The final NHL games before the Olympic break are being played today, and teams will not be allowed to practice again until next Wednesday, Feb. 24. That’s when the Kings will return, with a 2 p.m. practice, and they will have up to six days of practice before their March 2 game at Dallas. Of [...]

Let the Games begin, and now it’s Kings vs. Kings. Three countries — the United States (Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick), Canada (Drew Doughty) and Slovakia (Michal Handzus) — will have Kings players representing them at the Olympic hockey tournament, and while the players (at least publicly) have been saying all the right things [...]

Rich Clune had two assists Saturday night, for his first multi-point game in his second NHL game. He also did it in front of family, as his father and a cousin made the trip out from Toronto… CLUNE: “My dad and my cousin made it out. Someone let them down to the bench area at [...]

Here’s my LAKings.com game story from tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading! Kings beat Avalanche 3-0

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the Kings’ 60-minute game…) MURRAY: “A real good third period, I thought. When you have a one-goal lead, you really have to dig in and do the right things, managing the puck the right way. I thought everybody bought in to what needed to be done to finish the game [...]

Dustin Brown’s postgame thoughts… (on the win…) BROWN: “Obviously, this game result is better and we feel better. The important thing is that the start of our game has not been good as of late.  Tonight I thought we had a really good start… We have been able to play good seconds and thirds lately, [...]

Drew Doughty’s postgame thoughts… DOUGHTY: “It’s huge getting that win in that last game. I know that our focus tonight was exactly how it has to be for all of our games. We kept things simple and didn’t do too many cute things. That’s why we came out strong and came out with a win. [...]

Jonathan Quick’s postgame thoughts… (on the team’s success this season…) QUICK: “The team has done a great job of maturing and coming together. Right from the summer, we put a big emphasis on gelling together as a team and coming together as a team, and I think it has really showed this year, so far. [...]

With the victory, the Kings go into the Olympic break with 78 points in 61 games this season. Last season, the Kings totaled 79 points in 82 games. Jonathan Quick recorded his second shutout of the season. More from the locker room ASAP…

Oscar Moller made it 3-0 Kings at the 7:02 mark. Rich Clune pushed the puck ahead to Moller in the neutral zone, and Moller brought the puck into the offensive zone with speed. Moller fired a laser wrist shot from the middle of the left circle and beat Anderson. Jack Johnson also picked up an [...]

The Kings took a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 3:48 into the third period. Jack Johnson got it started when he carried the puck below the goal line, then fed it up to Anze Kopitar in the right circle. As Ryan Smyth moved to the front of the net to provide traffic, Kopitar shot [...]

It would be hard to imagine a bigger momentum shift than the one the Kings had in the second period. They killed a five-minute penalty and then, 1:22 later, they scored a goal. Shots were 12-6 Colorado in the period.

Rob Scuderi’s boarding penalty put the Kings on the penalty kill for five minutes. They got the job done, and then Scuderi helped give them the lead less than two minutes later. Scuderi’s point shot from the right side got tipped by Brad Richardson. Rich Clune also got an assist for his first NHL point.

In a first period that was miles better than the one played by the Kings and Edmonton two nights ago, the Kings outshot the Avalanche 9-4. Colorado didn’t get its first shot on goal until the nine-minute mark, and each team had one power play.

For those looking to catch up on today’s news, please check out my LAKings.com notebook. Kings notebook (Feb. 13) In other exciting news, tonight’s national anthem is being sung by Deborah Gibson, a.k.a. 80s pop star Debbie Gibson. Definitely the anthem highlight of the year.

Here’s what Terry Murray said today about the status of both Randy Jones and Davis Drewiske. Jones has five goals and nine assists in 27 games this season but has been a healthy scratch in his last three games. Drewiske has struggled to make an impact since returning from a shoulder injury… (on Jones…) MURRAY: [...]

Jack Johnson is now officially a United States Olympian. He traveled to Vancouver yesterday — flew to Washington, drove to Vancouver — and marched in the Olympic opening ceremony, then flew back to Los Angeles. Tomorrow, he will be headed back to Vancouver, along with Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Michal Handzus and Jonathan Quick. Here’s [...]

Randy Jones will return to the Kings’ lineup tonight, in place of Davis Drewiske. No other lineup changes are expected, other than Jonathan Quick returning to goal. Jack Johnson made it back from Vancouver, and the Olympic opening ceremony, and skated this morning. More on that, and other stuff, to come…

Rich Clune made his NHL debut Thursday night, and most likely earned a chance to stay around. Clune played 11 minutes, 9 seconds, had one shot on goal and moved up to the third line after Scott Parse struggled. Most importantly for Clune, he drew one penalty and didn’t take one. Here’s what Terry Murray [...]

Jonathan Quick, kept out of Thursday night’s game because of flu symptoms, returned to practice today and is expected to be back in goal tomorrow night when the Kings host Colorado. True to his quiet nature, Quick had a two-word answer when asked how he felt: “I’m good.” He was a little more expansive when [...]