Murray talks lineup moves

There were no real surprises when Terry Murray disclosed his lineup for tonight’s game. Murray had previously said that Alexei Ponikarovsky would be back in tonight, and it’s no shock that Jonathan Bernier gets the start tonight, given that the Kings played last night and face an afternoon game Saturday against Colorado. Marco Sturm and Davis Drewiske, the two additions to the lineup for last night’s game, will stay in, and today, Murray talked about the decision to return Ponikarovsky to the lineup, as well as some thoughts on Drewiske and Sturm…

(on Ponikarovsky replacing Westgarth…)
MURRAY: “Westie went into the lineup for a specific role last night, against Anaheim. It had nothing to do with Poni’s performance. Actually, I kind of liked what he was giving us over the road trip. So we’ll just make that switch, and it’s four lines, hopefully throughout the 60 minutes, that can contribute tonight.”

(on Drewiske…)
MURRAY: “I don’t want to get into an evaluation process after one game, being out of the lineup so long, but he played good. Timing is always an issue when you’re out of the lineup that length of time. That was a pretty hectic pace there at the beginning, but I thought he handed himself very well.”

(on Sturm…)
MURRAY: “I think this will be an important game, to get a look at him. Then, as we get another day off tomorrow and get ready to play again, these next two games are probably a better opportunity for me to look at him. But I thought he played pretty good last night. There was jumping on some loose pucks, making some plays happen. He showed good composure with the puck. I know there’s probably a better game in there, still, but this is the first one to get his feet under himself in quite a while.”

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