November 2007 Archives

Jon Klemm, a 15-year veteran of the NHL who was part of two Stanley Cup seasons in Colorado, had the opportunity to play with many of the Kings' top prospects when he started the season in Manchester. Here are his thoughts ...

On the overall strength of the prospects: ``You look at all the kids down there and they're all working hard. There's some good young talent in Manchester and they've got some guys still in juniors who are very good. I think the future is definitely going to be bright for this organization.''

On Ted Purcell: ``He's a really talented player. He's got great hands and great vision on the ice. He's strong on the stick, tough to get the puck off of, and strong on his feet. He's going to be a good player in this league.''

On Brian Boyle: He's a big, strong guy. Once he gets in there and gets a hold of a guy, he's usually going to come out with the puck because he's so big and strong. He's maybe taken a little longer to develop because they're trying to convert him into a defenseman. You come into this league playing forward your whole life and moving to D, it's going to be a tough task to get to this level. But he's getting a lot of minutes down there and he's improving.''

On Marc-Andre Cliche: He's one of those guys who's a great defensive forward, kind of a checking forward. He reminds me of a Stephane Yelle type of player. He's a guy who can put the puck in the net when given the opportunity but, at the same time, he's tough defensively.''

On Gabe Gauthier: ``He's one of the guys who is kind of holding up the fort for us down there. He's not a big guy but he gets his nose dirty and gets into the dirty areas and finds a way to get the puck into the net. He's a good playmaker too.''

Michael Cammalleri didn't practice today but is expected to skate tomorrow morning and Crawford said he is probable for tomorrow's game against Colorado.

``I feel really good,'' Cammalleri said after getting treatment on his injured groin. ``I'm optimistic about tomorrow. We all felt there was no need to push it, and even if I was ready to go today why not give it one more day?''

Frolov, also out with a groin injury, didn't practice and Crawford ruled him out. It sounds as though he's likely to miss Monday's game against Edmonton as well.

Scott Thornton was limited in practice. Crawford said he's getting better and should be back soon, and that he's questionable for Saturday.

Jaroslav Modry was expected to return tonight from the Czech Republic, where he was visiting his ailing father, and may be available tomorrow.

``We'll see how he is,'' Crawford said. ``Obviously, it's a tough travel not to mention how emotional it has to be on Jaro. From that standpoint, we'll see how he is and have a better answer for you tomorrow.''

The team earned its already scheduled day off with the victory last night. Practice resumes tomorrow in preparation for Saturday's home game against Colorado.

It went to a shootout and O'Sullivan, Kopitar and Brown all scored. Roenick and Pavelski scored for the Sharks but Brown scored the clincher.

Overall, a very solid victory for the Kings, without both Cammalleri and Frolov. They certainly have the Sharks' number in San Jose this season.

The Sharks scored on the power play. Ozolinsh took the point shot and LaBarbera made the save, but the rebound got kicked out to Rivet. With LaBarbera out off his line, trying to grab the puck, Rivet basically fired at an empty net and scored to tie the game. There are 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Kings cap a strong period with a goal. Brad Stuart carried the puck into the offensive zone and fired a perfect cross-ice pass onto the stick of Patrick O'Sullivan, who tapped the puck behind Nabokov and into the net. The goal came with 2:06 remaining in the second period.

The Kings got a weird one, short-handed. Dustin Brown picked off a pass, skated in alone, drew a penalty from behind (it might have been a penalty shot) and put a shot on goal. Nabokov made the save and, anticipating the whistle, pretty much stopping playing. Anze Kopitar didn't, skated in and slapped the puck into the net. The goal came 10:35 into the second period.

Joe Thornton scores 3:58 into the game on a slap shot from just beyond the top of the right faceoff circle. Michalek was running effective traffic in front of LaBarbera.

Michael Cammalleri was a late scratch from tonight's game because of a sore groin. That means a Kevin Dallman sighting in tonight's game at San Jose...

