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…

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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.”