My LAKings.com feature for this week takes a closer look on Kevin Westgarth, and the desire of the “enforcer’’ to make a positive impact on the team with more than just his fists…. More than just an enforcer Also, a couple videos for your afternoon. First, it’s the Kings’ “plays of the week.’’ Then, those [...]

Plenty of attention, in recent days, has been paid to the Kings’ line-combination changes, and rightfully so, given the dramatic shakeup among the forwards. But Terry Murray also switched up his defensive pairings, going to a look that paired Rob Scuderi with Drew Doughty, Willie Mitchell with Slava Voynov and Jack Johnson with Matt Greene. [...]

Much of the Kings’ success over the past couple seasons has been built around a strong penalty-killing unit. The Kings ranked fourth in the NHL last season in penalty-kill percentage, and were expected to be at least as strong with the addition of players such as Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Ethan Moreau, to compensate [...]

It’s fair to say that Mike Richards has found a comfort zone with the Kings. Richards had only two goals in his first 14 games with the Kings, but now has nine goals in his last 10 games, for a team-leading total of 11 goals. Of course, no player can maintain that torrid scoring pace, [...]

We all remember The Great Goalie Debate of 2011, when Jonathan Quick recorded three consecutive shutouts but then sat the next game. Jonathan Bernier started and the Kings were shut out by New Jersey. Well, that’s in the past, but an interesting parallel came up today. I asked Murray about the possibility of Bernier starting [...]

Yesterday afternoon, Terry Murray said that Dustin Penner “feels confident and is ready to go.’’ Well, things changed, it seems, because today the Kings determined that Penner would not play Thursday against Florida. Penner will stay on injured reserve and miss his ninth consecutive game with a hand injury, so the Kings will stay with [...]

After practice, Terry Murray confirmed that Dustin Penner won’t play tomorrow against Florida. Murray said Penner had not suffered a setback in his recovery from his hand injury, just that Penner was “not quite” ready to return, so the Kings will stay with the same lineup. That includes Jonathan Quick in goal, and Murray said [...]

Dustin Penner is practicing this morning, but is still skating on a line with scratched players Trevor Lewis and Brad Richardson. As indicated this morning, it would seem that Penner will remain on injured reserve for another couple days, and won’t play against Florida tomorrow. The Kings are using the same line combinations and pairs [...]

The Kings are scheduled to be back at practice at 10:30 a.m. in El Segundo. For the past couple days, they’ve publicly talked up the return of injured winger Dustin Penner for Thursday’s game. This morning, I’m told that Penner is “not ready’’ to play yet — no further explanation yet provided — so it’s [...]

What does a guy have to do to get votes? The NHL released the latest results of All-Star Game voting today, and Jonathan Quick ranks 10th among goalies. Among goalies who have played at least 12 games this season, Quick ranks fifth in goals-against average (2.01) and save percentage (.933) and leads the league with [...]

To follow up on the question of where Dustin Penner might play when he returns to the lineup, it’s worth taking a look at last night’s new line combinations and thinking about what worked. Dustin Brown played well on left wing, Simon Gagne and Mike Richards combined for a goal and Kyle Clifford was more [...]

The Kings are coming off a mostly solid victory over San Jose, but going into Thursday, it seems as though one lineup change will be made. Dustin Penner has missed eight games with a hand injury, but has been cleared to play. After today’s lengthy practice, Terry Murray reiterated his plan to get Penner back [...]

The Kings are off to their annual trip to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and tomorrow’s practice will be at 10:30 a.m. After today’s practice, Terry Murray said he’s still planning to get Dustin Penner back into the lineup on Thursday, but Murray has not yet decided where exactly Penner might fit in. Penner would have [...]

The Kings are on the ice with the same lineup as last night. Dustin Penner is still skating with Brad Richardson and Trevor Lewis, so we’ll see what the plans are for potentially getting him back into the lineup. Jonathan Bernier is practicing with his purple and gold helmet and mask, to break them in [...]

The San Jose Sharks were typically stingy last night — they have allowed a total of only seven goals in their last five games — but two goals were enough for the Kings, who handed the Sharks only their second shutout loss of the season. The Sharks also suffered their first road loss since Oct. [...]

Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings recorded their fourth shutout of the season as they beat the San Jose Sharks 2-0 on Monday night at Staples Center. – The Kings recorded their first home shutout of the Sharks since a 3-0 victory on March 23, 2002. – Jonathan Quick made 33 saves [...]

It’s the return of the ever-popular postgame win-celebration video, courtesy of Kings Vision…

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo… —– Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the early shot mentality…) MURRAY: “I was very happy with that. That’s the right start. You’ve got to get pucks deep. You’ve got to get after them, and I think it [...]

Ethan Moreau’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) MOREAU: “I thought we created a lot, especially early in the game. Before the penalties kind of took over the flow of the game, I thought we were doing a really good job of keeping everybody involved and everyone was contributing and getting a lot of shots. Then [...]

Jonathan Quick’s postgame thoughts… (on winning in his 200th NHL game…) QUICK: “I didn’t even know it was my 200th game until Greenie [Matt Greene] let me know about five minutes before the game started. They go quickly and tonight was a big win. Everybody battled hard; it was a hard-fought game. They battled too, [...]