February 2009 Archives

Here's Terry Murray, as quoted on the Kings' website, talking about last night's game and some of the mistakes the Kings could have avoided...

``The first period, I thought we did some good things...getting pucks to the net, we were not over-analyzing things and trying to make plays that were not there, we were keeping it pretty simple and that's the kind of game we needed to follow through with.

``And unfortunately, we made some plays through the middle of the ice as we get into the second period, and gave a lot of momentum back to the Red Wings through turnovers.

``We knew they were going to come out there... They're the Stanley Cup champions and they're going to change things, make adjustments and come with an up-tempo style of a game. But I thought that even with that, knowing that, we still had the puck several times through the middle, and instead of just getting it in and continue with what we were doing in the first, we gave them the opportunity to transition and they came at us pretty hard.''

In following up yesterday's discussion of Oscar Moller, the Kings are not sure what they're going to do with him yet. How do I know? Because I messaged Dean Lombardi about his plans for Moller, and he responded with ``Not sure.'' He's a man of few words these days...

I'm sure there will be quite a bit of talk, today and tomorrow, between Lombardi, Terry Murray and the staff, about what to do with Moller.

-- The Kings fell back to .500, at 26-26-9, and finished the season series against Detroit with an 0-3-1 record.

-- The Kings were outshot 41-31. It was the sixth time this season the Kings have allowed 40 or more shots on goal in a game. In their three previous games against Detroit, the Kings allowed 37, 36 and 31 shots on goal, respectively.

-- The Kings have scored two regulation goals in their last three games and, at one point, went six consecutive periods without a goal. This streak follows a four-game stretch in which the Kings totaled 15 goals.

-- The Kings dropped to 2-20-4 when trailing after two periods, and 4-20-6 when allowing the first goal.

-- The Kings went 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

-- Alexander Frolov had a goal, his fourth goal in his last seven games.

-- Kyle Quincey had an assist, his 30th assist of the season.

-- Jonathan Quick stopped 39 of 41 shots and fared much better than he did in his two previous games against Detroit this season. In his first start of this season, Dec. 20 at Detroit, Quick allowed five goals (on 35 shots) in a 6-4 loss. In a Jan. 15 home game against the Wings, Quick allowed four goals (on 31 shots) in a 4-0 loss.

-- Dustin Brown returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games. Brown had stayed in Los Angeles to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple's second child on Monday night. Brown had played all 58 games for the Kings before Tuesday and has missed only nine of a possible 308 Kings games since the start of the 2005-06 season. Brown played 17 minutes, 25 seconds.

-- Raitis Ivanans took a shoulder to the head early in the second period and did not return to the game.

-- Drew Doughty led all Kings in ice time, with 22:37. Patrick O'Sullivan led all Kings forwards at 20:32.

-- Dustin Brown and Teddy Purcell each had a team-high four shots on goal.

FIRST PERIOD
No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD
Detroit: Meech from Draper and Leino, 12:08

THIRD PERIOD
Detroit: Kopecky from Filppula, 1:43
Kings: Frolov from Quincey, 4:48 (PP)

-----

These would appear to be the lines, in contrast to what was posted on the Kings' website this morning...

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

Also folks, I'm going to ask for help on something. Please stop the posting of the streaming websites. It's not that I don't want you to watch the games. I just don't particularly want to deal with cease-and-desist orders. Thanks.

As previously posted, Jonathan Quick will start in goal for the Kings against Detroit. It will be Quick's third start against the Wings this season, and the first two didn't go very well. In his first start of the season, Dec. 20 at Detroit, Quick allowed five goals (on 35 shots) in a 6-4 loss. In a Jan. 15 home game against the Wings, Quick allowed four goals (on 31 shots) in a 4-0 loss.

Quick was quoted on the Kings' website about whether he will feel more comfortable playing in Detroit a second time...

QUICK: ``I'd definitely say so. I've gotten 20 or so games in the league since then, so I obviously feel a lot more comfortable. I know the team a bit more, and you know the game plan a little bit better and you know the routine. So this is also the second time I've played them since then, so you know their team a little bit more, and you know what to look for a little bit.''

The Kings also lost 4-3 (in a shootout) to Detroit at home on Oct. 27. Jason LaBarbera took the loss in that one.

Adding another twist to the whole Moller/Purcell thing...It seems, based on today's morning skate, that Peter Harrold will remain at right wing on the fourth line and the scratches will be Brad Richardson and John Zeiler.

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

That would leave the defensive pairings the same as the previous game:

Johnson-Doughty
O'Donnell-Greene
Quincey-Gauthier

Jonathan Quick will start in goal tonight.

Royal road report: Homecoming

There wasn't really any doubt about this, since he practiced yesterday, but Dustin Brown has officially returned to the Kings' roster and will play tonight. Brown had been on ``non-roster status'' for the previous two games.

For those who haven't been charting it on the calendar, Oscar Moller's conditioning assignment in Manchester will end after this weekend. I have a message in to Dean Lombardi to see if he has determined what he will do with Moller (return him to the Kings or send him to his WHL team). Monarchs coach Mark Morris, in comments to the Union-Leader, expressed satisfaction with Moller's play.

``I wish we could have him for the rest of the year,'' Morris said of Moller. ``He sensed when he first arrived here that there was a little urgency to win, considering we're in a tight playoff race. He's fit in greatly, is a dynamite competitor and we're fortunate to have seen a flash of what he's going to be.''

To reset the roster a bit...the Kings won't have to make a move if Moller returns, because he has remained on the roster as a healthy scratch. Based on the way the Kings practiced yesterday (and their likely lineup tonight)...

Frolov-Kopitar-Purcell
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Brown
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Richardson
(Scratch: Zeiler)

...there are a couple different ways this could go. 1) Moller takes Purcell's lineup spot and Purcell goes back to Manchester. 2) Moller goes into the lineup in place of someone such as Armstrong or Richardson, and Purcell stays. 3) Purcell stays, and Moller goes to Seattle. I don't see the Kings keeping both Moller and Purcell if they're not both going to be in the lineup on a regular basis. Keeping a young player as a healthy scratch is counter-productive. Given the situation, and his placement in the lineup, this could be quite an important audition game for Purcell tonight...

Here's how the Kings skated at practice today in Detroit, according to the team's website:

Frolov-Kopitar-Purcell
O'Sullivan-Stoll-Brown
Calder-Handzus-Simmonds
Ivanans-Armstrong-Richardson

Not sure which line would be considered the ``first line'' there, although I'd have to suspect it's Kopitar's line.

Here's what Kopitar said about the changes: ``Change is always welcome. We haven't scored a whole lot of goals the last couple games, so I think Terry had a good reason to mix it up a little bit, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.''

Read more, including some anecdotes from Bob Miller, Royal road report: Lineup shakeup

Adam Proteau of The Hockey News had a good, funny item today about the trade deadline, talking about his ``five tips for handling trade deadline day like a pro.''

Screen Shots: Mentally preparing for the deadline

Obviously, it's going to be a fun week to see how all this trade-deadline stuff shakes out around the league. If you're really looking for credible information, posted by writers who use their actual names and do reporting by talking to actual people, any of the blogs linked on the right side of the page are good resources.

I'd like to point out two more, for those who might not be aware of them. Greg Wyshynski posts news, and a lot of really entertaining features, at his Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo. Paul Kukla does a fantastic job, at Kukla's Korner, of posting the latest news and actually attributing it to sources. What a concept!

No payola involved. Those are just two sites I happen to enjoy visiting. Feel free to post others that you think do a good job.

Back in Philadelphia last night, Terry Murray talked to the Philadelphia Daily News about the enjoyment he gets from helping to build the Kings...

``It's a good challenge," Murray said. "It's a good challenge for a veteran coach. That's why I'm excited about it. When the opportunity came to interview for the job and what was laid out by Dean and Hexy, there was no pulling of any punches.

``It was very clear and difficult and hard, and I was excited about that. It was exactly what I wanted to do as a veteran coach, was take on that kind of challenge.

``It's been good; the players have been tremendous," Murray added. "There's been a great response and the younger players have really grown. It's nice to see players from juniors and different organizations and the guys we did have in place, come together and grow''

Back in Philly, Kings coach Murray reminisces

Real interesting story out of Canada... Apparently, Kings prospect Colten Teubert is taking some heat from the fans of the Regina Pats, his WHL junior team, and it's not sitting well with him. It appears that a segment of fans believe Teubert's game hasn't been strong since he returned from the World Juniors.

``When a fat guy eating popcorn wants to boo me, it really doesn't matter,'' Teubert told the Regina Leader-Post.

Teubert went on to say, in response to those who are accusing him of not playing hard, ``If I could, I'd give out my cellphone (number) to every person who thinks that. They can give me a call and I'll have coffee with them ... If anybody is judging my character, saying I want to lose, that's a really disrespectful comment. That's not who I am. That's not how I was brought up. I cry every time we lose. It's really disheartening that fans would go that low but, if they want to point fingers, there are three pointing back at you. Our fans tend to boo more than they cheer these days. On a positive note, maybe we could get some cheers that are for us instead of against us.''

Here's the whole story...

Teubert goes on the defensive

TSN reports that the Ducks have acquired Ryan Whitney from Pittsburgh for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi.

Here are some quotes and notes from the Kings' website after last night's game:

KOPITAR: ``It's always tough to be on the down side, but one power-play goal makes the difference in the game, and our power play was 0-5. That is what made the difference in the game. They scored and we didn't. That's just the way it is.''

-- The Kings have scored one regulation goal in their last two games, following a four-game stretch in which they scored 15 goals.

-- The Kings outshot the Flyers 34-20.

-- As it has so often this season for the Kings, special teams made the difference. The Flyers scored their only goal with the man advantage (they went 1-for-3), while the Kings went 0-for-5 on the power play.

--The Kings were shutout for the ninth time this season.

--The Kings dropped to 2-19-4 when trailing after two periods, and 4-19-6 when allowing the first goal, although they did beat Minnesota on Tuesday after they allowed the first goal.

-- Erik Ersberg fell to 0-4-2 in his last six decisions, even though Ersberg played a strong game Wednesday and stopped 18 of 19 shots.

-- Dustin Brown missed a second consecutive game to be with his family in Southern California. Brown's wife gave birth to the couple's second child on Monday night. Brown is scheduled to rejoin the Kings on Thursday and is expected to play in Friday's road game against Detroit.

-- Denis Gauthier returned to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for a boarding penalty. Gauthier went back to his usual pairing with Kyle Quincey and played 13 minutes, 49 seconds, and was credited with one shot on goal.

-- Peter Harrold, the Kings' utility player, returned to a forward role. Harrold, a natural defenseman, has played forward for a big part of this season. With Denis Gauthier back from his two-game suspension, Harrold returned to wing and played alongside Raitis Ivanans and Derek Armstrong. Harrold played 7 minutes, 24 seconds.

-- Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, with 25:10. Patrick O'Sullivan led all Kings forwards at 23:21. O'Sullivan also had a game-high six shots on goal.

Tonight's game scoring will be updated here, for those who need it...

Officials: Tom Kowal, Ian Walsh, Scott Cherrey, Scott Driscoll

Kings scratches: Oscar Moller (conditioning assignment), John Zeiler
Flyers scratches: Lasse Kukkonen, Kimmo Timonen

Goalies: Ersberg vs. Biron

FIRST PERIOD
No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD
Philadelphia: Carter from Lupul, 16:11 (PP)

THIRD PERIOD
Philadelphia: Gagne from Carter, 19:59 (empty net)

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone...

Terry Murray has quite an association with the Philadelphia Flyers. It started in the 1975-76 NHL season, when Murray joined the Flyers. He later played for the AHL's Philadelphia Firebirds and returned to the Flyers in the 1978-79 and 1980-81 seasons. He was the head coach of the Flyers for three seasons, starting in 1994-95, and returned as an assistant coach in 2003 until he was hired by the Kings last summer. Murray returns to Philadelphia tonight

MURRAY: ``Well, there are lots of things. Playing here and playing with a great team, a team that made the Stanley Cup Finals... Then I got into the coaching side. There are lots of great memories, not only as a head coach but as an assistant coach. I saw a young group of guys coming together and taking over ownership of a team, and the good things that can happen when you play for each other. That is my vision of what will happen with the L.A. Kings. We're learning how to pull together and learn together, and hopefully we'll see this team go deep into the playoffs. What the Flyers did in the previous two years, it's proof that it can happen.''

Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson have periodically been paired together this season, usually during the third period of a tight game. Tuesday's game was the first time that Doughty and Johnson were paired together for an entire game and reviews, at least from Terry Murray, were good...

-----

Question: What was the thought process when you decided to put Doughty and Johnson together?

MURRAY: ``Just like we do with the forwards, we're looking for some chemistry on our blue line. We had some good chemistry with Drew and O'Donnell, but we felt that in the Phoenix game, Greene and Jack were a little out of sync. They ended up being on the ice for some plays that hurt us. Change sometimes brings focus back to details. When you change, you're maybe not just relying on instinctive play as much. You really have to be alert when you're playing as a new pair. Those kids played big minutes and important minutes for us.''

Here are Terry Murray's thoughts about Teddy Purcell, who will once again play on the Kings' second line alongside Jarret Stoll and Kyle Calder following his return last night...

MURRAY: ``I thought he played real well. It's like the last time he got called up. The first few games he was in the lineup were exactly what you would like to see from him. He showed creativity and playmaking and he was very responsible playing without the puck. He was moving his feet and skating well, and that's the same thing we saw in his game last night. It comes down to doing it over time. That's always the evaluation. `Are you able to make the jump to the next level on a consistent basis?''''

(on why he decided to put Purcell with Stoll and Calder...)
MURRAY: ``Mainly it was to keep the continuity with the other people. He definitely needs to play in your top two lines, in those so-called top-six guys, if he's going to play and have an opportunity to show his contribution on the offensive side of the game. I feel that line has been playing pretty well and that they would help him.''

Just had a quick chat with Terry Murray. Highlights included...

-- Dustin Brown is scheduled to rejoin the team for tomorrow's practice in Detroit, after which his status for Friday's game will be determined. Murray reports that all is well on the home front for Brown.

-- Erik Ersberg will start in goal tonight, which was the plan since the start of the trip. The Kings didn't arrive in Philadelphia until 3:30 a.m. today.

-- Murray had praise for Teddy Purcell's game and said the challenge is for Purcell to maintain the play, something he wasn't quite able to do in his first stint with the Kings.

-- Murray was pleased with the new Doughty-Johnson pairing, and said he made the change because he thought the Greene-Johnson pairing needed to be shaken up a bit.

-- Despite all his time in Philadelphia, as a player and coach, Murray is not a fan of cheesesteaks or hoagies. He said he prefers some of the great fish in town. Don't you just hate healthy people?

I'll be posting some quotes on all this stuff soon, and come on by for the chat this afternoon.

