Killer instinct needed

There were a lot of good feelings in the Kings’ locker room after Tuesday’s victory over the Sharks, but there was one glaring statistic: the Kings were 0 for 4 on the penalty kill. That was particularly surprising since the Kings, for the most part, had shown much improvement on the penalty kill last season, when they ranked seventh in the NHL (82.8 success rate).

So far this season, the Kings are 2 for 7 on the penalty kill. Will Tuesday’s game end up being a blip on the radar, against a talented offensive team? Maybe, but the Sharks were also 2 for 12 on the power play in their first two games. Is Terry Murray concerned?

MURRAY: “I am (concerned), but as I said last night, I look at the way (the Sharks) move the puck around, and also the Phoenix team, the way they move the puck around on the power play. That was pretty good stuff. But we’re a better penalty-kill team than what we’ve shown. We know that, from how it all came together last year. We’ve got to get better at it, there’s no question.”

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