''

From the first day of training camp, Terry Murray emphasized defense and the need to keep opponents' shot totals low. Even he probably couldn't have imagined how well it would work out. Last season, the Kings had only two games in which they held opponents to fewer than 20 shots on goal. This season, they've held opponents under 20 shots on goal in five of their 14 games, and Dallas managed only 21 shots on goal Tuesday.

The Kings have allowed an average of 24.0 shots on goal this season, the lowest average in the NHL and a stat that greatly pleases their coach...

MURRAY: ``I like those numbers a lot. I like the scoring-chances-against number, probably the most. That's the important part of it. There's going to be games when you maybe give up more shots than you would like, but it depends on where those shots are coming from. The team effort has been great on the defensive part of the game. They're playing well away from the puck and everybody is reloading back into our D zone with that `home plate' attitude. There's a lot of blocked shots going on. We're going to keep reviewing it and keep working on it every day. I like what's happened here in the last few games. I like what's happened all year long. It's not just the last few games. I think the team has been committed and has bought into the concept that we need to improve defensively.''

Erik Ersberg has started four consecutive games, compiled a 3-0-1 record and allowed only seven regulation goals. Those are impressive numbers, any way you look at them, so it seems reasonable to ask, is Ersberg the Kings' new No. 1 goalie? Terry Murray isn't ready to take that step yet, although Ersberg is in line to make his fifth consecutive start tomorrow night in Dallas. Here's what Murray said about the goaltending situation...

Question: Do you continue to be impressed with what you see from Ersberg?

MURRAY: ``Yeah, Ersberg played very well. Dallas had offensive-zone time, a lot of movement and a lot of things happening off the puck, so he had to have great awareness. He shows his composure, stays in a set position and makes the big save when called on. So we like what we're seeing in his game right now.''

Question: At some point, do you consider him more than just a backup goalie who's getting a few games?

MURRAY: ``Well, at some point you do if he keeps playing the way he is. Absolutely you do. All players get rewarded, whether you're a defenseman or a forward. There's players moving on different lines. It takes time to earn that right to move, though, and you have to have good performances, but if you get a level of play that is there game after game, you have to reward a player for performance.''

Question: Is Ersberg at that point?

MURRAY: ``No.''

Question: Close?

MURRAY: ``He only has about 18 games in the NHL, so it's going to take time. I don't know what that time is. I'm not going to push it on anybody. Just let him play and see how he deals with it. You know, there's been a lot of goalies in the history of this game that have been terrific backup goalies, and they've been handed the No. 1 position through unrestricted free agency or trades, or whatever it might be, and they drop the ball big time. So it takes time to earn the right and develop the mentality to be able to deal with the responsibilities of being a No. 1 goalie.''

It might have come as a surprise when rookie Wayne Simmonds was selected for the Kings' second attempt in the shootout, but it wasn't just a whim by Terry Murray and the coaching staff. Of course, ideas like this look much better when they work -- as this one did -- but Murray explains here how he came to choose Simmonds...

MURRAY: ``That's something we do in practice. We've gone through quite a few of our practices by finishing in shootout mode. We have each guy go through it two times, one against each goalie, and then we try to get a winner at the end of the day. The goalies have won a couple times. Simmonds has done very well in those in practice. The goal that you saw in the shootout last night is what he shows (in practice). He's very confident with it and it's a great play. When you go to your backhand, that's a tough save for a goalie. Jamie (Kompon) and I talk about it on the bench. Jamie brought his name up, and why not? He has done a good job in the practice.''

Tuesday was quite a day for Derek Armstrong. He was presumed to be a healthy scratch for the game against Dallas, so he participated in the morning skate as normal, then had roughly 90 minutes of conditioning skating, a normal exercise for players who aren't in the game lineup. That's a lot of skating for anyone, not just for a 35-year-old guy such as Armstrong. A couple hours later, he found out that he was going in the lineup, to replace ill forward Oscar Moller. Armstrong tells the story of his day...

ARMSTRONG: ``It's just your mind, more than anything, getting prepared. I left here (the practice facility) at 1:30 and went for lunch. I was with my buddy. We went for lunch and then we went to a farmers market, to get my wife some flowers and stuff. As we were walking in the farmers market, I was like, `I've got to go home, my legs are exhausted.' Honest to God, my legs were exhausted at the farmers market. So I got home around 3:30 and turned on `Around the Horn' and turned my phone off. They had to call my buddy to get to me. They called him and he had to come down and tell me, `You're going to play.' I just wish I could have got a nap. Just another story in your career, you know? ... It was kind of a tough day, but you get through it. Days like that, you just try to be as professional as you can and throw your body around and try to make an impact and do what you can do to help your team win. It was an important game.''

Tempers were already a little high before the shootout, before Dallas' Mike Ribeiro scored on an outstanding between-the-legs play, then skated back to his bench with his pointer finger to his lips, as if to say he had quieted the building. The Kings' Derek Armstrong took exception and immediately began yelling at Ribeiro from the bench, which the TV cameras picked up. I asked Armstrong after practice if he had taken exception to Ribeiro's antics...

ARMSTRONG: ``Yeah. He apologized afterward. He was saying, `It's a show.' I understand that it's a show, but you know what? If you want to be a show, go to the other corner. If he wants to do that, that's fine, because the fans love it, but you can't do that coming to our bench. He's a really good player and he made a really good move. Just doing it to our bench, I don't think that was right. I think it's a great show for the fans, to see that stuff, but go to the other corner and do it for the fans, not to our bench. It's nothing against him. He's a great hockey player. It was a great move and a great play, but I just didn't like that he did it to the bench.''

Oscar Moller missed last night's game with the never-fun ``flu-like symptoms,'' but completed the entire practice this morning and even stayed on the ice for extra skating. For precautionary measures, the Kings also had Patrick O'Sullivan in white, skating with Moller, Jarret Stoll and Alexander Frolov, but it seems likely that the Kings will return to their previous lines.

Moller said, ``I skated yesterday but I wasn't feeling very good. They told me to just stay home and get some rest and get ready for the trip. I feel fine now. I was able to skate this morning and sweat it out.''

Terry Murray said, ``He's healthy. He got some food into himself yesterday, last night, and he got through the practice and felt good, so he will be ready to go.''

-- It doesn't seem that there will be any suspensions based on the Brown/Ribeiro/Morrow incident.

-- Erik Ersberg will start again tomorrow but Terry Murray isn't yet ready to name him the new No. 1 goalie just yet.

--Oscar Moller practiced, feels better and should be able to play tomorrow.

More quotes and notes to come...

We'll see what happens today in the aftermath of the third-period incident involving Dustin Brown, Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow. Nothing from the league office yet, although Morrow should get an automatic one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes. Brown? Could go either way. Tom Kostopoulos got a three-game suspension for a hit from behind on Mike Van Ryn, but that was much more brutal.

I'll have a full update from practice later, but for now, judge for yourself. Here is Brown's big hit on Stephane Robidas, followed by Brown's incident with Ribeiro and Morrow...

-----

Brown vs. Robidas

Brown vs. Ribeiro/Morrow

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: Ersberg's performance) "He played well obviously, but to do what he did in the shootout is good stuff. You have to get some stops in those situations against top scorers in the game and he came up pretty large for us."

(Re: not allowing many shots on goal) "That was what we want to hang our hat on. We want to have a real good attitude toward defensive play without the puck, cutting down on shots against and those grade 'A' scoring chances against. We felt that was our rallying call."

(Re: the shootout win) "You know you played hard throughout the game and the 60 minutes, 65 minutes with the overtime, and you're able to come away with two points against a division team. It was a very important game for us and when you can come away at the end of the night with a shootout win like that, there's no question that there's a lot of confidence there."

KINGS GOALTENDER ERIK ERSBERG:

(Re: game recap) "We have some of the better shooters in the league on our team, so I don't think we should be afraid of any goalie in a shootout."

(Re: shootout win) "It feels good. Obviously you always want to win games so it's just a good feeling to get the win today. It was tight there in the end but we managed to pull it off with two great goals there in the shootout from Simmonds and Frolov."

KINGS DEFENSEMAN TOM PREISSING:

(Re: Previous losses) "I think we were doing a lot of things right, even when we weren't clicking, but we just weren't necessarily scoring goals. You can do things great for three or four games and not have a goal and then you're just doing things ok and you start scoring goals. I think in general we just have to stick to shooting pucks at the net."

(Re: now vs. last year) "I think the youthfulness of this team makes us have a little bit more of a workman's type attitude. It starts in the offensive zone, putting a lot of pressure on the defense and making it hard for the other team to get out of the zone, which we have been doing a great job as of late and everything trickles down from there."

STARS HEAD COACH DAVE TIPPETT:

(Re: Lehtinen's first game back): "I thought he looked good. He's an honest player and he did a lot of little things right."

STARS GOALIE MARTY TURCO:

(Re: hit on Ribeiro): "It's hard in that situation, when you see a guy off balance like that. It wasn't necessarily a dirty hit, and Ribeiro is a strong player."

From the locker room ....
``The team played well tonight,'' Brown said. ``We were strong on the
(penalty kill), especially late. That is a good sign for us. The hit probably
was magnified by the fact that the boards were there. If they weren't
there, I don't think it would have been an issue. It was a call they felt
they had to make.''

It took five rounds of a shootout before the game ended. Alexander Frolov scored, and Erik Ersberg saved a Mike Modano shot for the Kings third consecutive victory.

For those of you who didn't see Brown's hit, check out the Kings Web site after the game, which is where the video will be available.
If the link isn't working, go here: www.lakings.com/kaboom

Mike Modano scored midway through the second period to tie the game at 2 on assists from Sergei Zubov and Loui Eriksson. It was not long after Brown's jarring hit that sent Stephane Robidas into the Kings bench.