-- Terry Murray did some mild shuffling of the defensive pairings. Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson, the Kings' top young defensemen, were paired together while their former partners, Matt Greene and Sean O'Donnell, made up the second defensive pairing. Peter Harrold and Kyle Quincey were the third pair, but that could change again on Wednesday, as defenseman Denis Gauthier is eligible to return from his two-game suspension.

--The Kings went to a shootout for the fourth time in their last eight games. They improved to 4-7 in shootouts for the season. They had lost three of their previous four shootouts.

-- The Kings had previously been 3-18-6 when allowing the first goal.

-- The Kings are 3-0 against the Wild this season, with a March 7 home game remaining.

-- Jonathan Quick, coming off arguably his worst game of the season, started in goal and stopped 23 of 24 shots. Quick allowed five goals in Saturday's loss to Phoenix but has now won six consecutive road games.

-- Dustin Brown missed the game to stay in Los Angeles with his wife, who gave birth to the couple's second child on Monday night. Brown had played all 58 games for the Kings before Tuesday and has missed only eight of a possible 305 games since the start of the 2005-06 season.

--Teddy Purcell, called up from Manchester on Monday to take the roster spot of Brown, played on the third line alongside LW Kyle Calder and C Jarret Stoll. Purcell was credited with two shots on goal and played 13 minutes, 2 seconds.

-- Jack Johnson second a second-period goal. He has three goals and one assist in 18 games this season. Johnson was credited with the goal after it was deflected in by a Minnesota defenseman.

-- Sean O'Donnell was designated as an alternative captain because of the absence of team captain Dustin Brown. O'Donnell was the first captain of the Minnesota Wild, in 2000-01.

-- The Kings outshot the Wild 25-24.

-- The Kings were 1-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill but allowed a shorthanded goal.

-- Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, at 25:28. Alexander Frolov played 25:08 to lead all Kings forwards.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan, Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Calder tied for the team high with four shots on goal each.

Quotes from Drew Doughty's postgame interview with Bob and Jim. Doughty started off by joking about his non-shot shot that trickled past Backstrom and gave the Kings the win...

(on the Kings' road success...)
DOUGHTY: ``I don't know why we don't play like that at home, but we play well on the road. That game was a really tight checking game and, overall, just a really good, sound, defensive hockey game. In that third (period) and overtime, we really took it to them, and I thought we did a great job tonight.''

(on pairing with Jack Johnson for the first time in a full game...)
DOUGHTY: ``You know, it's awesome. Me and Jack are both more offensive-minded defensemen, and we work really well together. We communicate well on the ice, and we make little plays that maybe some other defensemen don't make. I think we both enjoy that and I think we feed off each other very well.''

(on his progress in his rookie season...)
DOUGHTY: ``You know, I've had a lot of help from Sean O'Donnell. He has been my defense partner pretty much the entire year. Coming in, it was tough, because the guys were so much bigger and so much more skilled. My defensive game was one thing I really had to work on, and Sean O'Donnell helped me out so much. He talks to me between periods, on the ice, at all times. Without him, it would be a really difficult season for me.''

A scoring update will be posted here, for those who need the info...

Officials: Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Mark Pare, Brian Mach

Kings scratches: Denis Gauthier, Oscar Moller

Wild scratches: Colton Gillies, Kurtis Foster, Owen Nolan

FIRST PERIOD
No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD
Minnesota: Miettinen from Koivu, 5:48 (SH)
Kings: Johnson from Doughty and Kopitar, 14:55 (PP)

THIRD PERIOD
No scoring.

OVERTIME
No scoring.

SHOOTOUT
Kings: Jack Johnson scored in the second round.
Minnesota: Antti Miettinen scored in the third round.
Kings: Drew Doughty scored in the fourth round.

Thanks for chatting, everyone. We'll do it for Wednesday's game at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Pacific start.

Courtesy of the Kings' website, here are some quotes from Teddy Purcell, who addresses the biggest knock against his game (as addressed by Dean Lombardi on this blog last week...)

PURCELL: ``With the new coaching staff, it is really big on defense and that checking part of the game and that is one of the areas I need to work on and when I was up here last time, I felt I got more comfortable with that and did a better job of being consistent but I went down and worked on some of those things and I'm being rewarded again up here. I think they know that I'm an offensive player. I just have to go out and do the checking side of the game and be good in my own zone and the offense will take care of itself.''

More quotes, from more players, can be found here. I'll try to get Terry Murray on the phone before tomorrow's game against Philadelphia, because that game probably has some extra personal significance to him.

Indications out of Minnesota are that Teddy Purcell will take take Dustin Brown's place on the second line, alongside Kyle Calder and Jarret Stoll. The other lines would stay the same...

Dustin Brown's wife, Nicole, delivered the couple's second child, Mason, last night.

The Manchester Monarchs went 1-2 over the weekend. At 26-26-5, they're in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the 14-team Eastern Conference.

On Friday, the Monarchs lost 5-2 at Providence. Daniel Taylor started in goal but got pulled after he allowed three goals on six shots. Jonathan Bernier stopped 31 of 32 shots. Alec Martinez and Marty Murray scored goals.

On Saturday, the Monarchs beat Lowell 7-2 at home. Matt Moulson had a hat trick, and Justin Azevedo, Brian Boyle, Gabe Gauthier and David Meckler also scored goals. Bernier stopped 31 of 33 shots.

On Sunday, the Monarchs lost to Hartford 3-2 at home. Boyle and Oscar Moller scored goals and Bernier stopped 25 of 28 shots.

For the season, Marty Murray has a team-high 39 points (in 56 games) and Teddy Purcell (now with the Kings) had a team-high 16 goals (in 38 games). Trevor Lewis has 13 goals and 21 assists in 52 games. Jonathan Bernier has a 13-17-3 record, a 2.67 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 35 games. Daniel Taylor has a 6-2 record, a 2.57 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in eight games.

Oscar Moller, on a rehab assignment, has one goal and three assists in four games.

The other half of the Dustin Brown story is the return of Teddy Purcell, who has one goal and six assists in 17 games with the Kings this season. After being reassigned to Manchester last month, Purcell had seven goals and 12 assists in 17 games. For those who didn't have the time and/or energy to read through all of the Dean Lombardi interview from last week, here's what Lombardi had to say about Purcell.

LOMBARDI: ``Well, they (Purcell, Matt Moulson and Brian Boyle) got beat out by two 19-year-olds, frankly. Moller and Simmonds. What was told to them, when they were up here, is, `You're not hard enough.' In the battle areas, they weren't good enough. One of the things that happens -- and this is the hard part -- is they can still get their points in the minors.

``Purcell can still get his points. He's in that gray area where he doesn't have to do the `dirt' work in order to get his point in the minors. But unless he's going to do the dirt work, he's not going to get his points up here. So you've got that rub. You're trying to stay on him in the minors and say, `You're getting two points a night, but you should be getting four.' But he's that talented, so it's hard.

``The other night he had four points. Now, we're calling down there and saying, OK, we know the guy can put up numbers. We saw what he did last year as a rookie, and it was pretty impressive, numbers-wise. But where did he score his goals? Did he go into the blue (goal crease)? Is his head down in the scrums? Where's our progress there? Because it's not good enough up here. Now, the second time he came back, I thought he was better. He is starting to figure it out, but it's a process. Like I said, when he gets his points in the minors, it's kind of hard to tell the kid, `It's not good enough.' (They think,) `What do you mean? I got my two points.'''

Dustin Brown will not accompany the Kings to Minnesota this afternoon and, most likely, will not play Tuesday. Teddy Purcell has been called up from Manchester and will be in the lineup against the Wild. Brown's wife, Nicole, is close to delivering the couple's second child. Brown is expected to join the Kings later in the road trip.

The Kings' website did a recap of yesterday's Tip-A-King event, and goalie Jonathan Quick shared some of his interactions with Kings fans...

``Two of the most frequent tips that I have been getting are 'stop the puck' and 'win the Cup.' I think I will take that advice,'' Quick said.

No practice today -- it's Tip-A-King day down at L.A. Live -- so, a question. Is it over? The Kings never quite charged into eighth place, but they got close, and now they've settled back into 12th. They're four points behind eighth-place Edmonton (with one game in hand) and three teams are between them and the Oilers. The Kings are also two points ahead of last-place Colorado (with one game in hand) and two teams between them and the Avalanche.

So, with 24 games left, is it realistic to think the Kings can make the playoffs?

My instincts say no, but I've also never covered a Kings team as unpredictable as this one. Never would I have guessed that they would beat New Jersey and Washington on the road, then come back and lose to Atlanta and Phoenix at home. Quite simply, it's a young team, and this is what young teams do. They look great one night and awful the next, sometimes literally.

Making the playoffs this season would be the Kings' biggest accomplishment since 1993, but they're going to need to play much better at home and they're going to need some amazingly poised play from young defensemen and from rookie goalie Jonathan (``Please don't shoot high'') Quick, because they're about to face pressure like they've never seen before.

Statistically, it's nowhere close to being over, but what do you think?

KINGS DEFENSEMAN KYLE QUINCEY:
(Re game recap): ``We're pretty disappointed with that and it was a huge two points we needed to get. We're not quitting. We need to bounce back. We obviously like the road so we're looking forward to that and hopefully we keep getting points every game.''

(Re: game recap) ``I think they just out-waited us. They had more patience than we did and they capitalized on our mistakes. They were very good. They have good, young, skilled forwards and they showed it today where they cycled us well and around our net they were more hungry than we were.''

KINGS FORWARD JARRET STOLL:
(Re game recap): ``Halfway through the game we were looking good, we just needed that third goal. We needed to push for that third goal. They tied it up and then they went ahead pretty quickly after that and took over the game. We just never had an answer for that and those are games that you've got to win.''

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): ``Well it certainly looks like we were not ready with managing the puck here today. The goals that happened are turnovers, giveaways, takeaways and it's unfortunate because that was just a huge game for us. That's one of those four-pointers that you must win to keep yourself in a good position.''

(Re lack of excitement and effort in the game): ``My experience with that, when you're in the later part of the season, the possibility of good things happening is just there. That's just is something that everybody brings their own part of it to the room and to the ice, with hard play, heavy play, energy effort, it just comes from all over the place. It's the environment that we've created for ourselves here, with getting close and having the opportunity.''

(Re: game recap) ``We came out better, but still not good enough. We just couldn't find it; we just didn't have it. There is no excuse for it, you've got to have it this time of year and definitely looking at the standings, where we are, where they are, it's a pretty important game.''

-- The Kings are now 1-5-2 in their last eight home games and haven't won a home game since Jan. 29 against Chicago. The Kings start a five-game road trip Tuesday in Minnesota.

-- The Kings were outshot 33-29 and have been outshot 104-87 in their last three games.

-- The Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. They gave up a late shorthanded goal, with their net empty.

-- Jonathan Quick started in goal after giving way to G Erik Ersberg in Thursday's loss to San Jose. Quick, who has been one of the top rookie goalies in the NHL this season, stopped 23 of 28 shots. The Kings had recorded 12 out of a possible 16 points in Quick's previous eight starts.

-- John Zeiler returned to the lineup, as part of the trickle-down from the two-game suspension handed to Denis Gauthier. Peter Harrold, who had been playing right wing of late, returned to defense and Zeiler returned to the lineup. The Kings had no healthy scratches in their lineup Saturday. Zeiler hadn't played since Jan. 29. He played 7 minutes, 22 seconds and recorded four hits.

-- Alexander Frolov scored a first-period goal. Frolov has scored goals in three of his last four games and four of his last seven games. Frolov has 25 goals and is on pace for 35, which would match the career high he scored in 2006-07. Frolov has already exceeded his goal total from last season (23). On the other hand, Frolov had a minus-4 rating Saturday.

-- Matt Greene, Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar had minus-3 ratings. Kyle Calder was plus-1.

-- Anze Kopitar had an asist. Kopitar has three goals and four assists in his last four games.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan had an assist. O'Sullivan has four assists in his last four games.

-- Dustin Brown scored an unassisted goal in the second period. Brown has three goals and four assists in his last five games.

-- Derek Armstrong scored a power-play goal in the final minute. Armstrong had not recorded a point in his previous 11 games.

-- Jack Johnson and Dustin Brown tied for the team high with four shots on goal each. Jarret Stoll was credited with eight hits and the Kings were credited with 44 hits to Phoenix's 31.

-- Raitis Ivanans played his 200th NHL game.

-- The Kings won 34 of 57 faceoffs (60 percent).

Unfortunately, I'll be driving to the office during the early part of today's game, but feel free to start commenting here. I'll pull together the usual postgame quotes and notes and perhaps we'll do a postgame chat as well, if it seems as though there's a lot to discuss...

Officials: Mike Leggo, Brad Meier, Lyle Seitz, Don Henderson

FIRST PERIOD
Phoenix: Hale from Reinprecht and Lindstrom, 8:53
Kings: Frolov from Kopitar and O'Sullivan, 12:13

SECOND PERIOD
Kings: Brown, unassisted, 1:20
Phoenix: Jokinen from Sauer and Michalek, 12:34
Phoenix: Tikhonov from Hanzal, 13:25
Phoenix: Jokinen from Mueller, 18:36

THIRD PERIOD
Phoenix: Boedker from Tikhonov and Hanzal, 1:31
Phoenix: Jokinen, 17:55 (SH, Kings' net empty)
Kings: Armstrong from Quincey and Simmonds, 18:58 (PP)

What do you think?

Denis Gauthier was suspended for two games without pay. Agree or disagree?
Here's the release:

Jon Swenson of the blog Sharkspage.com e-mailed to share some photos he took from last night's game.

Kings vs. Sharks gallery

Jim Fox was spotted at Riviera Country Club taking in a little golf for the first round of the Northern Trust Open yesterday. I caught up with him while he was following 17-year-old Japanese phenom Ryo Ishikawa.

This is late notice for anyone planning on going to El Segundo, but I just got word that the Kings won't practice today.

Tom Hoffarth, the Daily News' media columnist, does annual rankings of Southern California TV and radio personalities, and today he tackled the top TV anchors/reports/analysts. Coming in first, for the third consecutive year, was the Kings' Jim Fox.

You can check out Tom's full rankings here.

Here are some postgame comments from Anze Kopitar after the Kings' 4-2 loss to San Jose last night...

(from AP) KOPITAR: ``I don't think we played as good as we did last night. We didn't compete hard, we didn't win one-on-one battles, and that's the result of the game. We're fighting for a playoff position right now, and we're desperate for points. We need to play with a lot of energy every night. We can't look for excuses at this time of the year.''

(from the Kings' website) KOPITAR: ``That's a start we obviously didn't want. We got it right back but we kind of got back on our heels and we were pressing. We weren't the same team that played last night in Anaheim. ... (Fatigue) isn't a factor. We got to get ourselves ready to play. It would have been nice to win here.''