I typically dislike commenting on rumors, because anyone can start them without naming sources and 99 percent of published rumors turn out to be exaggerated or just simply B.S. I don't know the gentleman who wrote the FoxSports.com piece about Lombardi being on the hot seat, and I'm certainly not going to question his motives or sources. And given where the Kings stand -- that would be last place in the conference -- I suppose it's fair to question whether Dean Lombardi SHOULD be on the hot seat. Any GM whose team is at the bottom of the conference is going to come under some scrutiny.

I would be completely stunned if Lombardi got fired this year, even if the Kings finished in last place. AEG knew what it got when they hired Lombardi. They got a guy who was going to build from the bottom up, who was going to try to build a base and then go from there. If they didn't want that, and if they wanted a quick fix, they should have hired someone else. Lombardi's primary focus from the beginning has been to create quality, youthful depth in the organization. You saw it from the beginning, with the emphasis on draft picks and on trading for young players such as Jack Johnson and Patrick O'Sullivan. To that end, I think Lombardi has been a great success. There are more quality young players in the system than ever before, all the way down to a player such as Wayne Simmonds, who is off the radar right now.

The question is, how does that translate? Not every one of those prospects is going to turn out to be a NHL player. If you consider a talent pool of Boyle, Bernier, Cliche, Hickey, Lewis, Parse and Purcell, just to name a few, the success rate isn't going to be 100 percent in terms of all of them becoming NHL players. The real question is, how high will Lombardi's batting average be with these kids? That will be a big part of his ultimate success or failure.

The other question is, can he fill the gaps by signing established NHL players to fill out the roster? So far, I give Lombardi high marks for building up the reserve list, but I think he's been below-average in terms of free-agent signings, and that's probably being kind. I'm looking at Blake, Handzus, McCauley, Nagy, Preissing, Stuart, Thornton and Willsie, not to mention the trade for Cloutier. How many of those players to you look at and say, ``I'm sure glad he is/was a King''?

I know a Ducks comparison won't be popular here, but you have to look at what they did. They brought the kids (Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Penner, etc.) along and made veteran acquisitions (Selanne, Niedermayer, Pronger, O'Donnell, Beauchemin, etc.) that panned out. If a team is going to have success, they go hand in hand. Lombardi's challenge, particularly next summer, is to make some smart veteran acquisitions. So far, I think that's been his clear weakness.

I'd be happy to hear what everyone thinks on this matter...

One thing I forgot to mention in the Jon Klemm note is that Klemm moved into Wayne Gretzky's empty locker next to Michael Cammalleri. Gretzky and the four other Kings with retired numbers have empty stalls at the Toyota Sports Center practice facility as a tribute to the team's history. Gretzky is out, at least temporarily. No word if this had anything to do with the team he coaches, Phoenix, beating the Kings twice so far this season.

Playing with a full face mask protecting his fractured cheekbone, Ivanans still played a physical game against the Ducks on Sunday. He had pounded Kent Huskins into the boards in the first period and was called for boarding. He was involved in two heated gatherings in the first period but was limited in what he could do in that situation.

``It feels all right. I can still do the same things except the fighting. I have to be patient. It's frustrating when there's scrums and stuff and you can't really go 100 percent, but that's the way it is. I'll be better in a couple of weeks.''

There was one scuffle late in the first period when Ivanans tried to come to the defense of Jack Johnson, who was hit hard into boards. A Ducks player -- I believe it might have been Todd Marchant but I'm not positive -- grabbed at Ivanans mask and pulled it up a bit before letting go.

``That's how the Ducks are -- dirty,'' Ivanans said. ``Of course it gets you mad. There's nothing I can do right now except grab a guy and say a few words.''

Jon Klemm found things a little different returning to the American Hockey League at age 37, more than 12 years after his last stint in the minor leagues.