Dustin Brown's hit against Stephane Robidas midway through the second period was so jarring that he sent Robidas over the boards and into the Kings bench. It was definitely a youtube moment.

Dustin Brown scored off a rebound to give the Kings a 2-1 lead at 16:46 in the first period.

Jere Lehtinen scored his first goal of the season on an assist from Brad Richards at 14:17 in the first period.

Jarret Stoll scored a one-timer from the right faceoff circle on a 5-on-3 power play at 6:50 in the first period. Mike Modano gave the Kings a two-man advantage when he was called for tripping against Dustin Brown.

The reaction to Sean Avery? Booing every time he touches the puck.

Looks like...

Calder-Kopitar-Brown
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Frolov
Ivanans-Handzus-Simmonds
Armstrong-Boyle-Harrold

G Erik Ersberg
D Sean O'Donnell
D Drew Doughty
LW Patrick O'Sullivan
C Jarret Stoll
RW Alexander Frolov

Oscar Moller has been scratched because of flu-like symptoms. Derek Armstrong is back in the lineup.

Here's a few questions and answers with Wayne Simmonds, the Kings' second round pick from the 2007 draft. He considers himself an agitator, so I asked him a few questions about Sean Avery.

Q: I know you weren't here when Avery was, but what are your thoughts on him?
A: He's outspoken. He speaks his mind. He makes a big impact on the game the way he plays. He agitates a lot of people. That's his game. He's a good player at the same time. But him doing that can hurt his team sometimes.

Q: Do you take anything you see from him and apply to your game?
A: I think I agitate kind of the way he does but not to that extent. He's a skillful player. He's a really good player.

Q: Is Avery good for hockey?
A: I think in some ways he is. If some people don't know hockey, they look at him and think he's a bad influence on the sport. There's people that like what he's doing and become interested in the sport because of him. I guess it goes both ways.

Q: What's the season been like, and what's your comfort level with the Kings?
A: It's been unbelievable for me. I'm not letting my guard down at all. I'm trying to play to my utmost potential and make them keep me around the whole year. I could be playing in Manchester tomorrow if I have a bad game tonight. So far, they're happy with me. I have to pretty much keep doing what I'm doing, I guess.

Tonight is the last game of the Kings' longest homestand - seven games - of the season. It certainly didn't go as planned, but the Kings could finish by winning three consecutive games.
``Just build on momentum,'' Terry Murray said. ``I'm a big believer in momentum. (Winning three consecutive games) to me it (would) mean a lot for a team that's made a lot of changes with new personnel and young personnel. The confidence level, just the good intangibles you sense when you walk in the locker room. I believe in momentum, I think it's nice to have it on your side. That would maybe start some of that.''

Derek Armstrong will be a healthy scratch for the fifth consecutive game tonight. The veteran Armstrong is one of the most popular players in the locker room. Instead of bounding around the locker room and playing ping pong with his teammates, Armstrong is now staying on the ice, getting extra work with everyone else who isn't playing. Asked how he's taking the demotion, Terry Murray said:

``I'm sure he's having a difficult time with it. It's the first time he's been out of the lineup in almost seven years. It's a hard decision. It's one of the hardest decisions a coach can make to take a veteran player, who's been with a team for a long time, out. The decision was not just one player. It came down to our 10-game point and we were not where I wanted us to be. I felt, and I think I mentioned this, that we needed to go to four lines on a more consistent basis. I needed players who were going to play on that line to be able to kill penalties and be on the power play. And just have a larger variance of contributions to the team. Army is a 5-on-5 player. That was the reason for the change. We needed to try to change the luck of our makeup, our chemistry.''

``He'll get back in the lineup again. You know how that is. Over the course of the year, things will happen. He's staying very positive, working hard. That attitude, to me, is very professional. The opportunity will get there again. Most importantly, you stay prepared. Never begrudge your time in the trenches. I've always said that to players who aren't in the lineup. The opportunity will come, and you want to make sure you're prepared for it and take advantage of it again.''

What's worse, Rinkside View or the Kings' new third-jersey logo?

I'm not certain.

Whatever you think of Sean Avery, and most people seem to either love him (only when he's playing on your team, and that's not even a given) or hate him, do you think he's good for the NHL? Even if you despise the NHL's most hated man, do you like that he makes headlines and draws attention to the game?
Here's how Terry Murray answered this question:

``He's a good hockey player. He carries on with some of his antics ... I saw the New Jersey Devil game last year where he was fronting (Martin) Brodeur and the league made a statement on that. That's where that's at. He's a good hockey player. He can do good things for the team, and he can play on a top line. When his focus is on that, he's a contributor.''

Former King Sean Avery is in town tonight with the Dallas Stars. Avery is probably the most controversial player in the NHL. Terry Murray wasn't here when Avery played here, so he probably doesn't know the extent of his history in the Kings locker room. Still, it's not something he'll address before the game.
``No, I won't address anything on Sean Avery,'' Murray said. ``Being with the Flyers the last three years, and he with the Rangers, there wasn't any real incidents that come to my mind. I saw the game the other night against Boston, in Boston, and it got a little hectic there at times. But he's a good hockey player. When he wants to play, he's a good hockey player. If he continues to do his job ... Like any player, when you hunt people down or do something that's outside the realm of playing the game, something will need to be said. I never had any experience like that.''

Jill reports that the Kings won't make any changes for tonight's game. Erik Ersberg in goal, Derek Armstrong and Brad Richardson scratched.

More importantly, no Rinkside View on the telecast tonight.

The Manchester Monarchs lost two games this weekend, 3-2 in a shootout to Chicago on Sunday and 3-2 to Philadelphia in a shootout on Friday. Jonathan Quick started in goal Sunday and stopped 32 of 34 shots, while Jonathan Bernier started Friday and stopped 31 of 33 shots.

For the season, Bernier has a 1-1-2 record and a 3.13 goals-against average, while Quick has a 1-4-1 record and a 3.30 goals-against average. Gabe Gauthier leads the Monarchs with nine points (two goals, seven assists), while David Meckler has a team-high four goals. Trevor Lewis has eight points (two goals, six assists) and Teddy Purcell has three goals and two assists.

Given that there's typically a lot of debate about the way Dean Lombardi and Terry Murray handle their jobs, I thought it would be instructive to do a regular poll about job performance, much like media outlets do for the president and Congress. This way we can see, over time, how the opinion shifts. So, make your vote count...

Terry Murray said this morning that Erik Ersberg will start in goal Tuesday night against Dallas. It will be Ersberg's fourth consecutive start.

``It is just an opportunity for Ersberg to come out and play and keep playing well," Murray told the Kings' website. "What we are trying to do is to win games. He came up big vs. St. Louis and had a huge second period with some big saves. ... It is very important for a young hockey club to get some wins under their belt.''

Also, Jack Johnson skated with Daryl Evans before practice, his first on-ice workout since his shoulder surgery. Johnson is way ahead of schedule and updated estimates have him possibly returning in the middle or late part of next month.

Today's official Kings notebook can be found here.

Here's something Kings and Ducks fans seem to agree upon: ``Rinkside View'' isn't good. The comments here have been overwhelmingly negative, and apparently they've been the same on Ducks-related outlets, such as the Orange County Register's blog.

The Register's Curtis Zupke talked to Fox Sports executive producer Tom Feuer, who said the broadcasts aren't going to change. Feuer basically gave an ``Oh well'' response to the widespread complaints, while noting that ratings for the ``Rinkside View'' games are substantially higher than last season.

``I'm going to get killed for this," Feuer told the Register, ``but if these people truly don't like 'Rinkside View,' then don't watch.''

Well, I think you have your directive!

Here's the full entry from the Register: Upon further review ... 'Rinkside' not going away

Kevin Provencher of the Union-Leader wrote about the situation this weekend, when Buffalo put Matt Ellis on waivers and the Kings had interest in reclaiming him but felt they couldn't because of their roster situation.

The blog entry, which explains the whole situation, is here here.

The bigger problem is, the Kings have painted themselves into a corner a bit in terms of one-way contracts. Two players who aren't playing, Brad Richardson and John Zeiler, remain on the Kings' roster with one-way contracts. Something is going to have to give there pretty soon, because having two healthy scratches -- Zeiler remains one, even though he's on loan to Manchester -- creates tremendous roster inflexibility.

The Kings traded a second-round pick for Richardson, who then signed a one-way contract. He has played only five games this season. Zeiler signed a four-year contract last year, and this season it became a one-way contract. He appeared in 36 games last season and hasn't played this season because of his groin injury. The Kings don't want to risk losing Richardson or Zeiler, but they might not have a choice at some point.

No practices or workouts today for the Kings. They'll be back on the ice tomorrow in preparation for Tuesday's home game against Dallas.

KINGS CENTER ANZE KOPITAR:

(Re: game recap) "We were working hard. The previous games we were as well, it just didn't go in. We had chances and tonight we really came through. I'm personally pretty happy and I'm sure the other guys are pretty happy so hopefully we can keep on going."

(Re: multi-point game) "I was waiting for that one [his goal]. The most important thing is that we won the game and we want to keep this streak going."

KINGS GOALTENDER ERIK ERSBERG:

(Re: game recap) "When we play like we say we are going to play, I think we are a tough team to beat. When we play our system right and everybody is digging in and working hard it's going to be tough to come and beat us here."

(Re: defensive play) "If we allow less shots that means we played good defense. Today they helped me out with a couple of rebounds. They cleared it in front of me so I have to thank the defense. They played a great game in front of me tonight."

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: game recap) "We played pretty well. St. Louis played a good game too. They had a lot of traffic and a lot of pucks at our net and we had to do a good job on the defensive part of things. A lot of the game was in the trenches. There was a lot of battling along the boards and in front of the net and you really had to be ready."