-- The Kings' five-game road winning streak ended. It was their longest road winning streak since a five-game streak from Oct. 29-Nov. 14, 1984. The Kings haven't won six road games in a row since a franchise-best eight-game road winning streak from Dec. 18, 1974-Jan. 16, 1975. The Kings have had road winning streaks of at least five games only four times infranchise history.

-- The Kings were unable to buck a trend on Thursday night, after beating Anaheim on Wednesday. Nine previous times this season, the Kings had played games on back-to-back nights, but they had swept both games only once, against Minnesota and Colorado on Jan. 20-21. The Kings play four more sets of back-to-back games this season.

-- Erik Ersberg made his first start in goal since Jan. 17 and stopped 36 of 40 shots. The Sharks outshot the Kings 40-32. The Kings have allowed 40 or more shots in five games this season. Two of those games have been against the Sharks.

-- Michal Handzus scored a goal. Handzus also won 14 of 20 faceoffs. Handzus has three points in his last four games and broke a six-game streak without a goal.

-- Alexander Frolov scored a goal. Frolov has three goals and four assists in his last six games.

-- Dustin Brown had an asssist. Brown has two goals and four assists in his last four games.

-- Jarret Stoll had a team-high six shots on goal.

-- The Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play and the Sharks went 1-for-5 on the power play. In their last four games, the Kings have scored nine power-play goals and allowed six power-play goals.

-- Anze Kopitar was held without a goal. The Kings are 13-1-2 when Kopitar scores a goal and 36-16-8 all time when he scores a goal.

Feel free to comment on tonight's game here. I'll have notes posted ASAP after the game...

All indications are that Erik Ersberg will start tonight in goal. Jonathan Quick was the last goalie off the ice this morning, which makes it 99 percent certain that Ersberg will start.

Tonight's Kings-Sharks game isn't on Fox Sports, but it IS being shown on the Center Ice package, which is offering a free preview this week. Presumably, that means that anyone whose cable/satellite company carries the package will be able to watch the game for free. Check your local listings, as they say.

No chat tonight, sadly, as I have other obligations, but I'll leave a game thread open for anyone who wants to comment...

Call him whatever you want -- Danny, Dan or Daniel -- but Taylor is doing his best to show that he's not an afterthought goalie in the Kings' system. Since being called up to Manchester, Taylor has a 6-1 record, a 2.17 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. He seems to have supplanted, at least for now, Jonathan Bernier as the Monarchs' No. 1 goalie. Taylor recently did a Q&A with Kevin Provencher of the Union-Leader...

TAYLOR: ``Every opportunity in the American League is do or die for me. I know every time I go in I have to win because there are a lot of good goalies in the Kings' system. Every time I go out I've got to prove myself and prove that I'm the go-to guy and I'm the best they have ... I have to show that I'm getting better every year and that I am going to be a world-class goaltender in my career.''

5 Qs with Dan Taylor, Monarchs' goaltender

Wrapping up the stuff from last night, here are some quotes from Jonathan Quick, Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Terry Murray about the way the Kings played with poise last night. The Kings took three minor penalties in the first eight minutes of the third period, but cleaned it up after that. Kyle Quincey's penalty -- as part of the Niedermayer/Quick incident -- was the Kings' only penalty in the final 12 minutes, and the Kings did an outstanding job in the final 2-3 minutes of keeping the puck out of their zone. Here's what was said after the game about the Kings' poise under pressure...

QUICK: ``It's a road win. The team has been playing great on the road. We've played great at home. We just ran into a couple of hot goalies there that stole a couple of games. We are battling here. We're battling for that (playoff spot).''

QUICK: ``I think we handled (the pressure) pretty well. We came out with the win. We were up by a goal there with a couple of minutes left and I don't think they got into our zone. We played great team defense and played great all game. It was a big win, a huge win.''

BROWN: ``Obviously getting those two points was huge at this time of the year. It's definitely a boost in morale. Having to battle back in those (last two) games and come up just short, it kind of took the wind out of our sails, but we were able to finish up strong here tonight, and it was a big win for this team.''

KOPITAR: ``Before, I don't know if we were really comfortable going into the third period with a one-goal lead. But we kept our composure. We got scored on, but we didn't back off and we kept on going. We drew some penalties and we were able to capitalize on the power play.''

MURRAY: ``It was poised at the start and I thought very poised in the last four minutes of the game. That was important for us to show that kind of start. The last three games have not gone the way we'd like in the beginning and there is desperation on both sides. We know that we have three games in hand and this puts us two points behind them with the win. We wanted to have a good start, making sure we were doing the right thing managing the puck. It was a heck of a game, it was hard, it was heavy, there were big hits, there was a lot of physical involvement. It was a fun game to be a part of.''

In the first period of last night's game, Raitis Ivanans was called for elbowing (in the offensive zone) on his third shift of the game. The Kings killed the penalty and Ivanans left the box, skated for five seconds...and never again left the bench. Even when the game turned physical, Ivanans didn't budge. Ivanans' linemates, Derek Armstrong and Peter Harrold, only had a handful of shifts after that, and other wingers double-shifted. Alexander Frolov and Kyle Calder seemed to draw the most duty in that role.

Both Dustin Brown and Terry Murray had high praise for goalie Jonathan Quick after last night's game and Quick's 28-save performance. In 23 games (21 starts), Quick has a 12-7-1 record, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.

BROWN: ``I think it's just a confidence thing with him. The confidence exudes from him when he's in goal, and it trickles down throughout the whole team. I think the key thing with Quicker is, it's not just that he's making big saves. He's making big saves at the right time. That's something that I haven't seen in L.A. in a while. He's giving us a chance to win by making those key saves at key moments in the game. I think we feed off of that.''

MURRAY: ``Quick played extremely well. He made some very big stops in a lot of different situations. Penalty killing, 5-on-5...he made an unbelievable stop there in the second period on Bobby Ryan on a goal-mouth pass. When you've got a line like Getzlaf's coming at you...Getzlaf is a dangerous player. He's creating something every time he crosses the blue line. He's one of those dominant guys in the league, so the goaltender has to be good any time you come in and play against a team like this. He responded very well.''

A big moment in last night's game came with just more than six minutes left in the third period. With the Kings on the power play, Jonathan Quick went behind the net to play the puck, and Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer barreled him over. In the ensuing scrum, Quick went after Niedermayer, but there were enough bodies in between to prevent a fight. Quick didn't get a penalty, but Kyle Quincey got a roughing penalty and, more importantly, Niedermayer got roughing and charging penalties. The Kings scored the eventual game-winning goal on the ensuing 5-on-3 penalty.

Here's what Quick said about the play: ``I wasn't looking to fight at the point in the game. I was just frustrated about the hit and I let my emotions get away from me a little bit for a second there. Luckily, I was able to collect them and the team was able to play well there in the last five minutes.''

And here's what Niedermayer told the Orange County Register: ``I was going down with quite a bit of speed. The puck was going behind the net. I don't think I really ran him (Quick) over. I don't know if our feet collided or what happened exactly. It was a stupid play. It wasn't my intent. It happened. I guess one thing I am disappointed about is getting the roughing call. I'm pretty sure I didn't touch anybody after it happened.''

I pointed out to Quick that he could get fighting tips from Kings assistant GM Ron Hextall. Quick said, ``Yeah, he's had his share. He usually comes in with the two-handed whack though.''

-- The loss cost the Ducks organization $50,000. Before the game, the Kings and Ducks agreed that the loser of the season series would donate that sum to the charitable foundation of the winning team. With the victory, the Kings won the season series with a 3-2-1 record.

-- The Ducks outshot the Kings 31-28.

-- The Kings went 2-for-7 on the power play and killed four of the Ducks' six power-play chances. The Kings have scored eight power-play goals in their last three games and allowed five power-play goals.

-- Jarret Stoll scored a first-period goal and had two assists. Stoll has recorded at least one point in 11 of his last 13 games, and has recorded five goals and 10 assists in that 13-game span. Stoll also won 14 of 21 faceoffs.

-- Kyle Calder recorded a first-period assist. He had gone five consecutive games without a point and now has eight goals and 14 assists in 51 games this season.

-- Matt Greene recorded two assists. Greene had gone 10 consecutive games without a point and now has one goal and nine assists in 56 games.

-- Anze Kopitar had one goal and one assist, following his four-point game Monday against Atlanta. Kopitar has recorded three multi-point games among his last seven games and has seven goals and five assists in his last seven ganes.

-- Dustin Brown had one goal and one assist. Brown has two goals and three assists in his last three games.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan scored a second-period goal, coming off his two-assist game Monday against Atlanta. O'Sullivan has three goals and four assists in his last seven games. O'Sullivan had a team-high six shots on goal Wednesday.

-- Drew Doughty played 26 minutes, 1 second, to lead the Kings. Anze Kopitar led all Kings forwards at 22:12.

-- The Kings continued a season-long trend with Wednesday's victory, in which they scored the first goal and led 1-0 after the first period. The Kings improved to 13-3-2 this season in games in which they led after the first period.

I'll try to do some notes and quotes later, but for now I'll just cut and paste the game story that I just filed...

Stay tuned for stuff from the locker room...

As previously posted, Jonathan Quick will be back in goal tonight. The plan is for Erik Ersberg to start tomorrow at San Jose, but Terry Murray said he will evaluate the situation again after tonight's game.

There had been some question about Quick's playing time, and whether or not he might be getting tired, so I asked Murray about that. Just looking at the numbers...tonight will be Quick's 37th game, including the Kings and Manchester. Last season, with the Kings, Monarchs and Reading, he totaled 60 games. His last year of college, he played 37.

Question: Any concern about the energy of the goalies. Ersberg is obviously well-rested but Quick has played quite a bit. How closely do you watch that?

MURRAY: ``Billy Ranford has been around here now for several days, and he's with them every day. That's something I make sure I talk to Billy about. `How are they doing?' `How's their energy?' `What's your read on them?" `What are you seeing?' That's not a concern. We both feel that we're seeing high energy and good focus. Ersberg certainly, with his time off here, has got his knee back to being 100 percent. There's no issue with that, so that's important, to get him back to this point.''

Question: Because if you just ask these guys, they will always tell you that they're ready to go, right?

MURRAY: ``Right, exactly. Then it ends up that I find out (Ersberg) is getting his knee taped, or `If I have to make a real quick move, I can feel a little twinge.' But he's back to 100 percent right now.''

Terry Murray did shake up one thing. Before both of the Kings' two previous games at Anaheim this year, Murray had the team bus to Orange County and stay in a hotel the night before the game. That was something I never remember Andy Murray or Marc Crawford doing, although I'm told Andy Murray did it a couple times. Terry Murray said, earlier this season, that he wanted to create more of a road-game atmosphere. It changed this time. The Kings skated in El Segundo this morning, then took a bus to Anaheim. Why the change?

MURRAY: ``There's not a particular reason. We've had a lot of road games and we just came back. That's probably it, as much as anything, because of our schedule here this month and next month. It's pretty unusual to have a team away as often as we are. That was it. With limited time at home, we needed to get these guys some time to relax and be around their families.''

Here's another possible (probable?) reason: the Kings are 0-2 in Anaheim this season.

Here's what Terry Murray said this morning about trying to avoid the slow starts that have cost the Kings in the last couple games. First-period play has, without question, cost the Kings one point in each of their last two games...

Question: In trying to avoid the slow starts, do you do anything in particular to try to shake it up or get them in a different rhythm?

MURRAY: ``You talk about it, that's what you do. You bring it to the focus and make it a focal point in your meetings, to have good starts and do the right things. But you go back over the five road games we had, and when we talk about our starts, we talk about setting up and establishing a forecheck and making sure we're doing the right things with the puck through the middle of the ice. That's not a big change. You might repeat it a few more times.

``The thing we have to be careful of is taking penalties. We talked about that specifically. Those are hard when they come early in the game. Or if you get a power play right at the start of the game too, like against Edmonton or Calgary, sometimes you're not ready for it, so that's a focal point. You just have to try to take advantage of those situations. At least, if you get a power play, establish some offensive-zone time and get that confidence from moving it around. Create a couple chances, and even if you're not scoring, it carries over to your 5-on-5.''

Nothing major out of the skate this morning... Jonathan Quick will start in goal, and Terry Murray is still planning on starting Erik Ersberg tomorrow, but that's not set in stone. No lineup changes tonight.

I'll post a couple things later, about overcoming the slow starts and some quotes from Tom Preissing, and we'll do a live game chat from Anaheim tonight, for those who like to participate.

I'll be heading out to the morning skate in a few minutes, but I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the kind messages yesterday. It's a part of the job, but it's great to know that so many of you enjoyed the interview. I'm not fishing for more compliments...the comments and e-mails yesterday were more than sufficient, and very much appreciated. I'll let Lombardi know that you appreciated it as well.

I'll have some stuff from the skate a bit later.

Greg Wyshynski always has some good stuff on his Yahoo blog, and today he had an interview with Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who named two players in the NHL who he feels are underrated. One of them was Alexander Frolov...

Puck Daddy chats with Pavel Datsyuk

OK, this should be the end of the interview. I hope everyone found it interesting and informative. Obviously, I couldn't ask every question, and I know there are a lot of specific questions that people want answered, but hopefully from the long answers, you'll see why I asked the type of questions I did. A lot of the draft/prospect related questions can be asked at the end of the season, and the period leading up to the draft and free agency. For now, I'm going to rest my hands.

-----

Question: In your opinion, which Kings player has had the most surprising season?

LOMBARDI: ``I think you'd have to say that any time an 18-year-old comes in plays that type of minutes with that much poise... As much as I like this kid (Doughty), I don't know if I've seen this before, at this age.''

Question: On one of your teams, or ever?

LOMBARDI: ``On any team. Ray Bourque, I saw him break in. I'm not saying he's Ray Bourque, but he's not out of place. The funny thing is, I thought his worst game was against the Islanders, the one we just played. That was his worst game, by far. And it was kind of weird, because he has raised the bar so high with his play. Now, when he has a game that might be considered an average game for a 19-year-old, it sticks out like, `That was awful.' But if he had thrown you that back in October, when he was just breaking in, you would say, `Well, that's a 19-year-old.'

Question: You're going to the GM meetings in a couple weeks, and fighting will be a topic of discussion. When it comes up, what will you say?

LOMBARDI: ``I'm absolutely, positively against taking fighting out of the game.''

Question: Are you in favor of any of these reforms, or anything?

LOMBARDI: ``I'm OK with the idea that the helmet stays on.''

Question: What about the idea that you need to get rid of the ``staged'' fights?

LOMBARDI: ``What's a staged fight? I don't know what that means. Is that when somebody starts talking tough to one of our skill guys and our guy says, `You want to talk to me?' and they fight? Is that staged? I think it's answering the bell, and saying, `Quit screwing around with our guys.' What's staged? So (Evgeni Artyukhin) runs Doughty and we go after Artyukhin, is that staged?

