Kings hope to keep power play going

There would seem to be little rhyme or reason in determining exactly when and how the Kings will have power-play success. After a five-game run in which they went 0-for-18 on the power play, the Kings are now 3-for-6 with the man advantage in the last two games. At this point, no significant changes are going to be made to anyone’s power play, but Dustin Brown did offer one theory as to why the Kings have had some recent power-play production…

BROWN: “Line combos instead of power-play combos. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. Ultimately we’re getting shots to the net.’’

As Darryl Sutter explains below, though, the move to use regular line combinations on the power play in Game 3 took place because the Kings were leading at the time. Putting a forward on the blue line increases the risk of a defensive mistake that can lead to a shorthanded chance. Turns out, with defensemen on the blue line in the third period, the Kings scored two power-play goals.

SUTTER: “Actually, we did it in Game 3 because the score was 2‑0 at that time. (We) didn’t keep the forward on the point. In the last game, actually the goal we did score was (with) Mike Richards on the point with Drew. It’s more (about the) time and score and those sorts of things.’’