(Re: Ersberg's game tonight) "Ersberg was good. He was very good in the second period and a couple of their power-play opportunities he came up big for us and it's nice to get a second win; we'll keep building on it. I sure like what he's done for us and he's winning, which is the most important thing for us right now."

Here's some postgame notes from the Kings, with quotes to follow...

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· Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists (one added late on Dustin Brown's empty-netter). Four Kings finished with a goal and an assist: Brown, Drew Doughty, Alexander Frolov and Tom Preissing.

· Doughty had his second straight multi-point game (1-3=4 in that span).

· The Kings scored three power-play goals tonight, which tied a season high (also had three power-play goals Oct. 14 vs. Anaheim).

· The Kings are 2-0-0 against St. Louis. The last time they beat the Blues more than once in a season was 2005-06 (4-0-0).

· Erik Ersberg is now 8-5-3 in 16 career starts (2-0-1 this season).

· Frolov now has 18 points (10-8=18) in 20 career games vs. St. Louis.

· Kopitar now has 16 points (3-13=16) in 10 career games vs. St. Louis.

Want to know how Dean Lombardi judges whether the Kings are making progress? Right now, he's keeping an eye on two categories: goal differential and shots against.

Last season, the Kings scored 231 goals and allowed 266, a difference of 35 goals. That was the worst in the Western Conference and the fourth-worst in the NHL. Through 12 games this season, the Kings have scored 30 goals and allowed 33. That minus-3 is ninth-best in the conference and puts them ahead of Phoenix (minus-4), Nashville (minus-5), Columbus (minus-6), Colorado and Edmonton (minus-7) and Dallas (minus-15).

Last season, the Kings allowed opponents an average of 32 shots per game, the third-worst total in the NHL. This season, they have allowed an average of 24 shots, fewest in the NHL.

The flip side is that the Kings have scored 30 goals, fourth-fewest in the NHL, and average 26.6 shots per game, fourth-fewest in the NHL. That's not a huge surprise, given that Terry Murray's initial focus was on improving the defense. Just some numbers to chew on...

Oscar Moller made it through his nine-game tryout and stuck with the Kings. The question now is, how well can Moller, at age 19, hold up over an entire NHL season? Moller didn't record a point Thursday night but did have four shots on goal and has been a fixture on a line with Jarret Stoll and Alexander Frolov. Here's what Terry Murray said today about Moller's adjustment to the NHL...

MURRAY: ``I think his adjustment, mentally, has been tremendous, right from the start of the year. That's the one thing you always look at with a young player. Are they able to adjust to the pace of the game? Can they elevate themselves? Can they still show the composure and the poise with the puck when the game is heated up? So yes, he has done that very well. He's a skilled player who can play the game at full speed and move the puck with full speed and sees the ice and makes plays. He's got some great skills. That's why he is on this hockey club right now. He's on the team, the 10 games are over, we've told him that it's time to look for a place to live and get settled in and keep the focus, and don't get distracted by the fact that you are now here. The pressure really starts as of now.''

Peter Harrold found himself out of the lineup for a few games before he returned, quite surprisingly, as a right wing alongside Brian Boyle and Patrick O'Sullivan. Harrold, a defenseman throughout his entire career, accepted the role and, by all accounts, has done a strong job. The Kings initially made the move because they wanted to get veteran defenseman Tom Preissing back in the lineup, because of his power-play attributes, but wanted to keep Harrold in the lineup as defensive insurance. Thing is, Harrold has looked good enough as a winger to keep that line together. Harrold had an assist in Thursday's victory over Florida. Here's what Harrold said about his transition...

Question: Are you feeling pretty good about how things are going?

HARROLD: ``Yeah. Those two are making the transition pretty easy. They're helping me out whenever they can, giving me pointers, and obviously they're both very good hockey players. I've been fortunate to be on a line with those two guys and have them help me out.''

Question: When the coach comes to you and tells you, `We want to try this,' what's your first thought?

HARROLD: ``I was kind of shocked. I'd never played forward before. To try it in the NHL for the first time was actually kind of a fun challenge. I didn't expect it but I'm starting to like it. It's actually a lot of fun, so I'm enjoying it.''

Question: Anything in particular that you always have to keep in mind as a winger?

HARROLD: ``Well, I've been a defenseman my whole career, so I try to make sure that I'm on the right side of the puck the whole time and not make any defensive mistakes. That's the most important thing, that I'm not a liability on defense. I try to take care of my own end first, and then pitch in on the offensive end.''

Click below for comments from Terry Murray regarding Harrold's play on the wing...

Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford is charged with keeping track of all the goalies in the Kings' system, so I asked him to share his thoughts about how the goalie prospects are performing so far this season. For some reference, here's the list of where the goalies are and how they're performing this season (with record, goals-against average and save percentage):

KINGS: Erik Ersberg (1-1-1, 1.61, .911), Jason LaBarbera (3-5-1, 3.01, .884)
MANCHESTER (AHL): Jonathan Bernier (1-1-1, 3.58, .874), Jonathan Quick (1-4, 3.62, .893)
ONTARIO (ECHL): Jeff Zatkoff (4-3, 2.29, .933)
READING (ECHL): Danny Taylor (1-4, 3.77, .880)
JUNIORS (WHL): Martin Jones (9-2-1, 2.00, .921 for Calgary), Linden Rowat (5-0-2, 2.66, .905 for Regina)

Question: Who else have you seen in your travels so far this season?

RANFORD: ``I've watched Zatkoff a few times. Kim Dillabaugh (goaltender development) has been out to Manchester once. Basically, because of the way their season starts, three or four weeks later, the focus for me at the start of the season is to be here. Kim has made a trip out there. I'm actually going to see the Manchester guys next week. They're doing a swing through Toronto and Fort Erie and stuff, so I'll see them there. I talk to all my guys on a weekly basis and I've seen them all on DVD.''

Question: Obviously you haven't seen them live yet, but any impressions of the Manchester guys?

RANFORD: ``I think it's been a little bit of a struggle from a team standpoint there. They're not winning a lot of hockey games. Quick got off to a slow start and has played much better in his last couple starts. He's got one and almost stole a second one. Bernier had a good first game, struggled for a couple and has been strong lately. I think it's a little bit of an adjustment for both guys. They both wanted to be here and they're not happy about being in Manchester, and they both want to play. That's the tough part too. They're kind of splitting right now and they're both frustrated that they're not playing a lot.

``Then with Danny Taylor, I haven't seen Reading. That's the one team I haven't seen. I just got Danny's DVD today. From the sounds of it, the team isn't playing great in front of their goalie, whether it's Danny or (James) Reimer.

``Then with Zatkoff, he's been unbelievable for them. The last game I did see wasn't a great result, but he's facing a lot of rubber. He's facing a lot of shots but they play fairly sound defensively. They just don't have a lot of offense, so he's going to have to win a lot of 2-1 hockey games this year, according to Karl (Taylor, head coach). Karl is starting to get a couple of his guys back. He just got (winger Jon) Rheault back. Manchester ended up signing two of his guys. He sent two guys to Manchester and they ended up signing, so that didn't work out great for him. But they're very solid on the defensive end but they don't have a lot of heavy-duty scoring punch up front. I think that's going to turn around for them.

``The way I look at it, the goalies are playing well. Both of the guys in junior... (Martin) Jones is top of the league. He has played very well for Calgary (of the WHL). (Linden) Rowat had a little streak of two weeks where he had a bad shoulder, and he just got back playing but I think Jones is 8-2 and Rowat is like 5-1 (for Regina of the WHL), so they're both playing well.''

There's been plenty of talk about the Kings' goaltending situation. Bill Ranford, the Kings' goaltending coach, should know more about it than anyone. Ranford is in town, working with the Kings' goalies, and after practice today I asked him about Erik Ersberg's development...

RANFORD: ``I can't say I'm not surprised. He's been working hard. When Barbs was on a little bit of a roll there and playing well for us, it was tough on him. Missing as much as he did in training camp, and then not getting a real opportunity to play, it wears on you a little bit, but his attention to detail paid off.''

Question: What, if anything, is keeping him from being a clear No. 1 goalie in this league? What does he need to improve?

RANFORD: ``I think it's more about opportunity. He hasn't proven himself in this league yet as a true No. 1. What's he got, 17 or 18 games under his belt right now? The bottom line is, I think he did an unbelievable job for us at the end of the season last year. The big thing is to try and build on that. What we're looking for is just our goalies to give us a chance to win every night. It doesn't matter whether it's Jason or Erik.''

Click below for some comments from Ersberg. Ersberg practiced today with a new set of pads, which cover about an inch more of the inside of his knee, but Ersberg said he wouldn't play with the pads tomorrow because they're still too stiff. Here's what Ersberg said today...

Brian Boyle, it seems, is taking full advantage of his second chance. Early in the season, he was a healthy scratch and a doghouse resident, as coaches demanded a more physical game. Upon his return, and his spot as a fourth-line center between Patrick O'Sullivan and Peter Harrold, he has mostly thrived. In Thursday's game, Boyle scored the game's first goal and was credited with only one hit but played a much more physical game than that statistic indicates. Here's what Terry Murray said about Boyle's recent play, and his development...

MURRAY: ``That was probably his best game, last night. For the 60 minutes, he was involved, he had an attitude to use his physical attributes and that's a mindset, that's an attitude. It's starting to come around on a more consistent basis. He has great hands, we know that. I didn't see it last year, but I know you guys saw a lot of the stuff that happened on the power play. He was able to contribute on the offensive part, scoring goals, but there's so much more to the game that we're starting to see from him. With that confidence that he's playing with, and he's playing with a couple good players. He's got Sully on the one side, and that's a pretty good hockey player to go out and play the game with. That was a big first goal. It really meant a lot to our hockey club. There was a lot of hard work going on before that, from all the lines, and their line, on their shifts, spent quite a bit of time in the offensive zone, so they got rewarded for their efforts.''