Question: Going back to Michael Cammalleri. He's on pace to be a 40-goal scorer with Calgary. When you look back at how that played out, is there any part of you that wishes it could have played out differently, or was it just inevitable?

LOMBARDI: ``It doesn't surprise me that he's scoring up there. We had to make a conscious decision, based on the type of culture we wanted here, the type of player I wanted to use to set the identity of this franchise and, thirdly, signability. We answered those questions. Am I surprised that he's on a 40-goal pace, up there in his contract year with Iginla? We all know the kid can score goals.

``I wasn't trading a 20-goal scorer. I was a little surprised I didn't get a little more action on him, but I think the reason was that he's a one-year asset, to any team we were talking to. They didn't want to inherit the same problem I was having. Now Calgary's got that issue right now. It's like a double-edged sword. I don't think it's any secret where he really wants to go, so what do I want that problem for?''

Question: Coming into training camp, there were a handful of guys who you pretty much said had earned a spot on the team...

LOMBARDI: ``That they had a job to lose. That was the point. They had paid their dues enough, and it was, `We've got a box open for you. You're not boxed in by the fact that there's a veteran there, and that you can play your (butt) off and not get a job.' Generally, that happens a lot with young players. I thought those three guys had paid their dues and did a good job in the minors and did what they were asked in the summer. `There's the box. Grab it, but we're not giving it to you. You've got to grab it. Moulson did early.''

Question: Are we talking about three guys or four? Boyle, Purcell and Moulson, and I thought Harrold was on that list too...

LOMBARDI: ``OK, we had Harrold in there too. Moulson was the guy who looked really good at the beginning. Harry was the guy I knew -- well, I shouldn't say I knew -- but Harry's competitiveness is off the charts. Harry, like, forces you to find a spot for him. When I talked about three guys, I was thinking of the forwards, because Harry didn't really surprise me. Harry always gave you the sense that once it was there for the taking, he would take it. That's just the way he plays. So then, of the four, he's the only one who really grabbed it, in my mind.''

Question: What does that say for the other three?

LOMBARDI: ``Well, they got beat out by two 19-year-olds, frankly. Moller and Simmonds. What was told to them, when they were up here, is, `You're not hard enough.' In the battle areas, they weren't good enough. One of the things that happens -- and this is the hard part -- is they can still get their points in the minors.

Question: Jack Johnson, another restricted free agent situation...

LOMBARDI: ``We're working on that now.''

Question: Is it going be a Kopitar situation or an O'Sullivan situation, in terms of how difficult negotiations will be?

LOMBARDI: ``Well, number one, we don't have to worry about losing him. We're not worried about that. His issue, to me, is finding the right number. Here's the problem, which is what we're all struggling with now. There's the economy, and the issue of the cap coming down. I think it's fairly safe to say that it's going to come down a bit this year, but what we're hearing is that the true impact of what's happening out there, in terms of the sponsorship dollars, is not going to be felt until the year after.

``So that's the real rub, and it's hard. That drives me crazy, because this situation probably penalizes a team like us, that is building this way, more than others, because we have to make projections. We have to make projections, and I don't know what the budget is going to be. That's based on the cap, so it's pretty friggin' hard. That, to me, is going to be as big an issue as the contract. We'll figure it out, but it's frustrating.

Question: Jonathan Quick is here and doing well. If you would have asked for predictions, as to which young goalie would be here having success, they probably would have said Bernier...

LOMBARDI: ``Not here. You didn't hear that from me. I told you, Quick is underestimated. You didn't hear that from the hockey people. The point was, let it play out. People forget, too, that Quick is a little older, because he did two years of college. It's real hard (to make the jump from junior). Mason has done it, but that's an aberration, in the way young goaltenders come along.

``Nabokov, Kiprusoff and Toskala. I've said it before. Warren Strelow (former Sharks goalie coach) had those goalies. (He said,) `Don't evaluate them. Make them better every day.' Don't go around saying, `Bernier is going to be our No. 1,' because we don't know. I remember (Strelow) standing up...he had all that experience and we were sitting around in our goaltending meeting talking. He said, `It doesn't matter. Don't be making predictions. We don't know. We don't know how mentally tough they are. It's our job to make them better every day.' And we hit on all three of those guys.

Question: You talk about the team's ``core'' a lot, and many people have picked up on the fact that you usually don't mention Frolov as part of that core. Is that on purpose? Are you anticipating contract difficulties there?

LOMBARDI: ``It depends on what you define as your core. Here's the thing, and I've said this to Fro so I can say it publicly. I think we all see that he's got a lot of ability. I go back to the fact that if he had grown up in the Detroit environment, where winning was expected, and hadn't gone six years of his career without a playoff game, would he be further along in terms of being that core player who understands the importance of winning and being a teammate?

``This is one thing I've always said, in defense of these kids, like him and Brown. They've got to figure it out on their own, versus `pass the torch,' so to speak. That's what Detroit is able to do. If Datsyuk had grown up (playing) in Florida, is he the same player? There's a reason he was not a top pick, and part of it was (willingness to) come to play every night and win. But he goes to Detroit and he is broken in right. If he's in Florida, who knows?

Question: You've built up quite a stable of young talent, particularly on the back end, and a lot of draft picks. You know you're not going to be able to keep all of these guys forever. What's the process like of determining who your ``must-keep'' players are? Is most of it scouting? Is some of it just guess-work?

LOMBARDI: ``It's a lot more fun than being where I was 24 months ago, I can tell you that. It's a nice process to have. What's that process like? Again, you never know. You do the first part, and determine which boxes you need to fill and what you need. You're always evaluating. You have guys you talk about, who you know you won't trade.

``What good teams do when they make deals, and this is why you don't see a lot of deals right now, it's hard to fill a hole and not create a hole. That's why you don't see a lot of trades, because there are a lot of issues with the cap and cash. It still comes down to making a good deal, but not a lot of teams can do that.

Question: Since you started here, you've been all about the ``boxes'' and trying to fill roster spots. Are you getting closer to filling them completely, and has that board changed significantly in the last year?

LOMBARDI: ``No question, just because of the back end. In 24 months, it has completely changed. You've got four guys who are (age) 25 or under and who can hold down those boxes for a long time. That's a radical change from Sopel, Norstrom and Blake, that crew. Aaron Miller. Do you know how agonizing that is? `OK, we have to have a bridge here.' `This kid isn't ready.'

Question: You're on pace for 85 points, which would be a 14-point improvement over last season. In the past, you defined ``success'' largely by how well you could build the reserve list and develop young players. At what point do you start measuring success based primarily on wins and losses?

LOMBARDI: ``I think we're starting with that. If you look at Saturday's game -- and (Ron Hextall) said this and he has been in enough of them -- that was the first game in which the two points were critical. When, in the last three years, have we had a game when we needed those two points? Now, this year we've had what you might call critical games, in terms of how we responded.

``Like the Calgary game. We get blown out and go into Edmonton. But it wasn't so much the two points there, it was getting a feel for the character of your team. How good are you? What's the makeup and character of your team? They responded in Edmonton. After Montreal...we started that road trip and we got screwed. And we're at the beginning of the road trip. It's an awful schedule, because we have to fly in the day before and play in the afternoon. We should have got two points out of that. Then we've got to go to Ottawa, and we've got to find a way. We weren't that great in Ottawa, but it was pretty good and we got the points and got out of there.

``But there have been a lot of games here where...I talk about building a soul and a culture. I look for little signs of that, as this is coming together. What I see in the room after the Islanders game...that was the first game we had where we expected to win. That's the other thing that happens. Which games have we had where we went into a building and said, `We know we're the better team, now go out there and win the game'? Every game this year, it's been...we don't know how good we are. That's one of the things about a young team.

Question: Can you give people a general sense of what this month is like, leading up to the deadline? How many GMs will you talk to in an average week?

LOMBARDI: ``You know what? You'll take your list, and it's almost like a funnel effect. First of all, your due diligence requires you to do your job properly and talk to every team. Generally -- you see the pro scouts in here right now, and they've been here the last four days -- you try to see a match. The one thing that's different for us now is, before we were clearly sellers and looking for draft picks. Those are easier deals, whether it's Brad Stuart or Rob Blake or all those guys that we had on the market when we were trying to acquire draft picks. Those calls are, `OK, what are you looking for? And here's the price.' So you were able to set up a framework.

``We're not in that situation now. We're the youngest team in the league, so I don't have a lot of those veteran guys. So that part of the trade deadline is very different. To me, that's one of those things that, when you're looking for progress, that indicates progress. The bridges are gone, and you've got a lot of players that you're trying to build with, and you don't have a lot of those guys. That's progress. It's one of those intangible things, because you know your reserve list is getting stronger and you're heading in the right direction.

Question: The terms ``buyer'' and ``seller'' are easy to throw around, but they don't necessarily describe what's happening before the deadline. Would you say, in terms of talking to GMs, that you're an aggressor, or that you're taking more calls than you're making?

LOMBARDI: ``The problem is that everyone is still in it. There aren't many sellers, period. There are a few out there that are fairly obvious, but not a lot. Nobody in our conference is out of it, and you've got a few in the East. Things can shake out a little more as you get to the deadline. Some people might realize, `You know, instead of holding this middle ground, we have to rebuild.'

``So a team that's technically not out of the playoffs might just face reality (and say), `We're never going to be any good,' and stop trying to get stuck in the middle. So they wouldn't be your classic `seller,' in the sense that they're out of the playoffs, but there are two things that are different. One, they realize that they have to go back to the draft table and basically rebuild, and/or they're concerned about the cap coming down. So you might run into a little of that.

``People might say, `Screw it. It's not worth it to stay in the playoff race, or give the illusion of staying in it. Let's see if we can get some of this cash out of here.' I don't have any evidence of that yet, but if you're trying to think about the marketplace, I can see that entering into the equation. Again, I have no evidence of that just yet. It's just my instincts and some of the chatter, that it might happen.''

OK, here's the start of the massive Dean Lombardi interview. I don't know if I've ever done an interview with anyone that lasted this long, so hopefully you'll find it worth the time. Some answers are (much) longer than others, but I'll break it up into the 13 areas/questions that we covered. I'll put the first part here, and then you can click to read the entire answer. The early part of the interview focuses on the trade deadline and things that might happen in the short term, then we get more specific.

Funny thing...while Lombardi was talking about trades, a GM called his office phone. My friends up north will be surprised and saddened to know that it wasn't Ottawa. But Lombardi actually turned off his Blackberry while we talked, which was a classy and courteous move. Anyway, here's the start of it. Pace yourselves.

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Question: You're still very much in the playoff race. As the trade deadline approaches, will you make decisions based strictly on long-term planning, or will you factor in where the team is in the standings?

LOMBARDI: ``The problem with answering that is that there's no set formula. It would depend on the price. Ideally, what's a home run to you? When you get a guy who helps now and fits long term, right? So obviously if it fits long term, you're probably willing to pay more of a price, in terms of futures, what most people would want. So that would be your ideal thing. You get a guy at the deadline who fits now and fits with you for the next two, three, four years and continues to grow with this team. So that's your short- and long-term one. That's your ideal. That's the one you pay the most for.

KINGS COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): ``Coming back from being down three goals, you have to be happy with that. There are two different games out there tonight. The start, we're down when they score on a 5-on-3. They score on the next play at the net on the power play and it's 3-0. They score on the second shift of the game, just over a minute into the game, so we're down 3-0 and it's a big hole that we're in, like the last two games, but there was a lot of dig-in to come back and tie it up.''

(Re a challenging upcoming schedule): ``The next game we have Anaheim, but you can't overwhelm yourself by looking at the remaining part of the schedule; that's too hard. There are a lot of road games there, but the next game at Anaheim we have to regroup and come out with the right kind of effort to get the two points. That's the way the schedule is and we have to go play it.''

KINGS CENTER ANZE KOPITAR:
(Re game recap): ``This time of the year, you want to get two points, not just one. Maybe we're fortunate enough to get one but that's not enough. I mean, like I said, to give up six goals at home, it's hard and it definitely shouldn't happen. The Thrashers came out strong and the last couple of games we stayed flat-footed, but they came out strong and ready to play and we simply weren't ready. The next game we need to make sure we are ready from the get-go. It's a mental thing to be ready when the puck drops, and I hope we can do that to be ready.''

-- The Kings are 1-4-2 in their last seven home games.

-- The 12 combined goals in regulation was a season high for a game involving the Kings this season. Previously, the Kings and Colorado combined for 11 goals in a 6-5 Kings victory on Jan. 21 in Denver.

-- The Kings tied a season high by scoring six goals. They have now done it four times this season, most recently in a 6-5 victory at Coloardo on Jan. 21.

-- The Kings tied a season-worst by allowing six goals in regulation. They have now allowed six goals four times this season, most recently in a 6-4 loss to Detroit on Dec. 20.

-- The Kings lost one point in the playoff race today. With 57 points, they're now five points out of eighth place and only four points ahead of Colorado, which is in last place in the West with 53 points.

-- The Kings outshot the Thrashers 45-27, including 19-4 in the third period.

-- Anze Kopitar had two goals and two assists. It was the second four-point game of Kopitar's career. He had four assists in an 8-2 victory over Buffalo on Dec. 6, 2007.

-- Alexander Frolov had one goal and two assists. (Frolov was initially credited with three assists, but one of them -- on the Kings' final goal -- was later changed to Michal Handzus)

-- Erik Ersberg, who got in a game for the first time since Jan. 17. Jonathan Quick started and was pulled after Atlanta scored three goals on its first seven shots. Ersberg stopped 17 of 20 shots.

-- Jack Johnson led the Kings in ice time with a season-high 26:50. Patrick O'Sullivan led all forwards at 24:40. Johnson had one goal and one assist for his first career multi-point game. O'Sullivan had two assists.

-- Denis Gauthier scored his first goal since Jan. 31, 2005, when he was a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. He had gone 124 games without a goal.

-- Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty each had two assists.

-- The Kings scored a season high four power-play goals.

-- The Kings have out-shot their opponent 161-93 in the last four games.

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone...

I'll post a live recap of the scoring here, for anyone who needs it...

Kings scratches: Zeiler, Moller

Officials: Dan Marouelli, Brad Watson, Lonnie Cameron, Ryan Galloway

FIRST PERIOD
Atlanta: Little from Kovalchuk and Bogosian, 1:11
Atlanta: Kovalchuk from Hainsey and Kozlov, 5:59 (5-on-3 PP)
Atlanta: White from Little and Hainsey, 7:41 (PP)
Goalie change: Ersberg in for Quick, 7:41
Kings: Johnson from Doughty and O'Sullivan, 14:56 (PP)
Atlanta: Reasoner from Peverley and Kozlov, 15:29
Kings: Stoll from Frolov and Brown, 17:34 (PP)

SECOND PERIOD
Kings: Frolov from O'Sullivan and Kopitar, 5:01
Atlanta: Stuart from Enstrom and Reasoner, 19:17 (SH)

THIRD PERIOD
Atlanta: Kovalchuk from White and Bogosian, 3:31
Kings: Kopitar from Doughty and Johnson, 7:30 (PP)
Kings: Gauthier from Kopitar and Frolov, 10:05
Kings: Kopitar from Brown and Frolov, 19:55

SHOOTOUT
Thrashers win 2-1. Christensen scores in the fourth round (sudden death)

It's funny how interviews can go sometimes. I started off today asking Terry Murray about Alexander Frolov, because Frolov hadn't been on the ice the last two days -- he's apparently fine, just needed a couple ``maintenance'' days -- and that led to a question about Frolov's minutes. Ultimately, as you'll see below, it led to Murray talking about a meeting he had with Frolov after the Dec. 2 game against Phoenix. This adds some context to Frolov's recent strong play...

