`Inner arrogance’

After today’s morning skate, Terry Murray was asked what his message was to the team today. There is plenty of subtext to today’s game, with the ever-tight playoff race, the Kings’ four-game winless streak and their seven-game winless streak against the Nashville Predators. The Kings held a morning skate today, which isn’t typical before the second of back-to-back games. Also not typical is the fact that 14 skaters, and all three goalies, participated, a larger-than-normal number for any optional skate. Afterward, Murray talked about his message to the team…

MURRAY: “This is part of a process that you go through, and I’ve seen it with other teams that I’ve coached. We’re a little bit on that `afraid to win’ side right now, where your game is a little out of sync and the hesitancy is there in the early part of the game. As we go into later in the game and we’re down by a goal, two goals, now we start to play the way that we have shown most of the year. It’s easy to stand here and say that to a young group of guys, but that’s the way you need to come out. Just play the game. Relax. Have confidence in your game. You try not to be afraid to win. So that’s the message. I like what we’ve done in the last several games at the end. Again, we’re down but we’re playing some really good third periods. We have some good things happening with our attitude and our game, and that’s the style that you have to show at the beginning.

“We won’t talk about Nashville, quite honestly. It’s now about the L.A. Kings. We put ourselves in a little bit of a situation here that we have to climb out and play our game. If you do that, then you give yourself an opportunity to win a game. I know our record against Nashville is not good, but right now the priority is the L.A. Kings. Our mindset going into games is that we’re hesitant, we have a little bit of that fear of winning, and I just want a little more of that inner arrogance, going out and playing and showing a little strut in your game. `You’re a good team, you’re a solid group of guys, and take that confidence onto the ice and begin the games like that.”’