Question: If a player doesn't have that attitude, how does he develop it?

MURRAY: ``Probably from a coach staying on him every day, telling him he better dig in or he's not going to play. There are some demands that you have to learn to put on yourself, or they come from other places. It's just the way a player plays the game sometimes, through their whole career, and they have some success at it and the results are there. As I mentioned last night after the game, often a player evaluates his own performance by the goals and assists and the point column at the end of the season or the middle of the season. That's just the way it is, and it's pretty normal that that would be the evaluation.''

Question: Is it fair to say that the demands on Brian have come from other places?

MURRAY: ``They have been coming from other places. Not only from the coaches but throughout the organization. Everybody wants to see a player have success, and we think that there are some good attributes there that he can bring together to be an important player for this organization. That's why we're talking to players. It's the old thing of, if you're not talking to me, be afraid of it, because we're probably not that interested. But if we keep talking and trying to encourage you to do different things, that's a good sign. Players need to interpret that as being part of the process.''

The Kings tied a season low by allowing only 15 shots on goal to Florida, and within that, the Kings allowed only a handful of scoring chances. The defensive focus pleased Terry Murray, who gave much of the credit to the forwards...

MURRAY: ``I think it might have been the second-lowest game this year. I think a lot of that credit on that side of the game goes to the forwards. I really thought that they did a tremendous job with smart decision-making through the middle of the ice, getting the puck in and putting the puck in the right place so we could go and put some pressure on and get it back and continue with some offensive-zone play. When the play was coming back at us, the responsibility was there. Your defensemen can only play as well as what the forwards' mindset is, coming back and holping out. I thought that was pretty solid last night, throughout the game.''

Here's what Terry Murray said after practice regarding his decision to go back to Erik Ersberg for tomorrow's game against St. Louis...

MURRAY: ``Ersberg will go back in. He won last night. We go into every game wanting to win, trying to win, and whenever we get a combination that seems to be going in the right direction and we're getting a win, I'm going to stick with it. That's pretty much the same with every position right now. That's the attitude I have, so he will be going again.''

Erik Ersberg will be back in goal tomorrow night vs. St. Louis. Ersberg practiced today with a slightly larger set of pads, ones that cover a bit more of his knees, just to start breaking them in.

No line changes, injuries, etc. I talked to Bill Ranford about goalie development in the system, so stay tuned for that plus some stuff from Murray, Ersberg, O'Sullivan and others.

It's seemingly a daily question now ... who will start in goal for the Kings?
``I don't know. I've been pretty pleased with LaBarbs and again, he's our No. 1 goalie,'' Terry Murray said after last night's victory. ``I just need some time. I'll take a look at the game tomorrow. I'd rather have an opportunity to talk to both of those players before I address it to the media.''
Who would you like to see in goal against St. Louis on Saturday?

Here's what Terry Murray had to say on Erik Ersberg's performance last night. He saved 13 of 15 shots but allowed an unassisted goal from long distance. Florida scored again with 50 seconds left in the Kings' 3-2 win Thursday.
``That's always a problem,'' Murray said referring to Ersberg facing just six shots through the first two periods. ``If you play too good in front of a goalie and not give up any shots or chances, the goalie's not into it. It's hard to stay focused and be involved in the game. The first goal they scored, I think if he would've just let it go it would've missed the net, but I have to go back and look at it. It didn't look like it was a real threatening shot. Goalies have to play sometimes the right way and shut the door. That's what we're looking for, somebody to step up in that position and (when) the team is playing like it is tonight in front of them they need to take the other part on their shoulders and shut the door. He was pretty good, even with the few shots he had, he played pretty good.''

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: game recap) "I like the defensive work, but that was a result of what the forwards were doing. A lot of good things in the offensive zone. We played smart and got the puck in. We were aggressive with our speed and the puck. That's part of playing good defense; it was a tremendous part on our offensive end".

(Re: Tom Preissing) "There was more purpose to his game. He knows that there is accountability. He's playing harder. He's always been a smart player. He does a lot of things with the puck, he's strong with his one-on-one and he had some pretty big hits tonight and he was able to score a goal. When he plays that aggressively he can help any team".

(Re: confidence of young team) "It's very important. For them to believe real strong on what it is we're doing is great. The only way they can evaluate their performance because of their youth is by their own points and statistics. If you come away with nothing and a loss you start to get afraid for the young guys. You start to get afraid that they might lose their confidence and then you're going to have to take some drastic measures and maybe taking them out of the lineup and it's the last thing you want to do with young players."

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re: game recap) "I think we have been playing pretty good hockey and obviously not getting the results that we wanted in a couple of these games at home. Tonight we put forth a good effort and got the result that we wanted."

(Re: game recap) "From top to bottom we had a good game tonight and I think we really supported each other in our defensive zone which made it easy. And then offensively, we kept the puck in their zone. I think our offensive zone play was really good tonight and ate up a lot of the clock."

KINGS DEFENSEMAN DREW DOUGHTY:

(Re: game recap) "We had a great game today. We needed that. We were a little frustrated losing those other games and losing them by one goal. We were right there to win them, but tonight we came out hard and took every opportunity. Our main focus was shots on net and we did that."

(Re: snapping the losing streak) "As I said, some of those losses were heartbreaking. We lost them in the last minute, so it's definitely great to get this first win and that said hopefully we can keep rolling and get some more."

PANTHERS HEAD COACH PETER DEBOER:

(Re: game recap) "We didn't have a good first period. It's inexcusable and you'll have to ask the leadership group in the room and we're just not good enough bottom line."

(Re: lacking player productivity) "It's our job to make them do it and we're at the point in the season now where you have to earn your ice time or you're not going to play. Unfortunately there were too many guys to sit tonight to use benching as a motivation to them."

PANTHERS FORWARD STEPHEN WEISS:

(Re: player's motivation) "It was not a very good game and we just didn't have any legs or anything really. It's not the coaching staff's job to motivate players and it's our job to make sure we are ready to play."

(Re: game recap) "To come out flat like that is not acceptable and we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out why that was."

· Drew Doughty picked up his first two NHL assists tonight. It was also his first career multi-point game.

· Dustin Brown is now tied with Oscar Moller, Alexander Frolov and Jarret Stoll for the team lead with four goals.

· The Kings have now beaten the Panthers four straight times, dating back to 2003-04. Los Angeles has out-scored Florida 16-5 during that span.

· The Kings have allowed 15 shots on goal in their last two wins (tonight and Oct. 24 at St. Louis). They entered the night having allowed the second fewest shots in the NHL.

· Tom Preissing's goal was the fourth by a Kings defenseman this season (Preissing has two, Doughty has one and Kyle Quincey has one).

Dustin Brown scored in transition at 11:23 in the third period to put the Kings up by two goals again. Florida turned the puck over in the Kings zone, and Brown capitalized on the turnover. Florida scored with 50 seconds left on a shorthanded goal by Nathan Horton.
The Kings ended a five-game winless streak with the victory.

Patrick O'Sullivan took three shots in the first period but came up empty. Brian Boyle and Tom Preissing both scored to give the Kings a 2-0 lead after the first period, which still stands midway through the second period.
The Kings have outshot the Panthers 21-5....ouch! Florida had just three shots in the first period.

I don't know if they'll show much of the fans on television tonight, because they're aren't many. This game wasn't expected to draw many fans, but this is crazy with the number of empty seats. Should be interesting to see what the announced attendance is.

Same as last game for the Kings..
D Drew Doughty
D Sean O'Donnell
LW Kyle Calder
C Anze Kopitar
RW Dustin Brown
G Erik Ersberg

Derek Armstrong is a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game. Other scratches for tonight are: John Zeiler and Brad Richardson.

The end! Thanks to everyone for the great questions, as always. Here's the last set of answers...

Here's the fifth set of answers. One more to go!

Here is Terry Murray's complete interview with reporters after the morning skate.

Ersberg looks OK
He'll play today. He played good against Anaheim. Very good. I talked to both goaltenders yesterday, and he deserved another opportunity to get in there and play. He looked comfortable. He was composed. He was under control. He absorbed a lot of pucks that came to the net.

Does Ersberg has a calming effect?
He is a very composed guy, and the thing is, he brings the puck to him. There's lots of pucks sometimes find a way to bounce off goaltenders. He has the ability and skill to be able to absorb a lot of pucks and set it up for the defensemen or set it up for a forward coming back or get a faceoff. That is the kind of attitude and calmness he brings to the team. There's seldom second and third opportunities, and that's a good thing for any team.

What do you expect from Florida?
The Florida Panthers are going to play a hard game. They're going to come with a checking mentality. They have a good coaching staff in place. The attitude they have in reading some articles is again shutting things down in the defensive part of the game. They have a goaltender that has played well for them in any given game. We're going to have to play the right way in the offensive part of things in order to get some scoring opportunities. Play with a shot mentality, play everything off the net. Get their defensemen turning around and facing their goaltender more often than we've been doing over the last couple of games. I think that levels the playing field. It takes the organization out of the D-zone play. Once we start to get that on a consistent basis, we'll start to get the pucks in the net, not just hitting sticks and shin pads and skates.

On the necessity to end the five-game winless streak
Absolutely. Very important, I believe to get some wins under our belt and take advantage of this homestand. Playing games at home this time of year is an opportunity to put some points on the board and develop that team chemistry and confidence in your game. We're close. I feel we've played some good games. The Vancouver game, it seems like we lost a little bit of energy in the second and third periods but overall we played well enough to win some games and we have to keep building on that. From the growth side of things, it's very important for a young hockey team that we find a way to get a win.

