Time for a change on shootouts?

The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” could easily have applied to the Kings’ shootout choices. The Kings had been 5-0 in shootouts this season before last night’s loss to Minnesota, although to be fair, that had as much (if not much more) to do with goalie Jonathan Quick’s success than the shooters’ success. Last night, the Kings’ regular shootout participants — Anze Kopitar, Jack Johnson and Dustin Brown — went 0-for-3 against Niklas Backstrom, and that trio, for the season, is a combined 4-for-16. Meanwhile, Michal Handzus is 2-for-3 and Jarret Stoll is 3-for-4. The question, then — particularly after a shootout loss — is valid: at what point does Terry Murray consider making changes to his well-established shootout lineup?

MURRAY: “I consider it every time we do a shootout, but I end up coming back to what we agree, what we feel, is our best three guys in those looks. Last night, Backstrom poke-checked on all three shooters, and very successfully on Kopi. He does the same on Jack and misses, and normally when the goaltender poke-checks and misses, you know you can chalk it up on the board, but he makes an incredible stop. But it’s a good question, a good point. I do consider it, and it maybe is coming to that time where you just need to shake the hat up a little bit and get a different order out of your group. We do talk about it, and I did consider it last night, changing it up, and maybe I should have.

“Handzus would have been the fourth shooter. He was the guy that, I felt last night, with the poke-check going, he’s got pretty good hands in tight and he shoots the puck on that stick side, right above the pad, and that’s the perfect opportunity for Zeus. He would have been the next shooter.”

Besides the five players mentioned, Justin Williams is the only other Kings player to try a shootout attempt this season, and he is 0-for-3. Looking at the career shootout numbers, the Kings’ most successful shooters are Handzus (56.3 percent), Kopitar (43.5 percent) and Stoll (41.2 percent).