Marriott Muzzin

Jake Muzzin isn’t picking up many airline miles, because he hasn’t had a consistent carrier, but he said he’s pleased to be picking up some Marriott points, though. Muzzin is back with the Kings for a second time. Assigned to Manchester on Oct. 23, when Matt Greene returned to the lineup, Muzzin returned two days later. Then, when Drew Doughty returned, Muzzin was assigned to Manchester on Nov. 3. Now, a week later, he’s back, due to Willie Mitchell’s wrist injury, and is expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night. Muzzin had one goal and one assist in two games in his latest stint with the Monarchs.

“It was good to go down to Manchester,” Muzzin said. “I played a lot of minutes in those games, and I got a lot of confidence playing in those games. I come back here with a lot of confidence, and I just want to continue growing and building as a player, and hopefully I can help out the guys here.”

Before Muzzin’s last trip to Manchester, Murray said the coaches would meet with Muzzin and talk to him about his game. Today, Muzzin talked about the feedback from the coaching staff.

MUZZIN: “Me, Hexy [Ron Hextall], John (Stevens) and Jamie (Kompon) went over some video, just some little things that I need to improve on, and some stuff I’ve got to continue doing and some of the good stuff I can’t let slide away, that has given me my success. Mostly positive things, and just not to go down with a bad attitude or moping around. I’m pretty easygoing, so I was happy to be here, happy to be there, just kind of enjoying life right now.”

And here are Murray’s thoughts on Muzzin, who has one assist in eight games with the Kings this season.

“We liked what we saw,” Murray said. “He went back because of a player coming off IR. He went down with a good attitude, worked hard, and was not down a long time, mind you, but we liked the things that he contributed to our team.”

Murray expressed satisfaction with Muzzin’s statement that it was “good” to have a stint in Manchester.

“That’s the attitude that you always have to go back with,” Murray said. “If you carry that kind of game to the minors, from the NHL, as a young player, you’re going to get better. You’ll improve every day, you’ll get rewarded with important minutes in critical situation and you’re going to find confidence. The confidence will grow very quickly.”