Do you break the season down in segments, like 10-game segments?
I am that kind of coach. I haven't done it this year. Segments are really important. It can be a long grind if you start looking at the 82-game schedule. It can be a little overwhelming at times. The short-term goal is important for a team. Most importantly, we have to get ourselves together as a team first. That's been the most important thing for me since training camp. We're putting together a group of new guys from different teams and juniors. We're trying to get ourselves organized to become a team. The focus has been on that. As we get going, maybe the second part of the season, we'll have that in place. I like to do reviews after 10 games. I don't do every player on the team, but I have talked to three-quarters of the team one-on-one or small groups to review the past 10 games and keep building on a lot of the positive stuff we've done. It's verbal. It's reinforcing their roles on the team, what's important. At the end of these 10 games in a team review, I feel it's important we play four lines. Quite a few of the games I went with three. The minutes on the fourth line indicate that where we're down to three or four minutes. We're not getting the job done. As you saw in the game against Anaheim, I did (use) the four lines. They contributed. There was a lot more energy. And that's the way I want to stay with it until we can get this thing headed in the right direction, meaning some consistent play on the top lines, some results on the offensive parts of things with points in the standings and points in the individual player column. Until that starts to happen, I'm going to go with the four lines. Down the road at the end of the schedule, the second half is pretty demanding so we're going to have to have everybody contributing.

Is there value to consistency on the lines?
There's value to two players being together on the line. I'm looking for something good to happen on our top line with Kopi and Brownie. We tried a lot of people through the training camp. I want to find chemistry. I want to find the right guy that's going to make it happen with them. I'm still looking. Calder's played pretty good and had a couple good games, but I'm still looking for something to put that line right up at the top.

Does this interchangeable part on the top line not matter until Kopitar gets going?
He's got one goal. He has to get his game going. We're talking about it. We've had several meetings. It's pretty common when there's a new coach and the focus is on the defensive part of the game. It's checking from the beginning and taking away those Grade A scoring chances. That has happened. Overall, we're doing a pretty good job in that area and that does take away from other parts of the game until you breakthrough and figure it all out and it all comes together. I'm understanding of that, but now 10 games we need to focus on the other side of the game also.

Are the young guys resilient or could they get scarred?
You can get scarred, but it makes you tougher. It's a good mental thing to go through. As a rookie coming in to a situation where you're playing on a top team and all of a sudden three or four players on that championship team have retired or moved on, and now the responsibility is on you and you've never gone through the tough part of growing. It's been easy for you. So, I'm hoping that this year is going to be that kind of (experience) for the young players, that we can learn something good of going through difficult times and make us tougher mentally for the future.

The next set of questions and answers...

Terry Murray is still in search of a player who's the right fit on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown.
``There's value to two players being together on the line. I'm looking for something good to happen on our top line with Kopi and Brownie. We tried a lot of people through the training camp. I want to find chemistry. I want to find the right guy that's going to make it happen with them. I'm still looking. (Kyle) Calder's played pretty good and had a couple good games, but I'm still looking for something to put that line right up at the top.''

Terry Murray is hoping to get more production out of the Kings' top lines so they can be on the ice more, but until that happens, he's using all four lines.
``I feel it's important we play four lines. Quite a few of the games I went with three. We're not getting the job done. As you saw in the game against Anaheim, I did (use) the four lines. They contributed. There was a lot more energy. And that's the way I want to stay with it until we can get this thing headed in the right direction, meaning some consistent play on the top lines, some results on the offensive parts of things with points in the standings and points in the individual player column. Until that starts to happen, I'm going to go with the four lines. Down the road at the end of the schedule, the second half is pretty demanding so we're going to have to have everybody contributing.''

The third set of open forum answers follows...

On getting another start...
``It's a good feeling. I thought I played a pretty good game, so it's good that I got another start. That was nice.''
Asked if it was nice to not have to wait ten more games for his next start (as he did before getting his first one), Ersberg said:
``It's up to the coach. You can't really say anything about it.''

Here's what Erik Ersberg said about the status of his knee, in which he was struck by a deflected puck during practice yesterday.
``It's just a little bit stiff and sore, but in a game it doesn't affect me at all because you don't notice that stuff when you're playing,'' Ersberg said.
Now, Ersberg has two black and blue knees. He stopped a shot with his facemask in Tuesday's game, and the puck got stuck in his mask.
``They shoot pucks at me. Sometimes, I get hit and it hurts,'' Ersberg said. ``That's part of my job description.''
On what kind of injury would keep him from playing:
``I think if you ask any player, it would take something pretty serious not to play. Everybody wants to play. If you can play, you'll play. I don't think anybody's going to back off.''

Jill should have some stuff from the morning skate, but until then, here's the second set of questions/answers from the open forum...

Here's the first set of open forum answers from this morning. Please feel free to keep asking questions! Here's the answers...

Erik Ersberg participated in this morning's skate and will start tonight against Florida. The Kings got a scare yesterday when Ersberg was struck on the side of his knee by a deflected shot in practice, but Ersberg is healthy enough to play tonight.

Please feel free to post any Kings questions you might have at the moment, and I'll set out to answer them the best I can...

One of the biggest cheers in Staples Center last night seemed to take place when Brian Boyle leveled a Ducks player near the boards. It was the type of aggression that the Kings have been looking for from Boyle, and in general, his oddly constructed line with Patrick O'Sullivan and Peter Harrold seemed to perform well. They combined for 12 of the Kings' 35 shots and five of the Kings' 13 credited hits. Boyle probably had his most effective game of the season, and here's what he thought of it...

BOYLE: ``That's just what I've got to do, I guess. It was good, because I felt more comfortable. I wasn't thinking as much; just reacting. You just have to go out and play and get out of your own way. It's good, because you find yourself in the right position and you find yourself being able to move your feet, as opposed to being flat-footed and not being able to be physical. I just kind of went out and played and it was fun, a lot of fun. We got some good ice time.''

Boyle also talked about his new line. Afterward, O'Sullivan walked by and tossed in his opinion that their line was the best on the ice. O'Sullivan's pride in his line's play seemed notable, given his publicly stated frustration about his role. Anyway, here's what Boyle said about the line, particularly the transition of Harrold from defenseman to winger...

BOYLE: ``If you look at how Peter did, he's a really, really skilled defenseman. He's a skilled hockey player and he's really smart, so even though there's some things he doesn't know about (playing) wing yet, he's still a good hockey player. He made a bunch of great plays, especially one toward the end of the third period that freed me up for a shot, and Sully was kind of going backdoor. It was fun. It's a fun line to be on. Good skaters, good puck handlers.''

As a follow-up to Terry Murray's talk of needing to generate more offensive chances, I asked him how that related to the power play. The Kings have a dreadful 13.6-percent conversion rate on the power play, fifth-worst in the NHL, and they are 1 for 19 on the power play over their last three games. Here's what Murray said about the need to generate more power-play chances...

MURRAY: ``There was a study that was done quite a few years ago about the percentage of goals scored -- out of about 2,000 goals on the power play -- and the number is probably in the mid-70s (percentage) in terms of where the original shot came from. And that is from the blue line. The bottom line is, it's a `shot' mentality, with traffic and looking for good things off of that. It disorganizes everything, whenever you're getting pucks to the net. That might be a part of the inexperience, in terms of understanding that concept totally, but we will keep pushing that idea. We have some veterans on the team who do understand it and I hope it quickly rubs off on the young guys.''

After last night's 1-0 overtime loss, the Kings' record in one-goal games fell to 1-6. I wanted to get Terry Murray's thoughts on this, keeping in mind that he said, from the beginning, that the team's youth would not be used as an excuse this season. So Murray took it in a different direction and talked about offensive chances.

The Kings rank 29th in the NHL in shots per game, with an average of 26.1. On the flip side, they rank No. 2 in fewest shots on goals against, with an average of 24.8. Murray's argument holds less water on a night such as Tuesday, when the Kings outshot the Ducks 35-27, but here are his general thoughts about needing to generate more offense...

MURRAY: ``I think our number of shots on goal, when you look at the overall picture, is below acceptability, almost. I put a number up on the board a couple games ago, just to refer to it in a team meeting. Detroit's total number of shots on goal averaged out to, I forget the exact number right now but it was well above 40, and our total number of shots, on average, was about 23.5. So I was just trying to draw a comparison there, about the importance of getting pucks to the net, It was a focus of the practice today, in all the drills we did, to bring the puck there with traffic, looking for second and third opportunities. That's where the scoring is at these days. If you are going to be able to do that on a consistent basis, with that kind of an attitude, then good plays and the highlight-reel plays will open up for you. That will be a part of the whole picture. On a consistent basis, we need to do the little things and the hard things every day.''

Jack Johnson was expected to be out until after the all-star break, as he recovers from surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his shoulder, but Johnson's recovery is going faster than expected and he might return a month ahead of schedule. That could put him in line for a late-December return, but that depends on his continued progress.

There are already talks that upon Johnson's return, the Kings might be intrigued by a defensive pairing of Johnson and Drew Doughty.

Sometime during practice today, Terry Murray let Erik Ersberg know that he would be starting in goal tomorrow night against Florida. A bit later, Ersberg must have seen that opportunity flash before his eyes when Jarret Stoll deflected a puck that hit Ersberg flush on the side of his knee. As previously posted, Ersberg was down for a while and left the ice but returned, albeit gingerly, to finish practice.

After practice, everyone -- including Ersberg, Jason LaBarbera and Terry Murray -- attributed the incident to the reduced protection that goalies have around the knee/mid-leg area. The new equipment rules were designed to make goalies look less like ``Michelin men,'' but they also leave areas of the body exposed. Ersberg suffered a deep bruise on the other knee in training camp on a similar shot, and said he took a puck in a similar situation just last week.

