Murray `screwed up’ with off day

All the talk of last night’s booing has taken some of the attention off what actually happened on the ice — and perhaps that was Terry Murray’s intention? — in a game in which the Kings simply seemed to be playing on an empty tank from the opening faceoff. One can blame the after-effects of a week-long, intense road trip, or just chalk it up to an inevitable, occasional bad night, but Terry Murray also shouldered some of the blame today. The Kings arrived home from Nashville at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, and Murray chose to give the players a full day off rather than bring them to the rink for an afternoon practice…

MURRAY: “You come back after four games, and the way we dug in with the physical effort and the emotional effort that you had to put into it, there really is not a lot left to draw on, whenever you have one day off only. And I think I screwed up. We should have practiced (Wednesday). I think I should have brought the team to the rink for a 12:30 (p.m.), 30-minute skill session only, just to keep your mind in it, keep your body going, flush the legs out. I’ve got to take a lot of responsibility for that. With a young hockey club, especially, it’s very easy to take that sigh of relief, coming off the road, and saying, `Now it’s going to be a little easier,’ when it only gets harder. That could be a part of it, with the game last night.”