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Question: Frolov's minute totals have been high over the last few weeks. I'm guessing that's an indication of what you think of his play?

MURRAY: ``Yeah, he's been playing well. I like the way he's been playing for the last two to three weeks. Important minutes for an important player on our hockey club, scoring wise but also on the special teams side of it. He's really starting to show, to me, that he's capable of giving more. He is I guess what I would call digging in and doing the right stuff and battling hard, and as a result of it, good things are happening. Big plays are taking place at key times in the game for him. It's good to see him playing the way he is. He's really showing some emotional play.''

Question: That's sort of always been the question with him. I know you hadn't coached him before, but the question with him here has always been whether or not he's completely `buying in,' for lack of a better term. You're seeing that now?

MURRAY: ``Sure. I think, at the start, in terms of what you're saying, I look at it and see the inconsistencies and I have a meeting with him and tell him I need more. But as of late, it's where it's at. We're going through the process of trying to change a lot of things here, and the way Fro has been playing here shows that he believes in the team and he wants to buy in and do everything so that this team can win. Consistency has been a part of it, so that's good to see. If you remember back to the game at Phoenix (on Dec. 2), he was on the ice for a goal against and it just seemed like he was distant. He wasn't really focused on that particular game and that situation. I had a long meeting with him and we talked about a few things. He's coming to play every night, and every game has been real good.''

If something good happens for the Kings these days, chances are Michal Handzus is somehow involved in it. Whether it's setting a screen in front of a goalie, winning a faceoff or playing responsible defense (as a center or winger), Handzus has made a complete turnaround after his dreadful 2007-08 season. Today, for the first time in a while, I got a chance to sit down with Handzus for a few minutes and talk about his season so far...

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Question: This is shaping up to be a good season, for you personally and for the team. How good does it feel to be a big part of that now?

HANDZUS: ``Well obviously that was my goal. Obviously nobody was happy about last year, but I knew I was a much better play than I was last year, and I still think I'm a better player than I have been this year. So I'm still trying to get better every day and hopefully in this stretch, in this playoff run, I can get even better and help the team even more to get to the playoffs. ''

Question: When Terry talks about you, he talks about your unselfishness and your willingness to play any role. In your mind, is that something that comes with being a veteran player?

HANDZUS: ``I think I have always done that. Even when I was young, it didn't really matter for me where I played. I just want to help the team and whatever they ask me for, I'll do it. I can play on the left wing, I can play center, I can play any role that they need me to do. That's what I try to do, play a two-way role and try to help the team.''

Question: How much better do you feel, physically, this year as opposed to last year?

HANDZUS: ``I feel stronger. Obviously my skating is better, and I think that's a benefit of the summer. I was healthy and I had good workouts and it helped me a lot. Obviously I feel better, and it's all about my skating.''

Question: Last year, you always said that the knee was fine, but so many people say that the first year back after ACL surgery is very tough. In hindsight, was that season tougher than you thought it would be?

HANDZUS: ``It was a lot of things. I don't really want to go back to last year. After the season, I drew the line and it was over. Right away, the next day, I just focused on the next season. Obviously it was rough, but you always learn something from it and try to get better.''

Question: When you came to training camp this year, did you know instantly that it was better? Were you where you wanted to be?

HANDZUS: ``Sure. All summer, I felt healthy and that was the key. I could do a lot of the stuff I used to be able to do before. Stuff I couldn't do the last couple years. So that was a big thing. I was ready, for sure, and I've been ready to go.''

Question: You have a young team here, and you're one of the veteran leaders. What do these young guys need to know about being in a playoff race?

HANDZUS: ``For us, it's consistency. Not even every game, but every period and every shift. You have to play at the same level. It's all about that. In the last game, obviously we didn't play a good first period and it cost us the game, so that's what we have to key on. Just play every shift, every period and every game the same way. If we do that, we're going to win a lot of games.''

Tom Preissing is back on the ice, having overcome whatever mysterious issue caused his dizziness at the start of the last road trip. Terry Murray said all of Preissing's tests came back OK and that Preissing is feeling better. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, because I had to head upstairs to talk with Dean Lombardi, but Murray said Preisssing had a similar incident last season. I don't remember that, but regardless...weird. No lineup changes tonight.

The Lombardi interview lasted more than an hour, and there's some really good stuff. It's going to take quite a while to transcribe, so I think I'll post it all tomorrow, throughout the day. Topics discussed included: Lombardi's philosophy at the trade deadline (long-term deals? rent-a-players?), the ferocity of the trade market right now, how many GMs he is talking to, whether not making the playoffs would be a disappointment, his progress in filling the famous ``boxes,'' evaluating prospects and identifying ``can't-trade'' players, Frolov's status in terms of being a ``core'' player, Jack Johnson's contract negotiations, team/NHL economics, Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier, Brian Boyle, Michael Cammalleri, fighting in the NHL and Lombardi's pick for most surprising King this season.

Finally, if you have Sirius-XM radio, I'll be on the NHL channel just after 3 p.m. today, and we'll do a live game chat here tonight for those who like to participate.

The skate had to be paused a few minutes ago when Erik Ersberg was doubled over on the ice. I didn't see exactly what happened, but it seemed like he might have had the wind knocked out of him by a shot. He's back in all the drills and seems fine now.

Also, for those who follow Kings prospects closely, Bill Ranford said that Jeff Zatkoff is likely to return from his injury and play for Ontario on Wednesday.

I'll be heading out to practice shortly, and then to conduct what should be a lengthy interview with Dean Lombardi, but I wanted to post this in the morning for everyone to chew on, because I thought it was quite interesting. I asked Terry Murray a relatively simple question yesterday about talking to players about making the playoffs, and he gave a in-depth answer about how his expectation level for the team has changed during the season. I found it to be a really good answer, so hopefully you'll enjoy it...

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Question: How often, if ever, do you explicitly talk to the players about making the playoffs?

MURRAY: ``Oh, I've been doing that for quite a while. You've got to raise the bar. We started off playing at a very good level. The first month, two months of the season, we played at a very high level, out-shooting teams, out-chancing teams, and maybe not coming away being able to close the game out at times, but everything as far as the execution of the opportunities, that was there. So when you see that over a period of time, there needs to be a change of attitude as far as, we want to get better as a team and we want to be good defensively and cut back on shots and chances against, but now the expectations are, OK, we're doing that stuff, so let's look at the playoffs. Why not us? We're playing against teams in our conference and a few teams from the East, and our comparables are right there in front of us. We're seeing it every night that we play, so we're saying, `Why not us?' We're doing a good job, and that should be our goal right now. Let's get ourselves in that position and get into those playoffs, and then you see how it goes from there.''

Question: When was that bridge crossed, so to speak, in terms of when you wanted them to change that attitude and think about the playoffs?

MURRAY: ``It was quite a while ago when I first brought it up. I don't know exactly, maybe a month or a month and a half ago when we first started to address it with the team and bring it into the locker room. We talked about playing with a playoff mentality, in our pregame talks, (telling players) `This is a playoff kind of a game that we need to play tonight.' It's going back quite a ways. It's important, from an organization side of it, to get to the playoffs, obviously. It's also important to lay those expectations out there, from my side of it. I want to see how we respond. I want to have an evaluation of all the players as we go through this process of developing and playing games. `How do you handle and take on that responsibility?' Because we all know that you don't get lucky to get in the playoffs. You earn the right to get into the playoffs. It's a little more pressure and a little more responsibility, and that's a good thing. It's a good kind of pressure to have on you. That's the tough part of the game.''

Question: Do you learn a lot about players in those situations? Who responds well? Who goes into a shell?

MURRAY: ``Absolutely you do. Games like (Saturday), the game against Calgary and all the remaining games, when you're in a position to make a push to get into the playoffs, that's clearly an opportunity for everybody in the organization to evaluate performance.''

I forgot to post this yesterday, but Jonathan Quick will start in goal for the Kings tonight against Atlanta. With the Kings facing back-to-back games against Anaheim (Wednesday) and San Jose (Thursday) -- and three games in four nights -- Erik Ersberg will start against either the Ducks or Sharks. Terry Murray hasn't decided which goalie will start which game, or if he has, he's not ready to publicly say it yet.

The question comes up, from time to time, about how to judge progress with a young team. Here's one way: does it look like the players are a team, or a collection of individuals? Terry Murray was asked today about that cohesiveness, following Saturday's game in which several skirmishes took place in the first period...

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Question: What would be an indication that guys are really playing for each other? It seems like since the road trip, there is an intangible there, but from behind the bench, what are your thoughts on seeing guys play for each other?

MURRAY: ``To me, there's a lot of different areas that I would look it. The play without the puck is an area that we've been talking about, right from the first day. That's what I look at immediately, how we're doing on the checking side of the game. Are we working hard for each other in that area? In any kind of situation that demands support, such as net scrums, if teammates are getting in there right away, it shows a great deal of care for each other and battle for each other. I think the indication for me, last night, was with the several scrums that happened in the first period and with Greener jumping in at the end with Moreau. That's good stuff. But you're right in saying that there are intangibles. It's hard to define it. It's just that feel, that sense that you walk into the locker room and you can feel it. Same thing during the games. Your intensity level, your passion is out there. You're laying down to block shots and you're doing all the little things that there are no stats for. We're seeing a lot of that stuff from this hockey club. Guys care.''

Call it a coincidence, but the Kings have a 7-2-2 record since Jack Johnson returned to the lineup a month ago. Johnson has one goal and a minus-1 rating in those 11 games, and his minutes are slowly increasing. Johnson played a season-high 24 minutes, 46 seconds, in Saturday's game, and has looked strong. Terry Murray has even taken to pairing Johnson with Drew Doughty in tight, late-game situations, and the potential is definitely there for a long-term Johnson-Doughty pairing. I caught up with Johnson for a few minutes after practice today...

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Question: Just looking at the standings, the team has played very well since you returned. Are you pleased with what you've been able to bring since your return?

JOHNSON: ``I think so. Coach is starting to use me a little bit more, as I've gotten a few more games under my belt, and I feel like I've got a lot to offer the team and I feel like I've got more to offer. Things have been good. We've been winning, and that's the most important thing. I don't know if it's a direct corrolation to me or not. I doubt that. I just think we're playing well.''

Question: You've been partnered with Drew here and there, particularly late in games, and there seems to be some potential there. Do you guys talk about that?

JOHNSON: ``Yeah, there's obviously some potential there. I think we would love to play with each other. I think we need to play with each other a little bit more, to learn what each other is doing and develop some kind of feeling for each other, because right now we're kind of learning on the job. The only way we're going to get better together is to play together, but I think we both really like to play with each other.''

Question: What is the difference, for the defensemen, under Terry Murray as opposed to Crawford? What has changed for you guys on a game-to-game basis?

JOHNSON: ``Well, if mistakes are made, we're easily able to put them behind us and go forward. We can go shift-to-shift, and if something happens that didn't go your way in the previous shift or the previous game, (Murray) allows us to put it behind us and start fresh, start over. There's nothing you can do about it. He's been great, just with being able to teach more than anything.''

After practice today, Anze Kopitar talked a bit about the Kings' turnaround this season, why it's more fun to play than at any previous point in his Kings career and why it's important for the Kings to not be satisfied with just being better...

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Question: Winning obviously makes things a lot more fun, but is there anything you can point to, in particular, that makes this season more fun than the last couple years?

KOPITAR: ``I don't know if anything is different. I know it's way more fun to play. It's great to come to the rink knowing that you're going to play for something, not like the previous two years, when we were pretty much out of it by Christmas. Coming to the rink wasn't as much fun, but I don't think it's anything in particular. We play a little bit more defensively, and that wins hockey games.''

Question: Do you have to watch out, at all, for not being satisfied with where you are? Things have improved, but I'm guessing you don't want to be satisfied with just being a little better than last year...

KOPITAR: ``Oh yeah, exactly. I think the potential in this room is big enough to not just be close to the playoffs. I think we have the potential to make the playoffs. We're in that race. I know we're inexperienced and that a lot of guys, like myself, haven't really been through this phase. It's new for us, but we've got to win hockey games. That's what is most important. I think that always, when you play for something it's a lot more fun than knowing that, in the end, you're going to fall short. Our focus is game-by-game right now, and we're trying to win those.''

Question: After a lot of shuffling, Terry seems to have found a set of lines that he likes. Does that help you guys, to be able to settle in a little bit?

KOPITAR: ``Yeah, I think it does help. Before, Terry was mixing a lot of the lines. We all do play the same system, but sometimes it just takes a while to get used to guys. Now, with Fro and Sully, I think we have a little chemistry going now. The last couple games, we didn't score a whole lot of goals, but the chances are there, so I'm pretty sure that one of these days, things are going to open up for us and something is going to go in.''

Oscar Moller has been sent to Manchester on a conditioning assignment. He can stay there for two weeks and it won't impact his junior eligibility.

Davis Drewiske has been assigned to Manchester.

Tom Preissing is on the ice today, so we'll see what his status is.

It's a rest day for Frolov and Handzus.

Someone posted a question last night about today's practice, and I'm sorry that I didn't see it until this morning. Practice today is at 11 a.m., for anyone who is close by and wants to check it out. I'll be out there, so I'll have some stuff on the blog a bit later...

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): ``It was a hard game. We wanted to come out better than what we did in the first period. I didn't feel that we were skating and it's a playoff atmosphere with that kind of importance and we did not respond as we needed to. The second and third periods were terrific. It was hard work and it was a hard game down low, it was very emotional.''

(Re getting a point): ``I just wish, because of the importance and the preparation that we had for this three-game homestand, and the fact that we had a great road trip and bringing that momentum back, we needed to have a better start. That was important to come out with energy, with our skating ability and doing the right things like we did in the second and the third. In my mind I'd like to think the results would have been different.''

-- The Kings are now 13-12-7 at home this season and 11-10-1 on the road. The Kings are 1-4-1 in their last six at home.

-- All three games against the Oilers this season have been one-goal games. The Kings beat Edmonton 2-1 on Nov. 26 in Edmonton and the Oilers won 5-4 in a shootout on Dec. 5 at Staples Center.

