`Last chance' for Purcell?

There’s really no need to further chronicle Teddy Purcell’s season, other than to say he has one goal in his last 32 games and has played on each of the Kings’ four lines, has played left wing and right wing and been a healthy scratch. That’s quite a full half-season, although probably not in the way Purcell or the Kings would have hoped.

Today, Terry Murray was asked whether this could be considered Purcell’s “last chance” at a prominent role with the Kings, given the Kings’ general lack of scoring of late and Purcell’s specific lack of goal scoring since the first week of the season…

MURRAY: “Quite candidly, a goal scorer needs to put some points on the board on a fairly regular basis. For Teddy to play, you’ve got to take advantage of the skill level he brings. He has to play on the top two lines in order for that to happen, and bring it out. This is a golden opportunity for him to be playing on the top line with Kopitar and Smyth. He’s capable of playing with those two guys. He’s skilled enough. He reads the ice, he’s smart, and he’s got to dig in and play in that area of the ice that maybe he is reluctant to go to sometimes.

“That’s a mindset, that’s an attitude, and that’s where he’s got to be pushed. I’m going to have to keep demanding it and let him run with it for a little bit here. Again, I know he has been given a lot of rope already, but he’s been out. I think he clearly understands that he’s got to get some production, and give us production on a pretty consistent basis, to stay where he is tonight. We’ll watch and see, and hopefully it works out.”

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