On the bright side, the average travel time between games had shrunk from about seven hours to one or two. But the players with whom he was sharing the bus rides were nothing like he remembered.

``When I first started out, there were a lot of older guys,'' Klemm said. ``Now it's all about development, so the guys are really, really young. I was like 15, 16, 17 years older than everyone on the team. It's tough to find things in common with guys when they're that much younger. But it was fun to watch them and just remember when I was their age, how much fun they have coming to the rink and the gags and stuff like that.''

Some days he felt younger being around the other players and sometimes he felt ancient.

``A lot of those kids like to listen to the hip hop music,'' Klemm said. ``I grew up in the '80s listening to heavy metal. One time one of the coaches came in and asked if there was any music I'd like to hear in the locker room. The kids started rattling off names like Judas Priest. Then one of the young guys says The Beatles. I just shook my head. It was funny at the time.''

Klemm, a 15-year NHL veteran, won two Stanley Cups in Colorado, where he played for three years under Marc Crawford. He could have retired but he decided to sign a one-year, $500,000 contract with the Kings even if it meant he had to spend time in the minors.

``I'm not ready to pack it in yet,'' Klemm said. ``I still think I can play at the NHL level. It's tough to have to go down but those things are out of my control. My goal wasn't any different than any of the young guys down there. I could sit there and feel sorry for myself because I'm in a situation I didn't really want to be, but I tried to have fun, work hard and wait for a call to get up here. I got my chance now, and hopefully I can make an impression and stick around for a while.''

Klemm played forward during the Kings' game against the Ducks on Sunday. He'll move back to his usual defensive position tomorrow to replace Jaroslav Modry, who was given leave to be with his ailing father in the Czech Republic.

``I know what he's capable of,'' Crawford said. ``He's similar to the player I remember. I've always been a big fan of Jon because he works hard, is smart and competitive. It's kept him in the league a long, long time.''

Kyle Calder returned Sunday after missing eight games with a broken thumb and scored a goal off a rebound despite playing with a cast under the glove on his left hand.

``I can't move the hand very much and sometimes it feels like the puck rolls off a bit,'' Calder said. ``That will come with time. I'm getting used to a different way to hold the stick.''

Where the injury can cause problems is in taking passes or battling for the puck against the boards.

``He's a tough guy,'' Crawford said. ``A lot of stuff he's good at the hand is not affected by, like his play in front of the net and his ability to get in on the forecheck and keep pucks alive.''

Alexander Frolov, who has a groin injury, didn't practice today and won't play tomorrow at San Jose.

``He's still not at the point where he can participate in practice or a game, so he'll be out at least until the weekend,'' Crawford said. ``We thought he'd be skating by now but he's not. It's an injury where I guess the individual has to be the judge of it. We'll have to wait and see how he is (for Saturday).''

Scott Thornton didn't practice either. He's not eligible to come off the injured list yet so he couldn't play tomorrow anyway.

Marc Crawford was asked today about the Kings' penalty-killing unit, which has killed all seven of opponents' power-play chances over the last two games. Crawford said:

``We've done a good job. It starts with Jason. Jason has made good saves on the penalty kill. We've concentrated a lot more on it. I think we're doing a better job on entries and we're doing a better job on clears. Penalty killing is very much an experience-based skill. Handzus has done a good job for us there. O'Sullivan is getting more experience, as is Brown. We brought in Klemm, and he's a guy who can help us out. We've used Preissing up front a little bit more, and those defensemen have a pretty good knowledge of the positioning and sticks and closing down. It's hard work, the penalty kill, but it pays dividends. We've been better. We've won the special-teams battle in the last two (games). It helped us to win the game in San Jose and it put us in position to win the game yesterday. That's the type of team that we have. With the talent base we have, we won't overwhelm teams and have the type of depth in scoring that maybe you'll see our team have as we continue to grow. And so special teams do become important. They put you in position to be pretty good.''

