Fourth-line philosophy

Following up on the Cliche/Moller post, it seems to me that the Kings are trying to give themselves as many roster options as possible, particularly in terms of the “bottom six” forwards, going into the stretch run. Terry Murray has been consistent in his belief that the Kings need an “enforcer” such as Raitis Ivanans in the lineup, even if Ivanans only plays five minutes per game. I wanted to know, though, if Murray’s attitude on that might change later in the season, with more playoff-like games. Would Murray look for a more versatile player, and see less need for a “heavyweight”?

MURRAY: “Quite candidly, that kind of thought process changes as you get to the critical games. I’ve been through this many times in the past, with similar kinds of players. As you get to the `the win is what it’s all about tonight’ kind of attitude, then you have to reevaluate and look at who you have in your lineup. And I think you’ve seen that with what I’ve done here in a couple games. Go back against Detroit a couple times, and you make a change because you know what you’re going to see that night. As we get to the middle part of (next) month, that’s definitely a part of the process of making the lineup.”