First-line recount

After some consolation with Anze Kopitar, it has been determined that Dustin Brown will actually become the Kings’ seventh first-line left-winger this season. I had counted six, but Kopitar is accurate in that Michal Handzus played on his wing during the third period of the San Jose game this month, so technically Brown becomes No. 7.

“But who’s counting, right?” Kopitar said. “Lucky number seven, I hope.”

Brown, a right-handed shot, will be playing on his off wing tonight, with Kopitar and Wayne Simmonds, but that’s nothing new for Brown, who has done it, on and off, throughout his NHL and international career. Brown has also played on Kopitar’s left side at times, so there’s something of a comfort level there, Kopitar said.

KOPITAR: “We’ve actually talked about that. He said he feels pretty comfortable on the left side. He told me he played left wing on the American national team for a while, and I’ve had him on the left wing too. I think he’s really effective coming down on his off wing, having the puck on the inside instead of the outside. Obviously there are pluses and minuses to that. Coming out of the zone, he’s going to have to make plays on his backhand, but he’s the type of player that is capable of doing it, so I’m not too worried about that.”

Terry Murray reiterated this morning that playing off-wing can be a challenge, but that he remains confident in Brown’s ability to do it.

MURRAY: “When you play your off side, the big difference, maybe on the negative side of things, is just on your breakouts. You’re on your off side, and you’ve got to present your stick a different way. That can be a big adjustment. A lot of players cannot make it. Brownie has been on the left side with the Kings. I have used him on the left side and he played in the Olympics on the left side, so he does have that experience. On the other side of it, on the offensive part, that really gives him a green light to use his speed and size to drive hard to the net off the left wing and also open up for one-timers. Right now, we’re looking at a big adjustment for him, in my mind, but because he has been there several times in the past, I’m hoping that it goes pretty smoothly in the transition.”

The Kings hope moving Brown, and promoting Simmonds, can get the first line going. Murray doesn’t want to touch the line of Ryan Smyth, Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams — more on that later — so there are only so many tweaks he can make, and Kopitar suggested that the Kings’ issues during this slump are more in their own heads than on the coach’s lineup sheet.

KOPITAR: “I wish I knew. It’s one of those things. i think we lost our mojo a little bit during this slide here. During a slide like this, you kind of lose your confidence. Everything is happening faster than normally. We just have to calm down, I think, and just play the game we did at the beginning of the year. It was working for us. I don’t think we’ve changed a whole lot. It’s just a matter of going back to the stuff that makes us successful.”