Crawford was also asked, in a general sense, about taking positives from the last two games. He said:

``We played two of the top teams in our division and we played them extremely well. We were in a position yesterday to get something out of the game. We didn't get anything out of the game and obviously that's not what you want, but if you want to look at the glass being half-full, we played a very spirited game. We played well and we were right there. It just shows us, as a coaching staff, and shows the players that if they grab that extra three or four percent, or if they make one more good-habit play, it might be the difference in the game going our way. The old adage is, `You have to get close before you get better.' We're close right now. The way to get better is to keep emphasizing work, keep emphasizing team and do the things that allow you to keep your work ethic high and your team focused at a high level.''

Alexander Frolov, out with a strained groin, didn't practice today, but that's not a surprise. Marc Crawford wouldn't rule out Frolov playing Wednesday at San Jose. Here's what Crawford had to say today...

``We'll see how he is. If he's in good shape tomorrow and (doctors are) giving us clearance, we'll utilize him. We'd love to have Alexander in our lineup, because we're a better team with him than we are without him. He can do so many things and he's a quality player. We also know that part of the reason that we're holding him back right now is that we want his injury to have time to heal. That's what we're continuing to monitor on a day-to-day basis. We'll test it again tomorrow, off the ice. If we feel, on Wednesday morning, like he's ready to try it out, maybe we'll try it out. If not, he won't play. That will be a decision that's made right near the end.''

Sometimes I feel as though I'm the only one who feels this way. Perhaps I am. But I can't get past the feeling that the signings of Handzus and Nagy have been profound disappointments. In September, I saw them as two-thirds of a potential strong second line, perhaps with Frolov or O'Sullivan on the other wing. They were supposed to have great chemistry together. Has anyone seen it yet?

Handzus, who got a four-year, $16-million contract, has one goal and three assists in 23 games. Nagy, who got a one-year, $3.75-million contract, has four goals and seven assists in 20 games. Not awful, but he has the potential to be a 20-goal scorer. As for Handzus, I understand that he's still getting stronger after ACL surgery, and I believe he has played much better in his last few games.

I have a hard time believing, though, that the Kings are paying Handzus $4 million a year because he's a valuable two-way, third- or fourth-line player. And I have a harder time believing they're pleased with Nagy, especially since Marc Crawford made him a healthy scratch Sunday. I asked Crawford about this duo and here's what he said:

``Handzus has always been regarded, by us, as a good two-way player and a guy that would, often times, match up against the top player, as he did yesterday against Getzlaf and like he did in San Jose against Thornton. Getzlaf scored the one goal, a very hard-working goal by them. There was no mistake made; they just made a good play. They got the puck to the net and he got his stick on the tip and we were in position all over the ice. So you have to give them that. Good players are going to score and they're going to get opportunities. The other one was a 4-on-4 play and they got a break. Vis fell. I think that Handzus is really picking up his game. We're starting to see him do what he was brought here for and he's getting more and more comfortable playing for us and how we're utilizing him.''

OK. How about Nagy?

``Well, Nagy didn't play yesterday, so it's hard to have an impact on the game when you're in the press box. From that standpoint, he was the odd guy out. As we say to players, `You should always be concerned when you're not playing,' but there's not much you can do about it. All you can do is come here and practice hard and be ready for your next opportunity. He most likely will be in the game against San Jose and we're looking for him to respond as well as he did the last time he was sat out. I'm not sitting guys out to elicit a response. I'm sitting him out because I thought the other people gave us the best opportunity to win yesterday's game.''

As I posted before, the players received a memo today titled, ``Key Factors Late Game With Lead.'' When asked about it after practice, Marc Crawford was none too happy and said, ``There's nothing to it. You shouldn't have seen it.'' But then, pressed a bit to share his thoughts on the topic, Crawford opened up a bit.

