Big minutes for Stoll on third line

It’s customary for Anze Kopitar to lead the Kings’ forwards in ice time. Sometimes the title goes to Dustin Brown. In Tuesday’s game, though, Jarret Stoll led the way with 19 minutes, 29 seconds, of ice time. Stoll, by definition, is the Kings’ third-line center, but he also plays in power-play and penalty-kill situations, and last night had a particularly strong game, with one goal and one assist. Terry Murray talked about the way he has been using Stoll…

MURRAY: “When you have three lines set up the way we have it right now, it’s going to give Stolly that opportunity to play against top lines, and as a result of that you are going to play more. It’s no different than when Handzus was here. That’s the line that we’re going to match up — not every game, but often — and as a result of that I’m putting him over the boards in those situation, and that’s just the way it unfolds. When Stoll now contributes on the power play and the penalty kill, the time can build up pretty quickly. He handled it very well. He ended up scoring a huge goal. A great play by Brownie, but he was in the right place at the right time to score a huge goal. I think he’s enjoying what his role is today.’’