Shorthanded `Canes

The Carolina Hurricanes are 2-11-3, 0-9-3 in their last 12, have been shut out three times, haven’t scored more than two goals in a game since Oct. 23 and are without goalie Cam Ward (leg cut), forwards Michael Ryan (concussion) and Ray Whitney (upper-body injury) and Eric Staal (upper-body injury) and now, defenseman Joni Pitkanen, who has flu-like symptoms. Other than that, things are great in Carolina!

This isn’t a “trap” game for the Kings, the way Saturday’s game against Nashville was. It’s simply a game they should win, althoughoften that’s when a team — especially a young team — can put too much pressure on itself. The Kings will face Manny Legace, who will start his first game for the Hurricanes since being signed out of the AHL. Legace, 36, had a 3.21 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage in six games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Last season, the Kings beat Carolina 4-3 in overtime at Staples Center. Here’s what Terry Murray said this morning about the Hurricanes…

MURRAY: “I have watched Carolina play in their most recent games, and they have played well. I’ve been through situations, as a coach, where the puck is not bouncing the right way for you, and you come away at the end of the day and you say, `Just stay with what we’re doing. It’s only going to be a matter of time before we break through and get going in the right direction.’

“We don’t talk a lot about what’s going on with the opponent though, whether they’re on a roll or having a difficult stretch of games. We certainly need to give ourselves a push also. We’ve played maybe three periods out of the last nine, where we say it was L.A. Kings hockey. So we have to get ourselves readjusted and play a more consistent 60-minute game.”