``We're always trying to do the right things,'' Crawford said. ``We're trying to, again, keep guiding our players to continually give themselves the best chance to win games. The way that you win games is to have good habits. You have things that you want teams to do with the lead and you have things you want them to do without the lead as well. It's advancing the puck, protecting the puck, making good plays, making sure plays and working hard. It's a lot of cliches. It's not very exciting and it doesn't make for very good copy but it does win games.''

It's worth noting that among all of the things the Kings are doing wrong, goaltending is rarely mentioned these days. For the most part, Jason LaBarbera has been solid, and when I pointed out to him that the team's goaltending hasn't come under fire lately, he deadpanned, ``Well, that's good.'' On a serious note though, I asked him if he was able to separate his own play from the team's fortunes.

``I feel pretty good about my game,'' LaBarbera said. ``It's hard to get too excited about it, because obviously the results aren't there. It's frustrating when you feel like you've played well and you still lose, but that goes with the territory. My job is to keep the puck out of the net as much as possible. I feel good about the way I've been playing, but the results aren't there. That's the frustrating part.''

I asked LaBarbera about what he believes needs to turn around.

``We're not doing enough of the little things for the whole 60 minutes,'' LaBarbera said. ``Against the teams we've been playing, some of the top teams in the league, you can't do that. We're right there with them, but we have to play a complete game.

``It's a mindset, I think. It's about confidence and believing in each other and doing the things that we need to do in order to get wins. Obviously -- and it's not an excuse or anything -- but those teams have a little bit more experience in tight games and in the playoffs than we do. But I guess that's how you gain experience, is by going through these kind of things. We just need to learn from them. Obviously it's frustrating when you lose these games, but if you don't learn from them and get better from them, that's the worst part.''

A day after he made a critical error in the Kings' loss to the Ducks, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was still walking around with his head hung low. Visnovsky tripped and fell down in the third period, which sparked a 2-on-1 break that led to Ryan Getzlaf's game-tying goal. The Ducks went on to win 3-2.

``It was a bad night for me,'' Visnovsky said. ``We went in 2-on-2 and then I tried to jump and I kicked the ice and I go down. They go 2-on-1 and they score a goal.''

I've been around Visnovsky, on and off, since he broke in with the Kings, and it's pretty clear that he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. He no doubt feels the need to live up to the big contract extension he signed last summer, and he's had a rough go of it so far. In 22 games, he has one goal and a minus-11 rating. Normally one of the most easy-going and light-hearted guys, Visnovsky isn't smiling much these days.

``No more mistakes,'' Visnovsky said as he shook his head slowly.

Just a couple quick notes, from the parking lot of the training facility...

-- Distributed to the players today was a paper titled ``Key Factors Late Game With Lead,'' which detailed some of the factors that the coaches believe the players need to improve. Crawford was not happy that the papers were still sitting around by the time the media came in to the locker room, and he didn't want to discuss the topic. I'm not sure how he thought we WEREN'T going to see them.

-- Jaroslav Modry has gone back to the Czech Republic to visit his father, who is seriously ill. The Kings will give Modry as much time as he needs.

-- In Modry's absence, Klemm went back to defense and Nagy skated with Handzus and Moulson for most of the practice. Afterward, Crawford indicated that Nagy will be back in the lineup tomorrow.

I'll have more updates later, as soon as I get someplace that has something better than a tenuous wireless connection!

2-1 lead midway through the third and they get no points out of it.

The Kings have been right with the Ducks in three games over the past two weeks but haven't been able to pull them out at the end. Maybe that's just the difference between a young team trying to learn how to win and a Stanley Cup champion that knows how to win.

``Getting out to a lead is great but then it seems like we're just trying to hang on,'' Michael Cammalleri said. ``That's not a successful way to play. We want to be a team that goes for the jugular. That's why they're a championship team. That's the way we want to play.''

The Kings were outshot 23-13 after the first period. The Ducks dominated on faceoffs 38-21.