-- Edmonton had 21 shots on goal, and scored its two regulation goals on its first three shots. The Kings outshot the Oilers 41-21 for the game.

-- The Kings have now out-shot their opponents 116-66 in the last three games.

-- The Kings have now scored with the goalie pulled two times this season (the other was Jan. 17 at Dallas).

-- Dustin Brown has 14 points (7-7=14) in the last 11 games.

-- Dustin Brown had a career-high 12 hits in the game.

-- The combined 66 penalty minutes between both teams tied a season high (also had 66 PIM Oct. 24 at St. Louis).

KINGS GOALIE JONATHAN QUICK:
(Re game recap): ``Game was there at the end and it would've been great to get both points. But we're fortunate we ended up with at least one point after that first period.''

(Re: on the crowd): ``It was a great crowd and great to play in front of them. They got into it at the end and it's fun to play in front of a crowd like that.''

KINGS FORWARD ANZE KOPITAR:
(Re game recap): ``It's good to get one point and it would be a little better to get two. The first period wasn't the scenario we're trying to put on the table but it sometimes happens. They were jumping on loose pucks but in the second period we dominated and we had 20 more shots than them. It seems that we're generating a lot of chances but we are not getting any lucky breaks. I'm sure if we're creating, those breaks are going to come too. Everyone is giving 100 percent and it shows it. It's a critical time for us and I don't think that anyone is taking it easy or anything.''

KINGS FORWARD DUSTIN BROWN:

(Re emotion of game): ``I think it's just the nature of the playoff chase. We're fighting for a spot and they were going after some of our players and we went after some their players and that's just the nature of the way the playoff chase is going to be. Especially when they're a couple of points ahead of us and these are games that are going to be emotional games.''

(Re playoff atmosphere): ``Obviously I've never been in one at this level but it had that type of feeling. It was very physical and very emotional. If we can come out better in the first we might win that game in regulation.''

The Kings will freeze season-ticket prices in 2009-10, plus offer 2009 playoff tickets (in the event that they are needed) to season-ticket holders at regular-season prices. Here's the official release...

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LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Kings today announced that all season ticket pricing for the 2009-10 season will remain frozen. In addition, all current season ticket members who renew their season tickets for the 2009-10 season will be eligible to purchase all 2009 playoff tickets at regular season prices.

"Our Season Ticket Members have shown tremendous loyalty and patience and we wanted to do something to reward them and would also encourage new fans to see our exciting young team," said Kings President of Business of Operations Luc Robitaille. "It is going to be a great finish to the regular season as we look to make a push for the playoffs."

Season ticket members who renew their current seats, with a deposit, by March 30 will have the ability to also purchase tickets for every round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs at frozen regular season prices. In addition, anyone buying new season tickets, with a deposit, by March 30 are eligible for the same discounted pricing for playoff tickets this year.

For all Kings ticket information, call 888-KINGS-LA.

This will be updated throughout the game, for those who need to know the scoring...

Kings scratches: Drewiske, Moller, Zeiler

FIRST PERIOD
Edmonton: Penner from Hemsky, 4:58
Edmonton: Horcoff from Penner and Hemsky, 13:11 (PP)

SECOND PERIOD
Kings: Doughty from Stoll and Handzus, 6:29 (5-on-3 PP)

THIRD PERIOD
Kings: Brown from Frolov and Quincey, 19:34 (PP)

SHOOTOUT
Oilers: Goals by Gagner and Nilsson; O'Sullivan and Frolov stopped

Thanks for chatting today, everyone.

Dean Lombardi has graciously agreed to step away from his around-the-clock Jason Spezza trade talks to do a question-and-answer session on Monday. As usual, I've leave it to the readers to come up with some good questions, and I'll do my best to ask a good cross-section of them and touch on the major themes/topics. Feel free to ask any question you'd like but just know that, with the trade deadline approaching, any ultra-specific questions about trade talks -- ``Are you shopping this guy?'' ``Do you want this guy?'' -- are never going to be answered on the record for a public forum such as this one.

Feel free to ask questions throughout the weekend, as I'm tentatively scheduled to talk to Lombardi after Monday's morning skate.

Thanks much to reader Jeremy for putting this together...it's a graph of the approval-ratings poll, which also measures winning percentage. Very cool. Hopefully he will want to do this every month!

This will be the fourth month of measuring fans' approval ratings of Dean Lombardi and Terry Murray.

Mid-November (team record: 5-6-2): Lombardi, 96 percent; Murray, 89 percent
Mid-December (team record: 12-12-4): Lombardi, 96 percent; Murray, 89 percent.
Mid-January (team record: 17-20-6): Lombardi, 86 percent; Murray, 64 percent.
Mid-February (team record: 24-22-7): ?

NOTES
-- The Kings are now 1-9 in their last 10 games against Calgary.
-- The Kings have been shut out in two of their last three home games (4-0 vs. Detroit, Jan. 15)
-- The Kings have outshot their opponents 75-45 in the last two games.
-- Every King in the lineup had a shot tonight except Peter Harrold.
-- Through 53 games last year, the Kings had 45 points (10-point improvement).
-- Through 53 games in 2006-07 the Kings had 40 points (15-point improvement).
-- The Kings have allowed two-or-fewer goals 23 times this season.

KINGS HEAD COACH TERRY MURRAY:
(Re game recap): ``Well, those are games that you have to find a way to win. You're making a push to make the playoffs and a win puts you one point back of getting over that threshold and getting into that top group, and you have to find a way to do it. We played hard. Historically, the first home game is a very difficult one after a road trip, but the effort, the work side of it, the structure and the system was great, but the part that was missing, when you have a goaltender that's as good as Kiprusoff is, you have to make life more difficult for him.''

(Re Oscar Moller's return to the lineup): ``He was pretty good. I moved him up at the end, looking for something to happen in the offensive part of it, and he fits in. He's a player who can play on any line and brings that skill element. I thought he was pretty good in his first game. It's been quite a while for him.''

KINGS FORWARD JARRET STOLL:

(Re game recap): ``We just needed that extra little push, that extra effort to get to the net and get more pucks there. We had some shots. We had a lot of shots, but against a goaltender like that you've got to get them the dirty way.''

(Re: homecoming) ``We played a solid game. We played a fairly solid game coming back home for our first game against a very good, against a tough team. They are a tough team to play against. I thought we outplayed them for a good portion of the game, we just didn't bear down on opportunities and capitalize on 5-on-3s.''

Here's a couple of tidbits from an interview with Anze Kopitar this morning.
(On Jonathan Quick's steady play)
``The game in Jersey was 0-0 and (Quick) made a huge save on (Jamie) Langenbrunner,'' Anze Kopitar said. ``That was one of the biggest statements. The shutout in Ottawa helped a lot. He had a strong game in Washington. It's really nice when you have someone back there you can depend on.''
(On the Kings ability to hold lealds, something they struggled with early in the season and rally from deficits)
``Basically, we almost know we'd tie it up maybe get an OT winner or even a shootout,'' Kopitar said. ``Maybe in the beginning of the season everyone was not sure what to do. We got away from the system and made more mistakes and were down goals. But we believe and trust in each other, that's the biggest part.''

No live chat tonight, but for those who need updates or want to post comments, I'll update this one...

FIRST PERIOD
Calgary: Cammalleri from Bertuzzi and Iginla, 8:58 (PP)

SECOND PERIOD
No scoring

THIRD PERIOD
Calgary: Bourque from Glencross and Conroy, 19:24 (empty net)

-----

Postgame quotes/notes to come a bit later...

Oscar Moller will be back in the Kings' lineup tonight, centering the fourth line with Raitis Ivanans and Peter Harrold. Derek Armstrong will be the healthy scratch. Moller has not played with the Kings since Dec. 17. He has six goals and seven assists in 30 games.

Here's an interview with goaltender Jonathan Quick from the morning skate.

Here's something I thought was funny from this morning's skate. Someone asked Jonathan Quick if he envisioned at the beginning of the season that the Kings would make the playoffs. As you guys know, Quick wasn't playing with the Kings then.
``I wasn't around at the beginning of the season, so I don't know how the team felt about that,'' he said. ``Since I've been here, it's been a goal of ours. It's something that's realistic. We're fighting to get in there.''

Erik Ersberg will get an opportunity to get more games in goal,Terry Murray said, but he's going to stick with Jonathan Quick and why not? Quick has been brilliant in goal, and the Kings are on top of the world after a 4-1 roadtrip.
``You always want to play,'' Ersberg said. ``Everyone wants to play. It's easier to be on this side when the other guy is playing that good, you know? If the other goalie doesn't play like that, you sit on the bench and start thinking about it. As it is now, he's playing really good and we're winning games.''
There are a couple of logical times for Ersberg to play. The Kings play back-to-back games on the road at Anaheim next Wednesday and at San Jose next Thursday, and the following week, the Kings play back-to-back games at Minnesota on Feb. 24 and at Philly Feb. 25.

Jonathan Quick will start in goal as the Kings return home tonight to play Calgary. No surprise there. Terry Murray said he would continue to play Quick since he's done so well in goal but that he would get Erik Ersberg in goal at some point.
I'll have more from the morning skate throughout the day.

I've been told, by a reporter who covers the WHL in Vancouver, that the NHL trade deadline (March 4) is also the deadline for players to go back to the junior teams. I wasn't sure on that date myself. So the Kings still have ample time to decide whether to keep Oscar Moller or send him to Seattle.

There have been some questions about whether the Kings will keep Oscar Moller on the roster or return him to his junior team (which is now Seattle of the WHL) for the rest of the season. I put the question in a quick message to Dean Lombardi, and his response was ``Not sure yet,'' so clearly it's at least under consideration. We'll see where it goes...

No surprises here, but the Kings have activated Oscar Moller from injured reserve and placed Tom Preissing on injured reserve. That removes Moller's final obstacle to returning, even though it was basically just a paperwork issue.

For anyone who might be waiting for a practice update, the Kings had no workouts today. That's not a big surprise, given that they flew back all night from New York and that several players are weakened by flu symptoms. Tomorrow's game could be interesting, given that the Kings are ailing and road-weary and the Flames play tonight at Anaheim. The Flames broke a four-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory against Montreal on Monday.

Funny what a couple NHL ``first star'' awards will do for a young player...

Jonathan Quick was the subject of a couple national stories today, one by the Canadian Press and the other by Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com.

Quick's rapid rise gives Kings a solid goalie option

Quick, Kings forcing critics to take notice

-- The Kings, at 24-21-7, are three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season. (I know there's some debate on this, but ``.500'' is defined, in a hockey sense, by a point-per-game average)

-- The Kings finished their road trip with a 4-1 record and outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 16-12.

-- The Kings are 6-1 in their last seven road games.

-- The Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all three New York power-play attempts. The Kings have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last three games, and seven of their last eight games. They're also 15-for-16 on the penalty kill in their last four games.

-- Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of 25 shots for his seventh victory in his last eight starts. Quick also improved to 2-0 in shootouts, as he stopped all three Islanders attempts.

-- Anze Kopitar extended his goal-scoring streak to three games (he has four goals in that span) and has four goals and five assists in his last nine games.

-- Alexander Frolov had one goal and one assist. He has five goals and six assists in his last nine games.

-- Wayne Simmonds broke an 11-game goalless streak with a first-period goal, his fifth of the season.

-- Sean O'Donnell had an assist, for his second point in three games. O'Donnell totaled two points in his previous 16 games.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan had an assist, and has two goals and two assists in his last three games.

-- Jarret Stoll had an assist, and has four goals and six assists in his last eight games.

-- The Kings outshot the Islanders 39-25. Dustin Brown had a game-high seven shots on goal.

-- Drew Doughty led all Kings in ice time, with 25:17. Alexander Frolov led all Kings forwards at 24:14.

Here is the transcript of Jack Johnson's postgame interview on FSN...

(on his shootout goal...)
JOHNSON: ``I have a couple moves that I kind of keep in the back of my head. Fortunately by shooting third, I got to scout the goalie a little bit. I figured that it didn't work the first time, so I was hoping it wouldn't fail the second time. ... I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted to do, but shooting third, you have time to scout the goaltender a little bit, based on what he did against the first two shooters. I see how far out he was on me, as I was coming in, and how quickly he was backing up, but I kind of had an idea, shooting third. ... I just noticed that the first two guys who shot didn't have success, so I kind of had an idea that I wanted to deke him. I came in with a lot of speed. That's pretty much what I was thinking.''

(on playing with Drew Doughty, for the first time, in overtime...)
JOHNSON: ``It was great. I think he and I play really well together and I enjoy playing with him. I think there's a lot of chemistry to be there in the future. Right now, we're both really happy with our partners, but we're thinking that sometime down the line, we'd definitely love to play with each other.''

(on this being a successful road trip...)
JOHNSON: ``Absolutely. This is what we needed and this is what we're starting to expect, coming into games. We've got great goaltending. We've got pretty balanced scoring coming up, and the Kings come into games now expecting to win.''

For those who need in-game updates, this will be updated with tonight's scoring...

FIRST PERIOD
Kings: Simmonds from Richardson and O'Donnell, 2:08
New York: Weight from Guerin, 4:53

SECOND PERIOD
New York: Jackman, 4:20
Kings: Kopitar from O'Sullivan and Frolov, 5:27
New York: Hilbert from Hunter and Witt, 9:50

THIRD PERIOD
Kings: Frolov from Quincey and Stoll, 6:41 (PP)

SHOOTOUT
Kings: Jonhnson, third round

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone...

The Kings will stay with the same lineup tonight, which means Oscar Moller will be scratched again. Moller had been skating with the fourth line in practice in the previous few days.

Kings-Islanders preview

Here's a real good story from the Windsor Star about Kings prospect Andrei Loktionov, who is having a strong season for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires. Loktionov, a fifth-round pick of the Kings last June, has been particularly strong of late. (EDIT: Quisp gets the prize. I had Loktionov confused with Voynov/Voinov in my feeble mind) In his last 17 games, Loktionov has nine goals, 12 assists and a plus-12 rating. The article talks extensively about Loktionov's relationship with Hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov, plus Loktionov's intense nutritional habits and his on-ice development.

Friends in high places

In a story on the New England Hockey Journal website, Ron Hextall, the Kings' assistant general manager (and general manager of the Manchester Monarchs) talked about the development of a few of the Kings' top prospects.

The full story can be found here.

Here are Hextall's thoughts on...

Jonathan Bernier:
``Jonathan's had a bit of an up and down year. Jon is obviously a very good young prospect for us. He's got an awful lot of ability. He needs to continue to grow his game. He needs to start dominating at this level. And he's really capable of that.''

Brian Boyle:
``Brian has done a good job at times, and at others, he's had to do a little better job. He's come a long way in the two years since he's turned pro. He's got to get better in certain areas of the game. When he was in L.A., he was our fourth-line center, and he's not used to that. There's a lot of little things playing eight or 10 minutes a game that he's not used to, when you're not scoring goals and essentially doing a lot of the dirty work. So it's been a bit of an adjustment for him.''

