Kings try to keep pace at separation time

This is, in terms of the calendar, the point at which the Kings took off last season and stamped themselves as a playoff team. The Kings were in fairly good shape, with a 25-18-3 record, but had lost three consecutive games when they hosted Anaheim on Jan. 14. The Kings won that game 4-0 to start a 12-game stretch in which they went 11-1-0, including nine consecutive victories. From that point on, the question of whether the Kings would make the playoffs essentially became moot, and the question became where the Kings would be seeded. At this point, in order to avoid fighting for eighth place in March, it seems that the Kings are going to need some type of extended run of success, and with almost the entire month of February spent on the road, that won’t be easy. Terry Murray gave his thoughts on the Kings’ need to get things going, and quickly…

MURRAY: “You’ve got to be able to wipe the slate clean. That’s very important, as an athlete. You’re going to go through bad times. Whether you’re in an individual sport or a team sport, you have to be able to block that out and lock it away and forget about it and move on. We’re looking at a clean slate the other night, against St. Louis, as a start point. You’ve got 40 games left in the year. This is a critical part. This is now where we have to get things back on track, get going and win games.”

It was also suggested to Murray that this is the point in the season in which separation often occurs in the standings, when the contenders and pretenders are separated…

MURRAY: “Exactly. And it seems to be happening sooner, every time you go into this process of trying to get into the playoffs. It’s right from the very beginning now, but this is a critical time, as you get to the All-Star Game. I’ve always brought that to the attention of the team, that now we get to the real hockey game, in the second half of the year. Well, to me, the second half is starting a little sooner than the All-Star Game, so we have to get back and get some wins.”