Assuming the injury doesn't turn more serious, Ersberg will start tomorrow. He looked solid against the Ducks and stopped 26 of 27 shots in a 1-0 overtime loss.

ERSBERG: ``It's a lot easier to start a game than come in. You get the warmups and everything. I got off to a good start too. They had a power play and I got a couple pretty easy shots to stop, so I got into my rhythm early. That was a good start, and then I felt like normal after that.''

MURRAY: ``Yeah, I'm going to go back to him tomorrow. He played very well. As I mentioned after the game, I thought his composure was good. He was under control, he was on the puck, he made some nice stops, some big stops. He'd been waiting his turn and he took advantage of it, so he deserves another opportunity right away.''

Erik Ersberg will start in goal tomorrow night...if he can. About halfway through practice, Ersberg crumbled to the ice after being hit on the knee by a deflected shot. Ersberg returned to practice about 10 minutes later and was flexing the knee quite a bit. He should have a nasty bruise but otherwise will probably be OK. Terry Murray has named him the starter for tomorrow.

That's the biggest news of the day. No line changes in practice. More quotes and notes to follow...

Here are three things I know about the situation...

1) My sphere is influence is rather limited, and last time I checked, it doesn't include the ability to alter FSN programming. If it does, I'm going to be rather upset that nobody told me earlier.

2) It's not the Kings' idea.

3) It's probably not going away, at least in terms of the previously scheduled broadcast, but if you're so inclined, I believe tom.feuer@foxsports.com would be the proper outlet for your comments.

"I think they played well for a young team and they have a lot of energy,'' Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. ``[Ersberg] played pretty well for his first start of the season. It's a tough game for them to lose, but we don't really care about them. We care about us, and we try to win some games. On the road it might not be perfect, but the important thing is we got two points."

It's clear Terry Murray is growing frustarted by the lack of offense from Anze Kopitar.
``Kopitar had a tap-in goal on the power play in the third period, and just, I don't know what happened. I haven't seen a replay,'' Murray said. ``I don't know if he just missed the net or fanned on the puck. And they get an opportunity with their one shot, and it's in.''
Asked when he starts to become concerned about Kopitar's lack of production, Murray said: ``a few days ago (I did), actually. We've talked. He's trying hard and working hard. As you saw with that goal I spoke about, it's an open net and he wasn't able to score on it. The chances are coming. He's shooting the puck, hitting legs, hitting sticks, hitting posts and missing that one opportunity. I think when things start to go your way the puck seems to have eyes.''

KINGS GOALTENDER ERIK ERSBERG:

(Re: his performance): "I think I played pretty well, we got one point, I guess that's good. After the game you're just upset because you lost. Hopefully next time we can get two points. It's my first start and it's really fun to be out there on the ice and get some shots. I guess it's a good game to build on. Before we didn't get any points and now at least we got one point, hopefully we can get two next time".

(Re: whether he saw last shot): "There was a screen on the pass and well - I heard it. It was a good shot. I'm just trying to see the puck and I couldn't really see who was screening me. It was four-on-three, so it happens sometimes".

(Re: playing next game): "I don't know it's totally up to the coach. Obviously I want to play the next game. It's not my decision."

(Re: Ersberg's game) "I liked his game a lot. Having not played in several weeks here, he showed a lot of composure; he was very calm, under control and made some very big stops. It does earn him another start, whenever that start will be. It wasn't like I was going to play LaBarbera 82 games anyway. It was a matter of time and he took advantage of his opportunity here."

(Re: game recap) "It comes down to the special teams again. I thought we played very well against that hockey club five-on-five, but the special team part of the game right now is coming back at us. Our power play needs to get something going."

(Re: goaltenders) "LaBarbera is our number one guy. There was no doubt that Ersberg was going to get a game, and he played well in this game tonight. Our plan at the start of the year was to play both goalies and that's the way it is still going to play out."

Chris Pronger scored from the faceoff circle on a one-timer hit the crossbar and beat Erik Ersberg for the winning goal 40 seconds into overtime. Ersberg had a magnificent game, stopping 26 shots in regulation.

The Ducks and Kings are still scoreless after two periods. The Kings couldn't take advantage of a 5-on-4 power play for four minutes (80 seconds into the power play, Handzus was called for a hooking penalty). Erik Ersberg made one of his 19 saves with his goalie mask.

Drew Doughty was penalized for hooking 28 seconds into tonight's game against the Ducks. It was the second consecutive game the Kings picked up a penalty inside the game's first minute.

D Sean O'Donnell
D Drew Doughty
LW Oscar Moller
C Jarret Stoll
RW Alexander Frolov
G Erik Ersberg

Scratches - Derek Armstrong, John Zeiler, Brad Richardson

Terry Murray on Erik Ersberg's first start of the season tonight...

Does anything change for Ersberg in that his first start of the season likely won't be an easy one against the Ducks?
``Your preparation is going to be totally focused, that is for sure. Your first start of the year. It's been a long go for him sitting there and watching. He's cleaned up a couple of games, so he's had some action. He's excited about it. We're looking for him to be confident in his game. He's going to be called on to make a couple of big stops, we know that. This team always generates good offense. We'll see what we can do. ''

This is from the Kings:

KINGS FORWARDS DUSTIN BROWN AND ANZE KOPITAR

REPRESENT KINGS ON 2009 NHL ALL-STAR BALLOT
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Kings forwards Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar will represent the Kings on the XM/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports, the NHL announced today.

The 104-player ballot features 23 players under the age of 25, including Brown (who turns 24 today) and Kopitar (21). Brown is the Kings' captain and Kopitar, who is a Kings assistant captain, played in his first NHL All-Star Game last year.

Voting opens on November 12, and in a first for all major professional sports leagues, the NHL will provide real-time All-Star fan balloting results online at NHL.com. From November 12 through January 2, NHL fans will be able to vote as often as they like to select the starting lineups for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. Fans around the world can vote online via interactive English and French ballots at Vote.NHL.com. Those in the U.S. and Canada also will be able to cast their votes via text message using any wireless carrier. During the voting period, real-time results will be available exclusively on Vote.NHL.com/results. This marks the third consecutive year the All-Star Balloting process is entirely digital.

The 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal will celebrate the Montreal Canadiens' Centennial season with live national broadcasts of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event on Saturday, January 24, and the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, January 25, on VERSUS in the United States and CBC and RDS in Canada. NHL Radio will provide exclusive, national radio coverage which can be heard on stations around the United States and Canada as well as on Sirius XM Radio's NHL Home Ice, located at XM channel 204 and on SIRIUS channel 208 with the "Best of XM" programming package.

The Kings continue their season-high seven-game homestand tonight (Tuesday) against Anaheim at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS West, KLAC AM 570 and along the Kings Radio Network.

Following the game against the Ducks, the Kings will have three more games remaining on their homestand (all games will begin at 7:30 p.m.): Thursday vs. Florida; Saturday vs. St. Louis - Salute to Heroes Night, Law Enforcement; and Tuesday, November 11, vs. Dallas.

Erik Ersberg makes his first start of the season for the Kings tonight.
``It's going to be fun to get to start a game,'' Ersberg said. ``I've been looking forward to it.''
The backup goalie is always the last goalie off the ice in practice, and Ersberg usually stays long afterward taking lots of shots.
``You don't want to have a bad game and think I could've practiced more,'' he said.

Based on this morning's skate, the Kings will play tonight just as they practiced yesterday, which would mean Calder with Kopitar and Brown, along with Harrold skating on the right side with Boyle and O'Sullivan. Ersberg will be in goal, as expected.

The Kings' suddenly wobbly penalty-kill will get tested against the Ducks, who have scored six power-play goals in their last three games. On the other hand, the Ducks have allowed five power-play goals in their last three games, and discipline is usually an issue for them. The Ducks are 5-0-1 in their last six games.

I guess polldaddy.com no longer likes the blog, as their polls don't show up.

So here's an alternative question...does the awful Rinkside View make you more likely to watch a game in person, or more likely to just not watch at all?

As part of a story on the salary-cap situation this season, our Ducks writer, J.P. Hoornstra, asked Ducks GM Brian Burke what he thought of the Kings. The quotes are in the context of the different salary-cap situations that the Kings and Ducks face...

BURKE: ``Dean Lombardi's done a wonderful job. That's a special group of young players. That's going to be a hell of a team. He knows exactly what he's doing and he's building a pyramid. They are going to have success down the road. There's no question about what Dean's doing. He's a bright guy, he's a good guy, and he's done a great job. They're going to be a team to be reckoned with in the future.

``We'll go through that phase, too. Your team ages to a point, then you've got to reload. We'll get to that point where we're reloading with young players, too. Dean's done a masterful job. Their day is coming. They're going to have success and they're going to have the same difficult issues that we have. Dean, ironically, is doing such a good job that their day will come. That's a wonderful group of young players. But their day will come. He knows that. What's he going to have to pay to keep that group together in three years or four years? He'll be at that stage, too. Right now he doesn't.

``He's done a good job of identifying the players, locking them up. That team is going to be a force in a couple of years.''

Terry Murray announced after today's practice that Erik Ersberg will start in goal Tuesday against the Ducks.

``Coach told me I am going in tomorrow and that is all I really needed to know," Ersberg told LAKings.com. ``This is my first start of the year, I am going to focus on this game and try and get a win. I am excited.''

With all the talk of players switching lines, there was a subtle but meaningful change after Saturday's game. The line of Jarret Stoll, Alexander Frolov and Oscar Moller skated in purple jerseys, indicative of the Kings' first line. Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and (fill in name of left winger) had skated in purple all season. Officially, it means nothing, but symbolically, it points to Terry Murray's satisfaction with the Stoll line and, probably, some dissatisfaction with the Kopitar line. Here's what Murray said...

