Sutter discusses when and why he adjusts lines

Darryl Sutter was asked following Monday’s skate whether it was “fair to say” that he was looking to find a line combination “that clicks,” when color-coded jerseys and line rushes indicated that there could be changes in alignment for tomorrow’s game against Florida.

“That’s fair to say,” Sutter answered.

“You know what? Moving guys from press box to lines. We’re trying to get some more out of ‘em.”

The lines at this morning’s practice suggested that Dwight King would replace Jordan Nolan in the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch on Saturday. He skated opposite Tyler Toffoli on a kind-of-That-70’s-Line centered by Jeff Carter. Trevor Lewis moved alongside Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar, Tanner Pearson skated to the left of Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams, and Kyle Clifford skated opposite Dustin Brown on Mike Richards’ line.

Situationally, there appears to be something that Sutter would like to see addressed heading into tomorrow’s game. The Kings’ coach spoke on Monday about how and when he handles line juggling.

“The last three games with the two Ryans – Kesler and Getzlaf – and then if you go into the Dallas team with their top end line, you know…this thing of ‘this player against this player’ doesn’t work in this league. That’s a bunch of BS when people say that ‘this player plays against that.’ That’s not true,” Sutter said. “What goes on is that it’s lines or pairs against players, and when you’re playing a team that has clear cut stars or individuals who can dominate, then you try and get three or four guys against them, not one guy. But when you’re in a position also when you’re stretched out because of injuries, then more often than not, the top end of your team’s on the ice more than they probably should be, but that’s what gives you the best chance to win. That’s why – it’s sort of like a double-edged sword – when you’re asking the question about mixing lines, well, it’s because we need more out of our top players. That’s clear. We’re not going to blow anybody out or can give up four or five a game. We’re going to have to literally grind it out to win games. We need more production out of the top guys. That’s clear. That’s evident. We’re almost a quarter of our way in, so if you base it on that, based on what performance and production is, we think everybody would say that, not just the coach.”

Darryl Sutter, on trying to generate chemistry when adjusting lines:
You know what? It’s an ebb-and-flow, always. You know what? For the most part Gaborik and Kopitar are going to play together. We used to use Mike Richards and Carter together lots. We used to use Lewis and Stollie together lots. But I think with trying to put some young guys into situations and with them knowing full well that they’re going to have – when you look at a guy like Tanner, who had a great start to the year in his first 10 games, and then he hasn’t scored now in I think 10, that is not working right now, so you’ve got to move guys around. It’s the way it is.