Searching for some secondary scoring

The addition of Dustin Penner seems to have boosted the Kings’ first line — Penner, Kopitar and Justin Williams have combined for eight even-strength goals in seven games together — but the rising tide has not lifted the second line’s boat. In those same seven games, the line of Dustin Brown, Ryan Smyth and Jarret Stoll has one goal, that one belonging to Brown. The Kings went 4-2-1 in those games, but going forward, they’re likely to need more from the second unit, and in particular they would like to see increased production from Smyth, who has one goal in his last 21 games (that goal came against Anaheim on Feb. 23). Terry Murray was asked today about his expectation level for Smyth for the rest of the season…

MURRAY: “The expectations are, this is the time to be a veteran player. This is the critical time of the year. Everything is on the line, and this is where you need your veteran players to shoulder a big part of the responsibility. They know how to play, in this time of the year. They know how to deal with it, emotionally, physically, how to prepare for it with resting and rehydration. Everything is in place, because you’ve done it many, many times before, so that you can be the best that you can be, in any given game. This is what we need right now.”