“Shot mentality” is one of Terry Murray’s most-used phrases — it has a slight lead over “hard and heavy” this season — and it’s easy to see why Murray feels the need to stress it. The Kings had a solid stretch, in terms of shot totals, earlier this month — they had at least 34 [...]

There’s been a theme during the Kings’ three-game losing streak. They have allowed the first goal in each game. In fact, the Kings have a 3-7-0 record this season when allowing the first goal, as opposed to a 10-2-0 record when scoring the first goal. Moreover, it could be said that the Kings sometimes have [...]

As posted last night, Brayden Schenn’s conditioning assignment in Manchester has come to an end, and Schenn is expected to be back on the ice with the Kings when they practice tomorrow. Will that lead to Schenn playing a game? Schenn is still stuck on eight games, and can play one more before the Kings [...]

John Zeiler arrived in Anaheim this morning, and he will be in the Kings’ lineup tonight as the fourth-line center, between Brad Richardson and Kevin Westgarth (who, because of his broken nose, will wear a face shield). Zeiler’s game is the same as it was when he played 86 games for the Kings from 2007-09. [...]

John Zeiler will go into the Kings’ lineup tonight as the fourth-line center, between Brad Richardson and Kevin Westgarth. Dwight King comes out of the lineup, and no other changes are expected. More notes and quotes to come from the skate…

Those looking for positives in the Kings’ play of late can point to…well, not much, but there is, at least, the play of Alec Martinez. Called up last week, and put into a high-profile pairing with Drew Doughty, Martinez has proved to be capable, and looks far more poised, with and without the puck, than [...]

It’s one of the strangest facts in Southern California sports. Since the Ducks joined the NHL in 1993, the Kings and Ducks have never made the playoffs in the same season. Well, if the playoffs started this morning — they don’t, so don’t panic — neither team would be among the top eight in the [...]

According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, who is the king of the waiver-wire transactions, John Zeiler has cleared and will be eligible to join the Kings this morning. Because it’s a road game — albeit a nearby one — the Kings won’t be on the ice until 11:30 a.m. in Anaheim for their morning skate.

The AHL’s Manchester Monarchs have been the anti-Kings of late. While their parent club has stumbled through a 1-6-0 skid, the Monarchs have won four consecutive games and eight of their last nine games. The Monarchs swept their three weekend games by a combined score of 18-5. Brayden Schenn has now completed his conditioning assignment [...]

Terry Murray grew up in frosty Quebec and spends part of his free time in Maine, so he knows something about firewood and kindling. In referencing his team’s recent play today, Murray said, “The wood is wet, and the spark is not setting a fire right now.” Is it possible that John Zeiler could be [...]

The merit of the plus-minus statistic has been discussed ad nauseum, and there’s really nothing to add to the debate. It’s a widely-recognized statistic, though, and if you accept the idea that its fluctuations will even out over the course of a full season, it’s at least useful in terms of evaluating one defenseman against [...]

When the Kings were approximately 10 minutes behind their usual schedule, in terms of getting on the ice this morning, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what was happening. The grim-faced players finally emerged from the locker room, having been put through a highly-critical film session, one that probably looked like something directed by Wes [...]

Willie Mitchell (broken wrist) and Alexei Ponikarovsky (broken finger) both skated before practice today, and both will be looking to get good news from the doctor soon. Terry Murray said today that Ponikarovsky will go for another x-ray tomorrow, and hopes to get fitted with a softer cast, and that Mitchell will have an x-ray [...]

Kevin Westgarth was still smiling this morning. Breathing? That too, although it might have been a little more difficult. Westgarth said he likely suffered a broken nose during last night’s fight with the city of Chicago’s only known mountain, John Scott. Scott measures in at 6-foot-8 and north of 250 pounds, so Westgarth knew what [...]

Practice started a few minutes late today, and after it ended, Terry Murray indicated that he had put the players through a tough, critical film session. Murray said that he would keep the top three lines intact at the start of tomorrow’s game but indicated he would be open to making changes during the game. [...]

Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings lost for the sixth time in seven games, 2-1 to Chicago on Saturday night, and fell to ninth place in the Western Conference, tied in points with San Jose but ahead by goal differential. – The Kings, after a 12-3-0 start, are now 13-9-0. Through 22 [...]

Here are some quotes from the Chicago dressing room last night… COACH JOEL QUENNEVILLE (on the game…) “I think that was probably our best team game, as far as finding ways to get through it. Everybody’s sticking together and battling right through it. Crow [Corey Crawford] was great in the net for us tonight, a [...]

Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading… Kings lose to Blackhawks 2-1 The Kings are scheduled to practice at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the recent lack of scoring…) MURRAY: “Scoring’s not there. There were good flurries at the end, in the last seven or eight minutes of the third period, which gives you an opportunity. But the consistency of that kind of an attitude needs to be there. It’s not. It says on [...]

Dustin Brown’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) BROWN: “We had some good momentum going until they got that (first) goal. They’re a good team, and they know how to protect a lead, but we also didn’t attack until maybe the last five minutes of the game. We didn’t have the intensity. We didn’t have the [...]