Teddy Purcell:
``He's not far. He needs to continue to work on moving his feet. Playing with grit. Winning battles. He's relied his whole life on his skill level. Now he's got to dig in a little bit more and come up with pucks. Bear down.''

It's a bit of a cliche to call something a ``trap game,'' but games such as the one the Kings face Tuesday are always a bit of a red flag. Here are the Kings, flush with excitement after some recent strong play, facing the Islanders, the team with the fewest points in the NHL. It's exactly the type of game that can jump up and bite a team if there is any overconfidence. It's a role the Kings know well. After all, they've been playing it for the past two seasons. I asked Terry Murray about how he would attempt to mentally prepare the team for the game.

Question: You're nearing the end of a long, successful road trip, and you're playing the worst team in the league. Do you make a point of telling the players not to overlook the Islanders, or does that just go without saying?

MURRAY: ``We had a meeting on the ice at the end of practice, and that was exactly the message. They are a team that, in the standings, is behind everyone at this point, but they do a lot of things. I just finished watching their game at Florida and right now I'm watching their game against Tampa Bay. They play with high energy and they can really press on the attack and on the forecheck. They can come out and do damage against any team in the league. So I did send that message today. We're at the end of a road trip, and guys might be thinking of getting home, but we need to get ready for this game and we need to start preparing for it this afternoon so that we're ready.''

The Kings, not surprisingly, will stay with Jonathan Quick in goal Saturday against the Islanders. Quick was named the NHL's first star for the week ending Sunday, and even though Terry Murray talked recently about the possibility of getting Erik Ersberg into a game, it doesn't seem that it will happen any time soon, at least while Quick continues to thrive...

MURRAY: ``We're staying with (Quick). That's the one area that I'm least likely to tamper with, when it gets going the way it is. We'll let him stay with it.''

Question: With him being a young guy, a rookie, do you have to watch how much he plays, so that he doesn't get worn down right now?

MURRAY: ``That's something I always keep an eye on. I don't know him well enough yet to know how he feels about that, but it can take NHL goalies a long time to figure that out for themselves. His game is at a high level right now, and he's bringing the same thing to practice. He brings a lot of competitiveness and adrenaline to the practices and the games. He does a lot of work in practice and after practice and really digs in. There's nothing there to make us think his play is slipping because he's playing too much.''

A few things, after a post-practice conversation with Terry Murray...

-- Murray is still on the fence about whether to put Oscar Moller back in the lineup tomorrow, for the reason that came up here the other day. Murray is happy with the way things are going and doesn't want to disrupt the rhythm. He said he will make a decision tonight after discussing it with his coaches.

-- Jonathan Quick will again start in goal. Murray said he hasn't seen anything to indicate that Quick is tired or wearing down.

-- There's a bit of a flu bug running through some of the Kings. Murray said Drew Doughty was quite ill before Saturday's game but still played, and a few other guys have symptoms. It's one of the reasons Murray did not have the team practice Sunday.

-- Murray said he talked to the team, and will do so again tomorrow, about not having a letdown in the final game of the trip, against a team that (at least in the standings) looks much less formidable than some of the teams the Kings have already defeated.

I'll have some quotes to expand on some of these things a bit later...

Jill has written a nice feature on Drew Doughty that will run tomorrow and, as part of it, she talked to Luc Robitaille about Doughty's rookie season...

ROBITAILLE: ``When he gets the puck, the whole game slows down. It's very rare to have a defenseman that when they get the puck, you feel the game is in control. It's very hard. People ask me, who do you compare him to? It's hard to compare him to anyone. Rob Blake, when he was a rookie, was a different player. He wasn't as good with the puck, but he had a bit of an edge. Maybe Lidstrom, because as a young guy he was so calm when he got the puck. It's really amazing.''

Jonathan Quick has been named the NHL's first star for the week ending yesterday. Detroit's Marian Hossa was second and Washington's Mike Green was third...

FIRST STAR -- JONATHAN QUICK, G, LOS ANGELES KINGS

Quick stopped 95 of 100 shots in posting three consecutive road victories, lifting the Kings (23-21-7, 53 points) within three points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He stopped 29 shots in recording his third shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory at Ottawa Feb. 3, made 41 saves in a 5-4 victory at Washington Feb. 5 and concluded the week by making 25 stops in a 3-1 victory at New Jersey Feb. 7. The 23-year-old Milford, Conn. native improved his season record to 10-6-0 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 18 games. He ranks third among NHL rookie goaltenders in victories behind Steve Mason of Columbus (19) and Pekka Rinne of Nashville (14).

This morning's Western Conference standings almost look like a misprint. St. Louis, in 15th (last) place, is only five points out of a playoff spot. It's one of those things that might make you think, ``When's the last time that happened?'' The answer is...never, to the best I can tell.

I went back through the NHL standings, as they stood on the morning of Feb. 8 each year, and the closest you can come is last season and 2002-03, when 15th-place Calgary was 14 points behind the eighth-place Ducks. Of course, since the conference expanded by two teams in 2000, it makes the comparison a little more difficult before that.

But here's a look at the Feb. 7 standings, going back 10 years. Teams liked in all caps are teams that went on to make the playoffs, so you might also note that it's traditionally been difficult for teams to make up ground in February, March and April. Since 1998, only four teams that weren't in the top eight in the West on Feb. 7 eventually ended up in the top eight. Perhaps this season's logjam will lead to more late-season movement.

Western Conference, through Feb. 7

2008-09
8. Minnesota 55
9. Edmonton 55
10. Columbus 55
11. Kings 53
12. Nashville 53
13. Phoenix 53
14. Colorado 51
15. St. Louis 50

2007-08:
8. CALGARY 62
9. Vancouver 61
10. Phoenix 60
11. Columbus 59
12. Edmonton 55
13. St. Louis 55
14. Chicago 53
15. Kings 49

2006-07:
8. MINNESOTA 62
9. Colorado 56
10. Edmonton 56
11. Phoenix 52
12. St. Louis 50
13. Chicago 49
14. Columbus 47
15. Kings 44

2005-06:
8. Kings 65
9. DUCKS 61
10. Minnesota 60
11. Phoenix 57
12. SAN JOSE 56
13. Columbus 46
14. Chicago 43
15. St. Louis 36

2003-04:
8. CALGARY 60
9. Kings 60
10. Minnesota 55
11. Edmonton 53
12. Phoenix 53
13. Ducks 49
14. Columbus 41
15. Chicago 40

2002-03:
8. DUCKS 61
9. Chicago 59
10. Kings 52
11. San Jose 51
12. Phoenix 49
13. Nashville 49
14. Columbus 48
15. Calgary 47

2001-02:
8. KINGS 62
9. Dallas 61
10. PHOENIX 59
11. Calgary 56
12. Nashville 54
13. Minnesota 50
14. Ducks 49
15. Columbus 39

2000-01:
8. EDMONTON 59
9. KINGS 57
10. Nashville 57
11. Calgary 54
12. Chicago 52
13. Minnesota 51
14. Columbus 46
15. Ducks 42

1999-2000:
8. KINGS 58
9. Calgary 55
10. Ducks 55
11. Nashville 51
12. Vancouver 48
13. Chicago 45

1998-99:
8. SAN JOSE 48
9. Calgary 44
10. Kings 42
11. Nashville 41
12. Vancouver 41
13. Chicago 36

Here are some Terry Murray quotes from the Kings' website, off their road report, which can be found here.

(on the playoff hunt...)
MURRAY: ``We're shooting to make the playoffs. We know you have to play very well to get yourself in there. Guys are responding. There's a great locker room in there. They care for each other and it's carried onto the ice.''

(on forechecking...)
``I think we did a pretty good job on our forecheck. We wanted to get pucks in and establish the forecheck early and we were doing that. We were kind of following the way things were set up in the pregame: Get it in, get on top of their defense and make good reads with your two and three.''

(on the Kopitar goal...)
"Transition game is a lesson I think I learned from the New Jersey Devils over the last 15 years. They're one of the best transition teams in the game. You have to have good defensive posture, and when you do, maybe you get lucky and knock the puck down and you get back on the attack right away," Murray said. "With three skilled players (Kopitar, O'Sullivan and Alex Frolov) entering the offensive zone, and they made a good play. Maybe we got a little bit lucky with that pass in the air but it was a big goal.''

-- The Kings are 3-1 on this road trip -- with Tuesday's game at the Islanders to go -- 6-1 in their last seven and, with a 23-21-7 record, they're two games over .500 for the first time this season.

-- Patrick O'Sullivan's second-period penalty-shot goal was the Kings' first successful penalty shot of the season. They were previously 0-for-2 and hadn't scored on a penalty shot since Alexander Frolov beat Andrew Raycroft on Jan. 12, 2006. O'Sullivan had previously failed on a penalty shot on Dec. 6 against Columbus. The Kings are now 13-for-40 all-time on penalty shots.

-- Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 26 shots and has won six of his last seven starts.

-- O'Sullivan also had an assist, for his seventh multi-point game of the season. O'Sullivan had only two assists in his previous 15 games.

-- Jarret Stoll scored a power-play goal. He has four goals and five assists in his last seven games. Stoll had gone 14 games without a power-play goal and now has six power-play goals for the season.

-- Anze Kopitar had one goal, coming off his two-goal effort Thursday at Washington.

-- Dustin Brown had one assist. He has recorded at least one point in seven of his last eight games and has totaled six goals and seven assists in those eight game.

-- Alexander Frolov had one assist, coming off his two-assist game Thursday at Washington.

-- Michal Handzus had one assist and has three goals and four assists in his last seven games.

-- The Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all four Devils power-play attempts. The Kings had been 1-for-11 on the power play in their previous two games and are now 12-for-13 on the penalty kill in their last three games.

-- The Kings outshot the Devils 32-26. The Kings had been outshot in four of their previous five games.

-- Kyle Quincey had a team-high six shots on goal. Kopitar and O'Sullivan each had five.

-- Drew Doughty led all Kings in ice time at 22:36. Alexander Frolov led all Kings forwards (20:53).

Here are some postgame quotes from Patrick O'Sullivan, from the TV interview he did with Bob and Jim. O'Sullivan was named the first star for tonight's game.

(on the strong third-period play...)
O'SULLIVAN: ``That was our goal, to not really change the way we were playing and to keep going at them. We played a good entire 60 minutes tonight.''

(on his penalty-shot goal...)
O'SULLIVAN: ``That's kind of what I do in the shootouts, usually. I try to make a couple quick moves and see if the goalie will move first, and then go from there. That time, the blocker side was open.''

(on his penalty-shot strategy...)
O'SULLIVAN: ``It's totally dependent on who's in the net. I've had some good success thus far in my career on shootouts, and it depends on the goalie and which way the goalie catches and that. I try to come in on the same angle every time and make my move right around the hash marks.''

(on Kopitar's goal...)
O'SULLIVAN ``Kopi and Fro and myself were feeling it tonight, I think. We were making the short little plays. For me, those guys are so big and draw so much attention, it opens up more room for myself. All three of us are able to make quick plays, and it resulted in two goals tonight.''

(on whether the Kings are thinking about the playoffs...)
O'SULLIVAN: ``Yeah, I think a little bit. Obviously, this time of year that's going to come up. We've talked about playoffs since day one of the season. There's not a single guy in our dressing room or our organization who believes that we don't have a chance to get in. We're playing very consistent hockey right now, and if we continue to do that, we're going to give ourselves a chance every night, and that's all we can ask for.''

I'll update the scoring for tonight's game here, for those who need a recap...

FIRST PERIOD
No scoring

SECOND PERIOD
KINGS: Stoll, from Handzus and Brown, 10:23 (PP)
KINGS: Kopitar, from O'Sullivan and Frolov, 12:28
KINGS: O'Sullivan, 14:37 (penalty shot)

THIRD PERIOD
DEVILS: Zubrus from Rolston and Elias, 10:41

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone...

Oscar Moller will not play today, but it seems that barring any unforeseen setbacks, he will play Tuesday against the Islanders. Here's what Terry Murray said a few minutes ago about Moller...

MURRAY: ``He's ready to go. Physically, he's been pushing it hard and he's been doing everything we ask him to do, outside of playing in the games. It just comes down to a coach's decision right now. It's not going to be tonight, but we've got a couple days here before the next game and we'd sure like to get him in before the end of the road trip.''

Here's what Moller told the Kings' website about his status (more notes can be found here)

MOLLER: ``I'm feeling pretty good. I've been working hard and it's just up to the coaches (to decide when to re-introduce him to the lineup). They've said that they want to be 110 percent sure that I'm healthy. ... I feel pretty good right now.''

Also, Jonathan Quick will be back in goal tonight, after his extraordinary effort against Washington. Here's what Terry Murray said about Quick, particularly about Quick's third-period effort against the Caps...

MURRAY: ``Quick has played very well, although Ersberg is also ready now and he feels good. ... That was a very big period for QUick, against one of the top teams in the league. He was out there against the No. 1 goal scorer in the league, and he was able to keep his composure and make the saves. The D-men were jumping in there also, but he still had the concentration to find players on the ice. That was a real good third period, and it's something he can draw on, in terms of understanding what he can accomplish.''

I truly hesitate to do this, because it reads as though I'm talking down to people even though that's the farthest thing from my intention. But there is still almost one month until the trade deadline, and this thing is already death-spiraling out of control. Your e-mails and comments are ALWAYS welcomed, but I'm going to end up muttering to myself and wearing a bathrobe if I get any more ``Is there a Jason Spezza trade coming?'' e-mails.

There's NOTHING happening on that front right now, at all. Not unless I'm being massively deceived, when in this case I'm fairly certain there's zero reason for deception. Could it come up in the future? Perhaps, but I seriously, seriously doubt it.

My serious question is, why do people buy this stuff? Is it just sugary fun? Is this stuff really believable? If it's the former, I understand. Sports fandom, after all, is a hobby. If it's the latter, I honestly and sincerely hope that you re-evaluate how you get your news, not just about hockey but about everything happening in the world.

I'm sure that writing this will lead to a nasty e-mail in my inbox from someone, but I recently had several people asking me to confirm or deny a post on senschirp.ca. That led me to do two things: first, check out what in the world senschirp.ca was, and second, try to keep from smashing my head against the nearest wall. Really? Senschirp.ca? Yet another anonymous person who throws stuff out there while offering ZERO credentials for his or her ``reporting''? Honest to God, if we get to the point where legitimate reporting is seen as being on the same level as senschirp.ca, I'm just quitting. I'll find a new profession.

I'll stop my rant now, because nobody likes to hear a sportswriter complain. Let's make this productive. Here are some things that I CAN tell you about the trade deadline:

1) There are a lot of teams, over the next few weeks, that are going to be motivated to sell, either because of playoff positioning or because of bloated payrolls.