``They played harder in the third and they got the win again,'' Rob Blake said. ``I didn't think we battled hard enough in the third to pull out the victory like we did last night.''

Crawford talked about the team needing more of an edge late in the game to pull out these wins.

``If we're going to beat that team, we've got to make sure we get down in the dirt with them,'' Crawford said. ``We've got to make sure we finish checks and make sure we do the things that they do so effectively in order to play nasty against them.''

That was one of the reasons the Kings brought up the veteran Klemm. Here's what Crawford had to say on him: ``We knew we needed a bigger body in the lineup. Jon really helps us killing penalties. I thought he did a great job on the penalty kill tonight. He's good on being physical, finishing checks. I thought he played very well for us.''

On benching Nagy, Crawford said: ``He has to be better than he has been. We could have taken out a couple of other guys but he drew the short straw tonight.''

The Kings practice tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. then again on Tuesday before playing another game in San Jose on Wednesday.

No penalties for the Kings in the second but they only got one power play. Each team had a breakaway chance fail midway through the period. The Kings were outshot 15-8.

2-0 Kings after one. After killing three penalties to keep it scoreless, the Kings scored when Cammalleri skated down the ice and fed Calder in front for a one-timer with 5:01 left in the period. Then Dustin Brown added his 10th goal of the season on the power play, knocking through the rebound of a Blake slap shot on his second attempt with 29.2 seconds to go. Ivanans is playing physical despite his fractured cheekbone. He got a boarding call early in the game when he checked Kent Huskins. Ivanans and Pronger would definitely be going at it tonight if not for the injury.

Nagy is a healthy scratch. Klemm is playing at forward.

Here are the offensive lines ...

O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown
Calder-Armstrong-Cammalleri
Moulson-Handzus-Klemm
Ivanans-Zeiler-Willsie

Jon Klemm called up from Manchester. Hmmm, this doesn't help with their forward injuries because he's a defenseman. It's not bringing one of the team's bright prospects up since he's 37. Perhaps it's to add some toughness to the team? Klemm was one of Dean's offseason acquisitions. He was on the 96 and 2001 Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche teams.

Kyle Calder and Raitis Ivanans have been activated and will play tonight. Scott Thornton is on the injured list with a ``bruised sternum.'' Remember also that Alexander Frolov is out tonight with a strained groin.

Crawford said Calder would be a game-time decision but that he was ``very optimistic'' about Ivanans playing. ``They looked good today,'' Crawford said. ``If they look like that tomorrow, there's a very good chance they will play.''

Calder said he would wear a cast under the glove of his left hand to protect the broken thumb. He wasn't wearing a cast sitting at his locker after practice so I could see that the thumb kind of looks like Frankenstein's head with the stitches. It's also still swollen about 50 percent more than its usual size.

``There's some limitations in what I can and can't do with the way I shoot and a couple things like that, so I'll have to figure out how to work around it,'' Calder said.

Frolov pulled his right groin when he stepped on a puck during the third period of the second game against the Ducks last Thursday. Over the past week, he played in games but did not practice. By taking practice off, he would feel better at the beginning of games but as the games wore on his groin would bother him more and more.

His left groin had bothered him entering the season.

``I probably played one or two games completely healthy and then I step on the puck and it happens with the other leg,'' Frolov said. ``It's always bad when you have to miss games with an injury. I don't like it. That's why I tried to keep playing. But I think it's sometimes better to take a few games off and get back in the lineup healthy.''

Frolov doesn't think this injury is as bad as the last one, which he said felt much deeper. Crawford talked about giving Frolov seven to 10 days off, meaning he could come back Wednesday at San Jose or next Saturday against Colorado.

Some good, some bad...

-- Alexander Frolov will be out for at least the next two games with a strained groin. You probably remember his strained groin from the end of training camp. Well, this is the other one. It's always something, isn't it? So they will shut him down for a few days, perhaps even a week's worth of games, and see how it goes.

