Kings, Coyotes talk special-teams matchup

Before the full-team practice this morning, the Kings had their two power-play units on the ice, going through drills against four defensive prospects and third-string goalie Martin Jones. In their first two playoff games, against Vancouver, the Kings went 3-for-12 on the power play. In the last seven game, against Vancouver and St. Louis, the Kings are 1-for-35 on the power play. Of course, Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix all bring different looks and challenges on the penalty kill, but the Kings know they need some improvement in their power play. Darryl Sutter said the emphasis has been on getting the defensemen — particularly Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez and Slava Voynov — more involved in power-play production.

SUTTER: “We work on it almost every day, in some part of our (practice). You might not notice it, but there are parts of it that you can use, always. The big part of it, for us, is getting our defensemen to be shooters. We’re using three young guys, and it’s a skill that they’re developing. It’s not like you, all of a sudden, have a great shot. You have to learn how to do it, and they’re going to have to learn under pressure.”

Power-play success isn’t always a necessity for a successful playoff team. Consider that last year’s champions, the Boston Bruins, were 14th out of 16 playoff teams in power-play percentage (11.4). Then again, the Bruins were also a superb 5-on-5 team. The Kings, as Mike Richards pointed out today, know that getting timely power-play goals would give them a big boost.

RICHARDS: “We know we have to score, but like I said last series, it’s not the amount of goals, it’s the timing of the goals that you score. You don’t always have to score a lot of them, but eventually you’re going to have to score a big goal.”

Question: Is Phoenix a little more aggressive on the penalty kill than St. Louis was?

RICHARDS: “Up ice, maybe. In the zone, they’re still pretty passive above the faceoff dots, so we’re going to get pressure when we get into the corners and stuff. It’s going to bring different challenges.”

Over in Phoenix, coach Dave Tippett was also asked today about the special-teams battle in the series. So far in these playoffs, the Coyotes have scored five power-play goals (5-for-33) and allowed four power-play goals (34-for-38).

TIPPETT: “I think every series your special teams start anew. Everybody starts at zero and they can have an impact on the series and obviously your power play can have an impact if you score, but the penalty killing can clean up a lot of those issues. I think both teams, if you look at the regular season, both teams’ penalty kill was very strong. So, I think PP, or if you can get a PP goal, it’s going to be a bonus, but those things work out as the series goes along.”