Question: You had Stoll, Frolov and Moller skating in purple. Is that a statement on your part, as far as how well they're playing?

MURRAY: ``They played very well (Saturday) night. I thought with Stoll, that was maybe his best game of the year. He had a lot of good jump. He really was demanding a lot of himself, but (the Flames) end up scoring the two goals. It's the stuff I talked about after the game, board play, coming up with pucks and making strong plays off the boards. And they were doing it throughout the game. So it was very good. The line seemed to click. Frolov was better last night than at any time this year, I felt, and they had a good feel for each other and worked hard for each other. Let's do it again.''

Question: You mentioned, after Friday's practice, the need to sit down with Stoll and address some things in his game. Did he respond the way you had hoped?

MURRAY: ``Yes, he did. I had that meeting. I'll call it a meeting, I guess, but all I'm asking, from a coaching side, is more. I need more. When I see good things that are happening, and what you can do, I need to see it on a consistent level, and (Saturday) night he stepped it up and really played very well.''

The Kings today will send Matt Moulson to Manchester of the American Hockey League. John Zeiler will be activated from injured reserve and ``loaned'' to Manchester but will technically still be on the Kings' 23-man roster.

Terry Murray pulled something of a surprise move Saturday when he dressed seven defensemen and had Peter Harrold play as a winger. The move was primarily designed to get Tom Preissing back in the lineup, because of his value on the power play, and Murray said he wouldn't rule out doing it again. Murray talked about the way that the Kings practice with seven defensemen and whether he thinks it's a good idea to play that way as well. It seems, based on today's practice, that Harrold will be playing right wing again tomorrow...

MURRAY: ``We have seven (defensemen in practice), so it's just kind of, `Jump in and get going,' just to get the repetitions in and get your work in. That's just the way it is with seven `D.' Guys who are playing a lot of minutes the night before are often standing there saying, `Go ahead, jump in for me,' to guys who are not getting the minutes. So I think that's actually a polite thing to do.''

Question: Is that something you can see yourself doing more in games, with the seven defensemen?

MURRAY: ``I kind of liked it. As I mentioned after the game, to have a player who can jump up and play as a forward, and also jump in as a D-man and play on the power play... Especially a guy like Harrold, who plays very intelligent. He'd never been there before (Saturday) night and his reads were tremendous. He had some opportunities to get a forecheck, he had shooting opportunities, and I see that around the league more. If we could ever get to that, or at least have the option of doing that, I think it would be good for our team. I don't know if I'm going to do that all the time, or if I'm going to do it again. I really don't. It's a great asset, to be able to look at a player and say, `You're playing forward tonight,' if we have an injury or some circumstance that requires it. The last circumstance was, we felt we needed Tommy (Preissing) in the lineup to really contribute on the power play. We went 0 for 7 the night before, and Tommy did jump in and do a good job there with his composure and his experience.''

The Kings enter tomorrow night's game on a four-game losing streak (one came in a shootout), the first extended negative streak of the season. Terry Murray talked about the need to break out of it, and how he feels the Kings will accomplish it...

MURRAY: ``It's always difficult when you lose. You don't like to lose. Our intentions are to go out and win every hockey game, and now (the losing streak) is at four. What we, as coaches, are trying to do, and are doing, is emphasizing the positives of how we're playing. There's good stuff that's happening, that is laying a foundation for this hockey club in the future, meaning the next game, and we're trying to come back with that immediate feedback, so that the young guys can go away at the end of the night feeling good about how they performed. That's going to translate into good things later on. I'm sure about that. We're going to figure this out. It's close, and we're going to get some wins and get ourselves on a roll and get right back on top of things. That's our approach. It has worked in the past on teams that I've been on, and I'm hoping it will continue to work as we move through the season here with this team.''

It's been a fairly rough go for the Kings' top line so far this season. The left-wing spot has been inconsistent, Anze Kopitar has one goal in 10 games and Dustin Brown has three goals in 10 games. More production is expected from that line, something that Kopitar realizes. He also discusses the situation involving his good friend and former linemate, Patrick O'Sullivan...

Question: It's safe to say your line probably hasn't been producing the way you'd like to. Do you have any theories about why that is?

KOPITAR: ``I don't know. I'm sure if I knew, I'd do something about it. It seems like we can't get our line going, but if we work hard, I'm pretty sure that's going to come through. I think we had a pretty strong game (against Calgary) and we had a couple really good chances. Unfortunately, they didn't go in the net, but I think if we play hard, do the right things and stick to the system, I think the chances and the production is going to come through.''

Question: Are teams playing you guys differently this year, especially you and Brown?

KOPITAR: ``Yeah, we're facing checkers every night. It's Terry's philosophy too, I think, to put us out there against top lines too. We were playing against Iginla (on Saturday) pretty much all night. We've got to have that mindset, to go out there and work hard and I'm pretty sure the points and goals and chances are going to come.''

Question: It seems like O'Sullivan is getting moved around quite a bit. As someone who knows him and his game pretty well, what are you seeing there?

KOPITAR: ``I mean, he's a good player. I think he's a little frustrated right now because he's getting moved, and maybe all of us expected to play with each other from the get go, but that's obviously not the case. But we've got to deal with it and play without each other and just go for it.''

For some morning reading material...Jill did a column this morning on Luc Robitaille, who has became an American citizen since the last presidential election and will vote for our new leader for the first time.

Luc who's voting -- Kings legend Robitaille will get his say in this election

As hard as it will be for some of you, please avoid turning this into a political discussion. It's just a good story about Luc. Thanks.

If you've noticed -- and something tells me some of you have -- Jason LaBarbera has started 10 games in goal and played 537 minutes, 46 seconds, while Erik Ersberg has started zero games and played 65 minutes, 35 seconds. Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, two of the NHL's elite goalies, are the only other goalies to start all of their team's games this season, but Brodeur will drop from the ranks Monday because of an injury.

LaBarbera has a 3.01 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage, numbers that hardly scream for him to stay in the lineup, yet there remains intense debate about how much of the blame LaBarbera deserves for those numbers. Terry Murray has been unbending in his support of LaBarbera, but Murray indicated today that it might be time for Ersberg to get a game. The Kings host the Ducks on Tuesday and the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

MURRAY: ``I'm thinking about getting Ersberg in, yes. When is that? I'm not sure, but I haven't lost sight of him. I've been watching his practices. He's been staying hungry, he's learning, he's working with Billy Ranford, when he's here, to establish a good foundation to his game every practice. I love his attitude and his work ethic and I'm not going to lose sight of that. He cares, he wants to play, but he's been a very good professional about the whole thing and knows that right now he's the backup goaltender, waiting for the opportunity. I know that when he gets that opportunity, he will be ready to go.''

And now, the rest of the story... Here's what Terry Murray said today about the Patrick O'Sullivan situation...

Question: O'Sullivan has been in quite a few different roles since the start of the season. Is it a matter of finding where he fits, or is he not giving you what you need?

MURRAY: ``He's not quite there, with what I need from him. I think him missing training camp is a bit of the concern that I have. You miss all the exhibition games when you're (supposed to be) battling, you're competing, your getting your body prepared for the season and your mind prepared for the season. When you come back, after sitting out, you have a lot of adrenaline going and you do jump in and play pretty good, but reality does set in after a few games, and I think he's just having a little bit of that lull time right now. I need to back off on what I've been asking of him and give him that extra work on practice and he will get back on top of things.''

Question: Is it anything in particular with his game?

MURRAY: ``You know, it ends up just being a very general `digging in,' and the highly competitive play that is required every night from a top player that gets a lot of minutes. There's nothing intentional there, as far as his side of it. You just fall into that lull and sometimes you have to catch yourself. Some players can. He's a young player that, I think, needs to have the attention brought to him by the coach, and that's done through meetings and through minutes played.''

The Patrick O'Sullivan saga has been interesting to follow, and impossible to ignore after last night, when he got dropped to the fourth line for a major part of the game. Today, O'Sullivan again skated on the fourth line, this time alongside Brian Boyle and Brad Richardson, and after practice O'Sullivan discussed his frustration. The nice thing about blogging is that you can read everything O'Sullivan said, in context, so give it a read. A bit later, I'll have Terry Murray's thoughts on the situation. Not surprisingly, they're a bit different. Here's O'Sullivan...

-----

Question: It looked like you were on another new line today. How are you feeling about things these days?

O'SULLIVAN: ``I'm pretty frustrated. I don't really know what's going on. It seems like our lines change every day. It's pretty frustrating. I don't know the reason. I've been through a lot in two years, trying to play at this level. I thought that last year I did a lot to establish myself as a player in this league and someone that's able to play at a high level in this league, but it seems that with the new coach I have, I guess I need to prove myself all over again. That's frustrating, but then again, I wasn't here for camp, so I don't know if that has anything to do with what's going on or not.''

Question: But you're feeling fine, physically?

O'SULLIVAN: ``Yeah, it has nothing to do with how I feel physically. I feel better than I ever have before. Obviously there's something, but I don't know what it is.''

Question: I hear guys say that it matters less who they play with and it matters more that they just have consistent linemates. Is that a fair statement?

O'SULLIVAN: ``Absolutely. It's easy to say as a player, I guess, because you want something that's going to be consistent and you want to be able to get used to guys, especially when there are a lot of new players. It's tough when it's changing all the time, but at the end of the day, those are decisions made by the coach. He's got the final say and we do what he says. I don't think anyone here doesn't believe in what we're trying to do, so as a player you just shut your mouth and you play, but it is frustrating.''

Interesting day... Frolov-Stoll-Moller skated as the top line, followed by Ivanans-Handzus-Simmonds, Calder-Kopitar-Brown and O'Sullivan -Boyle-Richardson. A good signal sent to the Stoll line...not so much to the others.

