Here’s my LAKings.com game recap for tonight, with stats and pictures included. Thanks for reading… Kings beat Ducks 3-1 The Kings will fly to Las Vegas in the morning in advance of tomorrow night’s “Frozen Fury” game against Colorado. I will pass along news of any roster cuts when it is available.

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on whether Penner was unable to play…) MURRAY: “No, that was just me making a change in the lineup. I wanted to see Kinger [Dwight King] one more time. And I was kind of pleased with the way he performed, with a last-minute decision like that. What a great play on [...]

Willie Mitchell’s postgame thoughts… (on his goal…) MITCHELL: “It’s preseason. A guy who only scores five (goals) a year, you don’t want to use them up in the preseason. We were talking about that after. It’s like, `Hey, you only get five a year, you’re a defensive defenseman, you want to kind of save them [...]

After the game, when asked about Dustin Penner’s status, and why he missed the game, Terry Murray paused, then said that he made the decision to scratch Penner in order to get another look at Dwight King. Before the game, a team spokesman said Penner “had an injury,” and that Murray would give an update [...]

A reminder that tonight’s game is available only on 1150-AM and affiliates, and you can follow the game action here as well… NOTE: Dustin Penner was a late scratch from the game, with an undisclosed injury. I’m hoping for an update after the game. Dwight King took Penner’s spot in the lineup. THIRD PERIOD In [...]

There’s a game to be played tonight in Anaheim, and then tomorrow morning it’s off to Las Vegas for the “Frozen Fury” game against Colorado tomorrow night. Who was there 20 years ago, when the Kings played in Las Vegas for the first time? It was Sept. 27, 1991, when the Kings and New York [...]

Just in time for the biggest road trip of the season, Dustin Brown gets his road roommate back. Brown and Drew Doughty are good friends, so it’s fair to say that on several fronts, Brown will be glad to have Doughty back in the fold. Here’s what Brown said, after this morning’s skate, about Doughty’s [...]

Well, there’s one significant roster move…center Andrei Loktionov has been assigned to Manchester of the AHL. As noted in a post a couple days ago, Loktionov essentially got caught in a numbers game. The Kings prefer him at center, but that position is already manned by Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis. [...]

Dean Lombardi — probably resting somewhere — has so far declined to talk about Drew Doughty’s new contract, but assistant GM Ron Hextall did talk about Doughty today. Also, for photographic proof that Doughty is, indeed, actually back, you can click here.

All players were on the ice for practice this morning, but Terry Murray indicated that at least one player would be told today about being cut. Not coincidentally, defenseman Andrew Campbell was on TSN’s list of players who were placed on waivers today. If Campbell clears tomorrow morning, he would be eligible to be assigned [...]

There’s good news for forward Trent Hunter, who signed a one-year contract with the Kings today. Hunter, coming off major knee surgery, came to camp on a pro-tryout agreement but has performed well and will be in the lineup again tonight. [UPDATE:] Hunter’s contract is for $600,000.

– First, a quick correction to the previous post. Tonight’s defense pairs will be Mitchell-Voynov, Scuderi-Hickey and Drewiske-Greene. – Terry Murray said that Drew Doughty will not play in tomorrow’s game in Las Vegas but that Doughty might play in Tuesday’s exhibition game in Hamburg. – Murray said that the Kings will make more roster [...]

Here’s how the Kings are expected to line up tonight. The players are accurate. Lines/pairs are based on how they’re skating in practice now. Kevin Westgarth is back on the ice but won’t play… Gagne-Kopitar-Parse Penner-Richards-Brown Clifford-Stoll-Moreau Richardson-Lewis-Hunter Scuderi-Voynov Mitchell-Hickey Drewiske-Greene Bernier Zatkoff

Since the Drew Doughty contract agreement took place fairly late last night, here’s a quick-and-easy recap of everything that went down last night, including my story on the signing plus interviews with Doughty, Tim Leiweke and Terry Murray. Also, my thanks to TSN “SportsCentre” anchor Dan O’Toole, who gave this site a nice plug on [...]

Here’s what Drew Doughty said about agreeing to his eight-year, $56-million contract with the Kings. Doughty said he has a 6 a.m. flight out of Toronto tomorrow morning — lots of packing, not a lot of sleep tonight — and will be in Los Angeles in the morning for his physical and to officially sign [...]

Terry Murray feigned surprise when he picked up the phone. “Why are you calling?” Yes, he knew, to talk about Drew Doughty’s new contract and the impact on his team. The big question, going forward, is when Doughty will be able to play a game. The Kings will hold a Saturday-afternoon practice in Las Vegas [...]

Just had a phone conversation with Kings governor Tim Leiweke, who gave his thoughts on the Kings’ contract agreement with Drew Doughty for eight years and $56 million… LEIWEKE: “Look, he’s a special kid and he’s a good kid. These things are never easy, and sometimes people take them personally, but I think he’s going [...]

Kings have confirmed that Drew Doughty has agreed to a multi-year contract. I’ll update details here as available… The deal is for eight years and a total of $56 million ($7 million average) as first reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie. That makes Doughty the highest-paid King, ahead of Anze Kopitar’s average of $6.8 million. Kings [...]

Just got back home to a text message. Kings source says that deal with Drew Doughty is “close.” More details as available.

The Kings today announced that Justin Azevedo and Jordan Nolan have been assigned to Manchester of the AHL. That follows yesterday, when Cam Paddock cleared waivers and went to the Monarchs. As noted before, the Kings can take as many players as they choose over to Europe, for practices and for the exhibition game against [...]