-- Scott Thornton is also out, with a bruised sternum. He left the game in the first period Wednesday and did not return.

-- On the positive side, both Raitis Ivanans and Kyle Calder might be available for tomorrow's game. And when a coach says they ``might'' be available, that means you can most likely count on seeing them out there.

-- I'm sure it hasn't escaped notice here that the Washington Capitals, with the worst record in the NHL, fired their coach today. Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Manchester Monarchs, has been hired.

Matt will have more-detailed practice notes and quotes later.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

No practice today...back tomorrow...

One of the least-inspiring efforts in recent memory, in my opinion. The Kings had a chance to get something going after Moulson's goal in the latter part of the third period, but then did little of note over the game's final 45 minutes. If my numbers are correct, the Kings were in first place in the Pacific Division after beating the Sharks on Nov. 2. Now, on Nov. 21, they're in last place. They're also tied with Edmonton for last place in the Western Conference. Ouch.

Scott Thornton took only four shifts in the first period and did not play after that.

An early Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the United States!

Lubomir Visnovsky tried to carry the puck out of his zone and got stripped. Shane Doen picked it up, skated in alone on LaBarbera and tucked the puck into the net with 9:11 remaining in the third period.

Once again, a very uninspired effort, for the most part, by the Kings. LaBarbera has stopped 27 of 31 shots.

Nothing is going right for the Kings. Visnovsky had a decent chance to clear the puck, but it went off his skate, then his stick, then into the air. Kapanen swung at it and might even have made contact before the puck hit the ice. It looked stoppable but LaBarbera might have been screened a bit. Not sure. The goal game 6:46 into the second period.

Dustin Brown is back on the ice.

Once again, LaBarbera got burned by a wide shot that ended up on an opponent's stick behind him. This time, York picked up the puck off the boards and tucked it into the net before LaBarbera could get back. The even-strength goal came 2:37 into the second period.

More importantly for the Kings, Dustin Brown took a shot off his left foot/ankle. He appeared to be in significant pain as he left the ice but has not left the bench.

That's right, a goal, after 138 minutes, 26 seconds. When a team is in a slump, the best thing to do is just throw pucks at the net. That's what Matt Moulson did, from the left boards just on the edge of the faceoff circle, and the puck snuck past Bryzgalov. Frolov appeared to be running some moderate traffic in front. The goal came with 4:53 remaining in the period, and now the Kings are on the power play.

A point shot from Michalek went wide, but LaBarbera didn't get a piece of it. York and Stuart were battling behind LaBarbera, over his right shoulder, and York managed to knock it in the net. There was a lengthy video review to determine whether York kicked in the puck or not. The goal came 9:50 into the first period. And the shutout streak continues...

Here's how the Kings skated in the first few minutes...

Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown
Armstrong-O'Sullivan-Frolov
Nagy-Handzus-Willsie
Moulson-Thornton-Zeiler

Blake-Visnovsky
Stuart-Preissing
Modry-Johnson

LaBarbera

Here's the final part of the Lombardi interview. In this part, he goes a little more in-depth about the process of building the team and how he thinks things are going, long term...

--------------------

Q: It seems like what the public wants to know is, as you're in the process of building the organization, are things progressing the way you had hoped, or have their been some setbacks along the way?

LOMBARDI: You have to be careful how you answer this, because your team has to be accountable. When you have a player like...last year, Kopitar comes in and obviously shows enormous potential. Then you have a player like Jack Johnson on the back last year. He's already a player. He's not making highlight films but he's doing a lot of good things. So that's a step forward. What we're trying to accomplish here, it's building two things. It's building the team and the reserve list.

