Ersberg, Richardson ready; Moller still out

By Rich Hammond on January 29, 2009 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

Brad Richardson, who has been out of the lineup since he suffered a freak cut on his lower leg during practice on Dec. 3, will be back on the lineup. Richardson will play left wing alongside center Michal Handzus and right wing Wayne Simmonds. Erik Ersberg, who missed the previous two games with a mild knee strain, is available as the backup goalie to Jonathan Quick tonight. Here's what Terry Murray said today regarding the status of all three players...

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Question: Ersberg is ready to go, if you should need him?

MURRAY: ``Ersberg is ready to go. I would say, to put a percentage on it, he's probably 99 percent. He has gotten better every day. His knee has been taped, rather than the brace, and he feels much more comfort with that. If he had to go in, he would feel comfortable doing that.''

Question: How far away is Oscar Moller?

MURRAY: ``He's going to get it looked at again tonight. He went to the doctor two days ago. The doctor x-rayed him and took a real close look. It's healing but it's not 100 percent. There is more time needed. It's four to six weeks for a broken bone, and it's just approaching that now, that fourth week. He will be looked at again tonight, and hopefully the doctor can give us a little better indication of whether he's ready to get going or not. I'm just waiting for that feedback.''

Questions: Richardson goes back in tonight?

MURRAY: ``Yeah. I only have 12 forwards, so they will all play and Harrold will play defense. It's good for him. He's been out a long time, my goodness. That cut on his ankle took incredibly long. It's longer than what Oscar is going to be with a broken bone almost, unfortunately. It was just in a bad place. He made a big committment. He agreed to go down and play three games for Manchester, and it was great for him to do that, and because of that he needs to go in and play. He's on the left side tonight, with Handzus at center and Simmonds on the right side. I think it's kind of a nice fit for him, with his checking responsibilities and his quickness, and I hope he really starts to get it going here.''

2 Comments

Harry

said:

I like how Murray responds to questions......Very professional, and keeps it calm.....

January 29, 2009 3:53 PM

Matt George

said:

Hey Rich,

I realize these are tough economic times and all but..

Anyway you can filter out your ads so they don't scream out at me and tell me I won an iphone every third time i load your main page?

I love your site and the work you do ...

this actually might be a good way to make us all pay now that i think of it! you should load the site with vocal ads and then tell us it could be ad free ... for a fee! heheheee

January 29, 2009 4:09 PM

J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey. E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra
@inlandnewspapers.com.

Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.