Some interesting stuff later to be posted on O'Sullivan. He's frustrated but Terry Murray says he needs to play better.

Murray hinted that Erik Ersberg will get a start soon, and didn't explicitly name a starting goalie for Tuesday.

More on all this stuff a bit later...

to set your clocks back one hour Sunday morning. You have one more hour to sleep in and forget about a game the Kings could've won but didn't.

``They kept going backdoor, backdoor and hit the short side guy,'' said Jason LaBarbera. ``I didn't read it right. It hit the post and hit me. Obviously, you'd like to make the save there. That's frustrating.''

TERRY MURRAY:

(Re: game recap) "Well that was a good hockey game tonight. We played very well. We played as good as we have played this year with competitive play, coming up with pucks. We're starting to figure out and understand the importance of that kind of an effort."

(Re: Oscar Moller's performance) "He had a great effort tonight. He was very involved in the game in the real hotspots of the ice that he has no real hesitancy to go into and played a great game."

(Re: Boyle back in the lineup) "He was pretty good. He played in kind of a fourth line situation and he's not up against the top guys but he took advantage if his minutes. Overall he was good."

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re: game recap) "I think we played a pretty good game tonight. You got one funny goal for them, one power-play goal and then we miss one check and it's three goals on less than 20 shots. LaBarbera played pretty good at the same time so it's one of those games I felt like we should have won."

(Re: ending the losing streak) "It's just taking the positives from this game. We have that effort and if we put that effort forth in most games we're going to end up on the top of those games."

OSCAR MOLLER:

(Re: game recap) "I think there is a lot of skill on this team and a lot of talent and we just got to make sure we all push ourselves to the next level. We've got to play like this every night and come out with this mindset."

(Re: Moller staying with the Kings) "It's a little bit of a relief, but I can't get too confident or too comfortable here. I can't slack off or anything. I got to make sure that I stick around here all year and play on the second line here."

-- The Kings outshot the Flames 36-21. Anze Kopitar had a team-high five shots on goal.

-- The Kings were credited with an astounding 42 hits, compared to 21 for Calgary. Dustin Brown had eight hits.

-- The Kings fell to 2-4-1 at home and have lost four in a row overall (one in a shootout).

-- Drew Doughty had a team-high 23 minutes, 37 seconds, of ice time.

-- Kyle Quincey had two assists for his first multi-point game of the season.

-- Oscar Moller had two goals for his second multi-point game of the season.

-- The Kings were 1 for 6 on the power play after Thursday's 0-for-7 effort.

-- By the middle part of the third period, Patrick O'Sullivan was getting fourth-line minutes with Brian Boyle and Peter Harrold, while Raitis Ivanans was skating with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds. It will be interesting to see what the lines look like tomorrow at practice...

Quotes to follow...

An amazing final minute, as the Kings had a power play, got the goalie out and spent the entire final minute in the Calgary zone. There were at least four or five quality scoring chances, but Kiprusoff came up big. Preissing slipped and fell down with a chance to one-time a puck and the Flames held on. Notes, quotes to follow...

And just like that, Calgary is back in the lead. Todd Bertuzzi flipped a perfect centering pass to Daymond Langkow, who beat LaBarbera in front less than three minutes after the Kings tied the game. The goal came at 16:23.

Oscar Moller gets his second goal of the game, as he picks up a rebound in the slot and fires a wrist shot past Kiprusoff. Kyle Quincey took the initial shot and gets an assist, as does Alexander Frolov, who worked the puck out of the corner. The goal came at 14:05.

We're at the end of the second period now, but there was a little action in the final two minutes. Jim Vandermeer had a rough hit on Patrick O'Sullivan and appeared to slash at O'Sullivan as well. There was a lot of clutching and grabbing but no real fighting. Vandermeer got a 10-minute misconduct out of it.

Oscar Moller fired a centering pass from the left circle and Michal Handzus got credited for the tip-in on the power play at 12:28, but the goal was changed to Moller. Moller from Frolov and Quincey.

Whoever had ``9:28 into the second period'' in the Staples-glass-needs-repair pool can collect your prize outside the arena...

Adrian Aucoin gets the power-play goal, with assists to Michael Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi. Aucoin took the shot from the outside of the faceoff circle and beat LaBarbera with a glove-side high shot.

The puck trickled through LaBarbera's legs on a rebound, and it was hard to see who it touched in front for certain. The goal has been edited to Primeau, with a deflection off Handzus' stick.

Here's how the Kings have been skating tonight...

Moulson-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Stoll-Moller
O'Sullivan-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Boyle-Harrold

Yes, Harrold has been skating as a forward. No official reason why...no TV announcers up here, so pass the word along if they're saying anything on CBC.

Kings
G Jason LaBarbera
D Kyle Quincey
D Matt Greene
LW Matt Moulson
C Anze Kopitar
RW Dustin Brown

Calgary
G Miikka Kriprusoff
D Cory Sarich
D Curtis Glencross
LW Jarome Iginla
C Craig Conroy
RW Todd Bertuzzi

Derek Armstrong, Brad Richardson, Kyle Calder.

The Kings are dressing seven defensemen tonight, including Tom Preissing.

The surprise of training camp, Wayne Simmonds hasn't put up big offensive numbers -- he has one goal and one assist in nine games -- but he has become a key member of the Kings' third line, the defensive-stopper line, and he has a plus-1 rating. Simmonds' interference penalty in the second period Thursday was his first minor penalty of the season. Simmonds has impressed with his physical play and energy, but still needs to get stronger and be a more polished forward. Coaches seem to be happy with Simmonds, and Simmonds talked about his season...

Question: How do you feel things have been going for you recently?

SIMMONDS: ``I feel good right now. I just have to keep continuing on, doing what I've been doing for the most part, and I think I'll be fine.''

Question: The physical side of NHL the game, how has that compared to your expectations?

SIMMONDS: ``In exhibition, I kind of ran around a little bit more. I was just trying to make a statement. Now you have to pick your spots, because if you run around too much, you're going to give away possession and that's when they're going to score. So I'm more settled down now. I try to pick my spots. If I can finish somebody on the forecheck, there's no doubt that I'll do that, but if I have to go out of my way, I'd rather keep myself in the play.''

Question: There have been a lot of line movements, but you and Handzus have stayed together. Do you have some good chemistry there?

SIMMONDS: ``I think so. I think we play well together. We communicate well. He lets me know, as an older guy, what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. He's really helpful and it's great playing with him.''

Question: As you evaluate yourself, what do you think is the next thing you need to develop in your game?

SIMMONDS: ``I think that I just have to keep playing physical, stay within my game and not try to do anything extra. That's when you get hurt as well, when you try to play outside of your element. That's when things start to go wrong.''

Question: Not too many opponents trying to start stuff with you out there?

SIMMONDS: ``Not too much. Exhibitions are a totally different ballgame. Guys are trying to make a statement and they're trying to make the team for the regular season. Now guys are already established. If it comes along, it's going to happen. There's not going to be very much talk. It's just, get to the point, get in there and get your stuff done.''

Perhaps November will be more stable for Matt Moulson than October was. Moulson started the season, surprisingly, as the Kings' first-line left wing. After totaling one goal and zero assists in five games, Moulson moved to the bench, then returned as the fourth-line right wing. Now he's back on the first line and back on the left side tonight against Calgary. The Kings' hope is that Moulson can be opportunistic in front of the net and take advantage of chances created by Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Here's what Moulson said about his return to the top line...

Question: Have the coaches talked to you about going back to the top line?

MOULSON: ``Not really. I'm prepared to play wherever they want me to, whatever side and whatever position. I just want to work on the things I need to and make sure I bring a good effort.''

Question: What is it that you'd like to be able to bring to that first-line role?

MOULSON: ``I think going to the net is especially important. Kopi and Brownie, those guys get a lot of shots, so to get those garbage goals I have to be intense and strong in front of the net and use my strength to get those goals around the crease. I need to focus on that and make sure I'm ready to bang for loose pucks and get myself to the net, get the puck to the net when I have to and make sure I'm strong along the boards.''

Question: Is that what the coaches talked to you about improving when you were out of the lineup?

MOULSON: ``Yeah, just being good around the boards and making sure to win the battles and move my feet when I get the puck. I have to do a lot better job of that, and make sure I get going when I get the puck. To be able to make plays, you have to be moving in this league, so I'm working on that and just being intense all over the ice.''

Brian Boyle will be back in the Kings' lineup tonight, as the center on an interesting fourth line that also includes Jarret Stoll and Raitis Ivanans. Stoll figures to be motivated after his demotion from the second line, and Boyle figures to be motivated after being a healthy scratch for the last five games. It's a line that has some offensive potential, with Boyle and Stoll, and also could be a physical line. Boyle is well aware of his reputation for not being physical enough, and after yesterday's practice he talked about getting back in the lineup...

Question: Seems as though you got some good news...

BOYLE: ``Great news. I just got some feedback from Jamie (Kompon, assistant coach) just now and, especially in practice like that, that's what they're looking for. First and foremost, that's what I've got to do. In all three zones, be strong and push guys around when they have the puck. It's not rocket science. It's just something I have to do better, so I'm glad I get the opportunity now.''

Question: That's an interesting line there, with Stoll and Ivanans. Did they tell you the thought process behind that?

BOYLE: ``They shook them up pretty good, so we'll see. You've got Stolly, who can pretty much do everything. He can score and he can bang. He does everything, so it's great to be able to play with him. Then you get the physical element with Raitis, so I'm looking forward to it. That's what I've got to do too. We get in there and we establish body position and forecheck, and then hopefully we get some good time in the offensive zone and play down there, because that's a hell of a lot more fun than the `D' zone.''