Everything old is new again

The last time the Kings played in Calgary — the second game of the season — Alexei Ponikarovsky was on a line with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds. A month later, Ponikarovsky broke his finger. From that point on, Ponikarovsky played on the fourth, second and first lines, respectively, and missed time again with an ankle injury. Now, the Kings are back in Calgary and Ponikarovsky has come full circle, having recently been promoted back to the third line with Handzus and Simmonds. The point production hasn’t necessarily been there of late, but Ponikarovsky’s overall play seems to be on an upswing. Ponikarovsky has only four goals and four assists in 32 games and has struggled to get some traction. Since early November, he has yet to play more than nine consecutive games.

PONIKAROVSKY: “It’s been a tough season for me. Since the start of the season, there have been a couple injuries. It’s one of those things where I didn’t have injuries for like three years, and this year it’s been one after another. It’s never a good thing, but you just have to recover and just come back and play as hard as you can. We’re in the playoff race right now, so it’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves, or myself. So I just try to focus on the hockey and bring the `A’ game.”

As far as the line is concerned, the hope remains the same as it was in training camp, that Ponikarovsky, Handzus and Simmonds can be something of a “shutdown” line with scoring potential. All three players are considered to be 20-goal threats, yet they have combined for 20 goals this season.

PONIKAROVSKY: “We’ve been moving guys around, to see who fits with who, and now we came back right now to our original line. We just have to keep going, and basically be a shutdown line that can create a lot of offense as well. We just have to work on it and keep going, because it’s going to be very important when we get into the playoffs.”