A new first line?

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.”

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