2) Dean Lombardi's phone will be ringing, a lot, because of the Kings' cap space. You're going to hear the Kings mentioned in a ton of trade rumors, because every other GM is going to have their eyes on the Kings, regardless of whether the Kings are even interested.

3) Just because the phone rings, and because GMs talk, doesn't mean a trade is coming. Usually, it's just talk. Often an offer is made and rejected. Sometimes an offer leads to a different offer, or talks about different players. Anyone who equates a talk with an automatic trade is severely misguided.

4) If I legitimately find out that the Kings have a serious interest in a player, I'll report it. If not, there's zero motivation for me to go chasing my tail trying to find out every single player that has been offered to Dean Lombardi. I'd never have time to eat.

If this irritated you, I apologize. We'll get back to talking about hockey with a live chat during tonight's game. They have been really enjoyable, thanks to your participation. If I can find out about Oscar Moller's status today, I'll let you know.

Thanks for the great input... Here are the four ideas I submitted to The Hockey News...

1. Pull off a hat trick that can only be accomplished in Southern California. Start the morning in Wrightwood with some skiing at the Mountain High resort, then drive 95 miles and go surfing in the afternoon at Venice Beach. Then drive 15 miles, downtown, to Staples Center for a Kings game.

2. Visit Bob Miller's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6763 Hollywood Blvd. Miller, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, has been the Kings' television play-by-play announcer since 1973. Two other iconic Los Angeles sports announcers, the Dodgers' Vin Scully and the Lakers' Chick Hearn, have been honored on the Walk of Fame.

3. Cruise Manhattan Beach and go autograph hunting. Even though Los Angeles is known for its suburban sprawl, many of the Kings players live in the exclusive city near the beach, southwest of downtown L.A., and are often seen out in the community.

4. Have a pregame double chili-cheeseburger at Tommy's, then visit the Wayne Greztky statue outside Staples Center, next to the statues honoring Magic Johnson and Oscar de la Hoya.

And since it came up, let's settle this. Vote for one. No other answers will be accepted.

Need a little help here... The Hockey News is doing a feature on things that are special and unique about each NHL city. I'm supposed to identify ``the must-sees and must-dos for a hockey fan. If a fan had a week to spend in your team's city/area, what things/people/events should he do/see?''

Any ideas?

This is from a couple days ago, but I think it's still relevant for discussion... I asked Terry Murray about those late-game penalties against Montreal (Calder) and Ottawa (Johnson) that were big topics of discussion for a few days...

MURRAY: ``That's just the way it's called in the game today. (Against Ottawa) the puck is dumped in on Jack. He makes a turn and seemed to get in the path of the forward. That's such a subjective call, but that's the letter of the law in the late part of the game. With Calder, I dont think he cross-checked the defenseman but he ran into him from behind. That's the kind of thing you have to be careful of. Everything is being watched with greater scrutiny. Those are the things we have to take out of those games. It's about the growth process. We're learning about playing with structure, and we have to make sure we're always learning something. I was really proud of our penalty killing in Ottawa. We gave them no time to get set up, with our pressure.''

It's accurate, not cruel, to say that Michal Handzus was awful last season. In the first year of a four-year, $16-million contract, Handzus had seven goals and 14 assists in 82 games and often got dropped to fourth-line center duties. In Handzus' defense, it was his first year back after ACL surgery, and that's usually a rough year on any athlete, but Handzus insisted that he was 100 percent. That's doubtful, because Handzus looks like a completely different player this season. He has 10 goals and 13 assists in 50 games, but more importantly, he's a monster on defense and the anchor of a shutdown line, something that the Kings have lacked for years. He has also been a strong mentor to Wayne Simmonds. Here's what Terry Murray said about Handzus' play this season...

MURRAY: ``He can do anything we ask. I have moved Michal Handzus to left wing and it's, `No problem, I can play left wing, I understand.' He has a great attitude about the game and his contribution to the team. He feels good about how he's playing. What I'm seeing from him now is what I saw from him in Philadelphia. He's a glue player who goes out and does hard work every night. He's blocking shots, winning faceoffs and centering a shutdown line as we get to critical points of the game. As a result of him playing that role, as a veteran, he also takes on more of the leadership and responsibility for helping the development of the young players.''

Some of you picked up on this last night, but this was Washington coach Bruce Boudreau's comment after last night's game:

"They've beaten us twice and we're a better team than them."

So which is correct, the scoreboard or the standings?

Here's what Kings coach Terry Murray said about the play of Jonathan Quick:

``Quick was pretty good. He's getting a lot of experience coming through all these new teams that he's never faced before, all these new players. And you come into this building (against) a team that's lost only three times this year... and he's facing one of the best goal-scorers in the game. And I thought his composure, his control was good and he's getting better every time he plays the game.''

More notes and quotes from the Kings' site can be found here.

All things considered, what do you think has been the Kings' best victory this season?

-- The Kings are now 4-1 in their last five road games.

-- The Kings were outshot 45-35 in the game, including 22-5 in the third period. The 45 shots against are a season high, topping the 44 shots that Edmonton had on Dec. 5 (in a overtime game).

-- The Kings, at 22-21-7, are over .500 in February for the first time since 2006.

-- Jonathan Quick made a career-high 41 saves -- his previous high was 36 on Jan. 21 against Colorado -- and has won five of his last six starts.

-- Anze Kopitar had two goals and one assist. It was Kopitar's second multi-goal game of the season and his third three-point game of the season. Kopitar also scored his fourth power-play goal of the season. He had 12 in 82 games last season.

-- Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov and Jarret Stoll each had two assists. Brown and Frolov tied for the team high with five shots on goal. Brown has six goals and six assists in his last seven games. Frolov has four assists in his last four games. Stoll has three goals and five assists in his last six games.

-- Drew Doughty played a team-high 23 minutes, 21 seconds. Frolov led all forwards at 22:37.

The Kings next play at New Jersey on Saturday...

For those who need a running recap...

FIRST PERIOD
Washington: Semin from Laich, 0:15
Kings: Kopitar from Stoll and Brown, 8:55 (PP)

SECOND PERIOD
Kings: Kopitar from Frolov and O'Donnell, 0:13
Kings: Handzus from Frolov, 1:02 (SH)
Washington: Green from Backstrom and Theodore, 1:43 (PP)
Kings: O'Sullivan from Kopitar and Quincey, 7:26

THIRD PERIOD
Washington: Ovechkin, 10:32
Kings: Calder from Brown and Stoll, 18:27
Washington: Green from Backstrom and Fedorov, 18:54

Postgame notes to come...

Thanks for chatting tonight, everyone...

We'll get the game chat going here soon, for those who want to chat during the game (4 p.m. start in the West). For now, you can check out a real nice blog that I've become familiar with. On Frozen Blog is about the Washington Capitals, and it's run by three folks who do a really nice job of covering the team, even though they're not professional journalists. In the interest of full disclosure, one of the guys, Mike, is a friend of one of my closest friends, and I got to meet him over the weekend, but I'd have praise for them even if that wasn't the case. It's a good example of an entertaining blog that actually practices some responsible online journalism. What a concept!

Apparently, some news of this came out while I was out of town over the weekend, but here's the deal on Tom Preissing. He suffered some dizziness after the flight to Ottawa over the weekend and got sent back to Los Angeles for tests this week. Here's what Murray said today about Preissing's status...

MURRAY: ``He has dizziness issues, and that's all I really know. It happened as we got into Ottawa. He had a couple days in practice where he was not feeling good, feeling dizzy. The decision was made to let him get back to L.A., to see if they could find something. I'm not assuming anything here, and not trying to compare, but when I was with Philadelphia as an assistant coach, we had (goalie) Jeff Hackett come through from Montreal after a trade. He came in and played and got vertigo, and he wasn't able to play. He never did play again; that was it for him. Don't read into that with Preissing; it's just what happened with that one player. Hopefully the doctors find something that's just an infection and it's taken of.''

Jonathan Quick will be back in goal tonight against Washington. Quick recorded his third shutout of the season on Tuesday, coming off a late, disappointing loss to Montreal on Saturday. Quick is 4-1 in his last five starts and, for the season, has a 2.36 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Here's what Murray said today about Quick...

MURRAY: ``He played well in Ottawa. We were not sharp with our management of the puck and (the Senators) came back at us quickly and he was solid. His game is good right now. Every experience for him is good right now. Every start he gets, especially when you're on the road in these Canadian cities, it's a good experience. It's always different on the road, especially in Canada, and it's a great growth time.''

For those who missed it on Tuesday, Brad Richardson played part of the game without the ``D'' on the back of his jersey. It's probably just a coincidence that Richardson also played his best game of the season, and assisted on the game's only goal. Richardson has been playing on a line with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds, and Terry Murray likes what he has seen in the three games since Richardson returned from his freak leg injury...

MURRAY: ``He's getting better as the games go. His best game, clearly, was the game in Ottawa. His role is to play with Handzus on the line we like to call the checking line, and they ended up scoring the winning goal as a result of being responsible. He brings good quickness and speed on the puck. He's applying good pressure on the forecheck. His game is getting better and I'm hoping he's feeling more comfortable. He's showing what he can do. I really don't know his game very well just yet. In training camp, we used him at center and wing, and then he missed a big chunk of time with the injury. I don't know what he can bring, exactly, and he would probably say the same thing about himself because he didn't really get a consistent opportunity to play in a role with Colorado.''

Terry Murray reports that Oscar Moller continues to make progress in his recovery from his shoulder injury, and it seems that as long as there are no setbacks in the next couple days, Moller has a good chance of cracking the lineup Saturday at New Jersey. Here's what Murray said...

Question: It seems as though Moller is getting close. Do you see him getting back in the lineup in the next couple days?

MURRAY: ``I do. I don't say that to be absolute, but he's doing well. He's doing all the extra stuff after practice, all the battles on the boards and all the 1-on-1 stuff we do to test the shoulder. He's coming out of all that feeling good. He went back at it today after the morning skate. I have a sense that he's close to 100 percent. We'll have a real good feel for it after tomorrow's practice.''

Question: Do you get a sense of what he can bring to the team when he returns?

MURRAY: ``He has played well. He brings an offensive element to the game. He's not an impact player for our team right now, but he can complement a line and he can play well on the power play. He has good composure and imagination on the power play. I don't see it at the level where you put a player back in and there's going to be a huge bounce.''

The in-game chat on Tuesday seemed to go really well, on really short notice. Anyone up for one tonight, or is there not a need since the game is on TV?

Also, if anyone has any BRIEF questions/topics for Terry Murray to answer, I'm going to try to get him on the phone in a little while, after the skate.

An interesting story just moved on the Associated Press wire about the NHL players' association being open to changing the fighting rules. Specifically, should players be required to keep helmets on, and should the ``staged'' fights be eliminated? The full story follows, after the jump...

One more thing from the notes today...

Oscar Moller skated with the fourth line in practice today, but he was one of four forwards in the fourth-line jersey. Based on past experience -- and nothing really more, so don't read too much into it -- that probably means Moller is still a couple days away. Moller being in a non-yellow jersey means he's much closer, but it's still probably better than a 50-50 bet that he will need a couple more days.

Also, this got mentioned in the game chat last night, but not on the blog itself...Marc-Andre Cliche (finally) got activated from injured reserve -- he separated his shoulder in training camp -- and assigned to Manchester.

I haven't received my usual number of ``Is this trade happening?'' e-mails today. Not a lot of news on www.weknowwhatsreallyhappeninginthenhl.com today?

Here's something cool out of the Kings' trip to Washington, D.C., today. Wayne Simmonds, along with Willie O'Ree, the NHL's first black player, and the Caps' Donald Brashear and Nicklas Backstrom, was scheduled to visit the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club in Southeast D.C. The club includes the oldest minority youth hockey program in the U.S. "I always want to give back and I think it's a good thing that we're doing it," Simmonds told the Kings' web site. "It's always good to support the cause and help out the little kids."

More notes...

Royal Road Report: Drewiske Debuts

Michal Handzus scored with 2:39 remaining in regulation to give the Kings the victory. Wayne Simmonds worked the puck out of the corner to Handzus, who was all alone behind the net and scored on a quick wraparound.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves for his third shutout of the season (and his career), and had to help kill a late 6-on-4 penalty after a dubious interference penalty was called on Jack Johnson.

Consensus on game MVP seemed to be split between Handzus and Quick, with honorable mentions going to Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds.

The Kings were outshot 29-26 but came back fairly strong in the third period after a second-period slumber. Kyle Calder had a team-high four shots on goal and Jarret Stoll was credited with four hits.

Thanks for chatting on short notice tonight, everyone...

The Kings have yet another promotion to sell tickets ... a President's Day sale starting tomorrow. Here's the release from the Kings:

Here's a story in the Ottawa Sun in preview of tonight's Kings-Ottawa game. The Ottawa Senators play for the first time since Craig Hartsburg was fired. Cory Clouston, 39, makes his debut as Ottawa's interim coach.

Here's general manager Dean Lombardi on the suspension:
``We didn't believe he deserved a penalty, let alone a
suspension. When you
stop the tape, his elbow is clearly down and at the point of contact,
his feet are on the ice. They both ended up halfway up the boards, so
it's not a charge.
I understand when you see it at full speed and the way they end
up on top of each other it looks more criminal than it is. When you
slowed it down, was his elbow down? Yes. Were his feet on the ice at
the point of impact? Yes.''

Our blogs have been down a few times today, so I'm just wondering if any of you had trouble posting comments. Let me know if you did and I'll pass the word along. Thanks.

Part of the reason Davis Drewiske was recalled from the AHL is that defenseman Matt Greene's status is day-to-day. He took a puck to his foot, and therefore his status for tomorow's game against Ottawa is uncertain.

Following Denis Gauthier's five-game suspension, the Kings have recalled defenseman Davis Drewiske from Manchester. Drewiske is tied for second on the Monarchs roster with a plus-four rating.
Here's the release from the Kings:

Denis Gauthier has been suspended for five games by the NHL after a hit against Montreal's Josh Gorges in which he left his feet.
Here's the release and details on the suspension:

I'm wondering what you will remember the most when it comes to a couple of Denis Gauthier blunders....his turnover deep in the Kings' zone late in the third period in which the Kings lost to the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout earlier this year or the hit against Josh Gorges in which Gauthier left his feet in the loss to Montreal?

Montreal defenseman Alex Henry made his Canadiens debut after he was recalled from Hamilton of the AHL on Sunday. Josh Gorges was held out of the lineup after the hit by Denis Gauthier on Saturday.
This is from the Gazette in Montreal on Gorges' status: The Canadiens say he's day-to-day, but the evidence suggests that he has a concussion and it's unlikely he'll return before next weekend. Gauthier, meanwhile, has been summoned to a league hearing (tomorrow) and faces a suspension.

Let's predict the final score of today's Super Bowl between the Steelers and Cardinals. I know the Steelers are the popular choice, but remember no one thought the Giants would beat the Patriots last year, either.