Richardson line leads the way

Which line has been the Kings’ highest-scoring line of the series? That would be Kyle Clifford, Brad Richardson and Wayne Simmonds, who have combined for seven of the 20 points recorded by Kings forwards through the first three games of the series. In general, that’s not necessarily a good thing for the Kings — in an ideal world, the Richardson line would be a third line, providing energy and scoring depth, not leading the way — but it’s the Kings’ reality and it’s a credit to those three players. Clifford is the only Kings forward to score more than one goal in the series, and he’s a 20-year-old rookie. Since its creation late in the regular season, the line has consistently been strong on the forecheck and in bringing energy, which is exactly what Terry Murray wants to see from Clifford, Richardson and Simmonds.

MURRAY: “They gave us good minutes (in Game 3). They had a great start, scoring a big goal for us. It’s a young line, and I needed somebody in the second period to grab a hold of it a little bit and settle it and calm things down. It would have been great if it would have been that line, but they weren’t able to either. In fact, they got caught out there for extended shifts. It’s the way it unfolded. … Their line is a good line. They’ve been a good line so far. They can play hard, they can play gritty, they can score some goals. We’re going to need it (in Game 4).”