Halpern cleared, won’t play

Jeff Halpern, who sustained an upper-body injury last Thursday after a hit by Vancouver’s Tanner Glass, has been cleared to play, according to Terry Murray, but Halpern will be scratched tonight as the Kings intend to go with the same lineup they used Tuesday in Anaheim. Here’s what Murray said about Halpern, who apparently will get in a game before the end of the regular season…

MURRAY: “He’s been cleared, ready to go. This will be a good opportunity here, again, for him to get another hard workout in. Then I can take a look at what we have for the remaining two games. It’s going to be important to get him into a game. There’s no question. We brought him here for a reason. He’s a very useful player. He’s a good player, playing center, right wing, can move to the higher lines. It’s going to be important to have him at close to the peak of his game, so he needs some playing time to get there.”

Murray said he contemplated making at least one change tonight, but decided to stay with the line that he felt contributed most to the Kings’ comeback win Tuesday.

MURRAY: “I was real pleased with our line of Richardson, Ivanans and Clune. I thought they were our best line, actually, in the 60 minutes [Tuesday]. A lot of good things from the very beginning, with attitude, puck possession, cycling. We want to keep them going. They deserve another game because of their play.”