The Kings outshot the Stars 18-5 in that period… The Kings are 4-0 this season when leading after two periods. Jinx?

The Kings cycled and cycled in the offensive zone, and it paid off when Justin Williams, behind the net, fed a centering pass to Anze Kopitar. Kopitar, near the middle of the left circle, one-timed a shot through the smallest of holes in the top left corner to give the Kings a two-goal lead with [...]

A nice play by Matt Greene, at the blue line, to keep the puck in the Dallas zone. Then Greene quickly shot the puck and Justin Williams, to the right of the net, redirected it past Turco to give the Kings the lead 13:26 into the second period. Ryan Smyth also got an assist.

Ryan Smyth scored another Ryan Smyth goal. With the Kings in danger of wasting a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:37, Dustin Brown took a shot from the left circle and Smyth, in front of the net, deflected it. Marty Turco got a piece of the puck, but it trickled across the goal line with [...]

Brenden Morrow controlled the puck behind the Kings’ net, then made a perfect, no-look centering pass. Jamie Benn got behind both Jack Johnson and Rob Scuderi and, alone in front of Jonathan Quick, one-timed the pass into the net with 2:42 left in the first period.

In an oh-so-slightly less controversial move, Terry Murray also decided to scratch rookie Trevor Lewis, who has zero points and a minus-2 rating in four games this season. Here’s what Murray said about removing Lewis from the lineup. MURRAY: “I just didn’t like his game (Saturday). I had a meeting with him this morning. His [...]

Asked about what the lines would look like tonight, with Frolov out and Richardson back in, Terry Murray said he wasn’t completely sure yet, but offered these possible lines: Smyth-Kopitar-Williams Purcell-Stoll-Brown Ivanans-Handzus-Simmonds Moller-Richarsdon-Harrold The players seemed to be getting closer to health. Brad Richardson said he felt substantially better than he did Saturday and was [...]

I just had a quick interview with Dean Lombardi regarding Alexander Frolov’s status. Again, I have requested that Frolov be made available for an interview before the game. I’ll certainly let you know if that does or doesn’t happen… —– Question: Terry indicated that when he tries to talk to Frolov, he’s not getting any [...]

Here’s what Terry Murray said, after today’s morning skate, about Alexander Frolov being scratched. Frolov stayed on the ice (with Trevor Lewis) long after the rest of the players left the ice — typical for scratched players — and stayed after the bus left. I have put in a request to talk with Frolov before [...]

Terry Murray just said that Alexander Frolov will be out of the lineup tonight, along with Trevor Lewis. Murray had strong words about Frolov, in terms of his game and his commitment to the game. I’ll be posting quotes ASAP.

The Kings are still on the ice for their morning skate, but Dallas coach Marc Crawford just said that Brad Richards will miss tonight’s game with a sore groin. Richards has a team-high nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games.

Before I head out for the morning skate…I saw a question the other day about the lines in Manchester. Here’s how the Monarchs been skating the last couple games without Oscar Moller.  The sight of Azevedo (5-foot-7) and Westgarth (6-foot-4) together on that fourth line must really be something… —– Scott Parse-Andrei Loktionov-Bud Holloway Gabe [...]

The Manchester Monarchs won again, this time 6-1 over Springfield on Sunday. Corey Elkins, Juraj Mikus, Bud Holloway, Andrei Loktionov, Scott Parse and David Meckler had goals for the Monarchs, who led 6-0 and outshot Springfield 36-22 (including 16-7 in the first period). The Monarchs were 4 for 6 on the power play. That’s right, [...]

Of all the problems on the road trip, scoring (or a lack thereof) is the most obvious. The Kings, in their five games, have scored 2, 2, 2, 2 and 1 goals. Give some credit, at least, to the last three opposing goalies — Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Osgood and Steve Mason are no slouches – [...]

Today is a total rest day for the Kings, with no practice or team responsibilities. The goal of the day, according to Terry Murray, was to get as healthy as possible. The Kings, last night, even took the step of buying additional hotel rooms, so that most players wouldn’t have to double up in rooms. [...]

Alexander Frolov’s awful first-period pass, by itself, didn’t cost the Kings the game last night, but it seemed emblematic of the Kings’ game. They were playing a strong all-around first period until Frolov, with the puck near the boards, decided to pass high instead of (the much safer) low. Columbus’ Jason Chimera easily picked off [...]

Through eight games, how do the Kings measure up to last season in key statistical categories? This season’s stat and league ranking is followed by those from last season. Points/game: 1.0 (T18th); 0.96 (26th) Goals/game: 3.00 (T15th); 2.46 (27th) Goals against/game: 3.50 (T24th); 2.76 (11th) Power play: 21.0 percent (15th); 19.2 percent (T13th) Penalty kill: [...]

Jonathan Bernier stopped all 29 shots he faced Saturday night as Manchester beat Portland 4-0 in the Monarchs’ home opener. Bernier improved to 4-1 and the Monarchs improved to 4-2. Bud Holloway scored two goals, Viatcheslav Voynov and Scott Parse both had one goal, Andrei Loktionov had two assists and Parse, Meckler, Gauthier, Holloway and [...]

One more for the night… Game notes, and a couple items at the bottom: –The Kings went 0 for 5 on the power play and are now 1 for 17 on the power play in their last three games. The power-play unit also allowed Rick Nash’s shorthanded goal in the third period. The Kings went [...]

For those who have asked about quotes from the opposing team, I found some tonight. Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock quotes follow… (on tonight’s game…) “Our defense is a little bit unsung right now. (Mathieu) Roy stepped up tonight and gave us good minutes and (Marc) Methot stepped up and gave us good minutes. Between the [...]