Another thing you can look at is a kid like Purcell in the minors, leading the minors in scoring as a first-year player. The fact that we had such a big decision on Bernier at such an early stage. That's why, when you ask me if we're on schedule, where have we had a setback? I don't know. Brown signs for six years, at hopefully for a reasonable number. Moulson, we'll see how he pans out, but that's one we didn't expect. Zeiler is Zeiler. There's a structural thing that has to be worked on, as well as the team that you see immediately. Those guys are coming along fine. Even the kids that went back to junior...Simmonds is the most sought-after kid in the Ontario league right now. Every team that's a contender wants him. So these are positive things. I'm trying to think of where we've had a setback in terms of that side of it.

Now, that being said, I think we're back to where we were at the front end of this conversation. That doesn't answer for us losing or for us searching for an identity. So if you ask me, `Are you happy with that?' No. `Are you happy with some of the other things you're seeing?' Yeah. Hickey is playing 30 minutes (per game) in Seattle right now, wearing a captain's letter. That's why, in the stage where I am, you have to spend three weeks on the road, in the trenches with your scouts, because that's an area that I very fiercely believe in, and I wanted to put in the work. That's going to pay off down the road. Parts of it, I'm very happy with the way they're progressing. Other parts, no.

Q: Looking at it down the road, how does the roster fill itself in? You talked about not wanting to add six or seven free agents every year, but how do you keep that from being a cycle that repeats itself? Do you try to ease the young guys in, the way you're doing with Johnson and Moulson now, for example?

LOMBARDI: Yes. And eventually you get to the point where you've got a team that's now a group with upside. If you can play in the league with upside... You're right. It's almost a piece at a time. And you've got to be careful with the guys in the minors. They've got to be trained properly. So, you've already seen a little. Zeiler...OK. O'Sullivan...OK. Those are young guys who hopefully can find a role on the team. And eventually you get to the point where you don't have to do that anymore. That's where you're trying to go.

But in the meantime, you're juggling two balls at once. We do this exercise (in the office) all the time. It's trying to fill the boxes [roster spots]. The more boxes you can get filled... Like, you still didn't know, coming into this year, if Johnson could play in the league. Well now, next year there's a top-four (defenseman) box that you can fill with him. That's a guy we can grow with. Even down to your role players like Zeiler. He's had some ups and downs but I think he understands what he's got to do. We didn't have our own role players from within the system. Now, with him and maybe Moulson and maybe (O'Sullivan), four of our bottom six, arguably, come from within the system and they're young players.

The problem is, if you start rushing kids, that's not good either. It's not fair to them and then you're throwing them out the door, like what happened with the Islanders 10 or 15 years ago. They had all those kids and they were ready to start winning, and then you get down on the kids and you trade them all. You can't do that. Like I've said, when you're not as active in free agency, you're probably headed to where that nucleus is coming together. Not to say that you're not going to be involved in some way, every year, but I'm talking about those holes (on the roster). You don't want to go in with so many holes. Let's say (O'Sullivan) solidifies a role, with Zeiler, (Ivanans), Johnson... that's four more than you had last year. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the other guys will be ready by the end of the season or whatever.

Q: Then maybe next year it's Purcell and Harrold and a couple others...

LOMBARDI: Yeah, and eventually... We're not a young team. And to get there, there's a process. Now, going back to your original question, if we had some guys who had performed up to expectations, I think we'd be in a better situation currently. We should be there and we're not. And that goes back to what you're saying about some of the free agents who have not performed like we thought they should have been able to. Then again, it's still a little early.

Q: The last question is about a style of play, or maybe a lack of toughness on the team. Looking at the Ducks last year, with that shutdown line they had, I don't see that potential with the Kings. Is it there and I'm just not seeing it?

LOMBARDI: Here's what happens. When your top guys, when your top two lines are scoring, it's easier to build that traditional third line. I had one of the best third lines in hockey when I had (Mike) Ricci, (Scott) Thornton and (Niklas) Sundstrom. I loved that line. In the playoffs, they were like a second line. But what happens with teams -- like where we're at right now -- is that when you don't get the secondary scoring, sometimes that third line has to err toward a little more skill, to try to get some scoring.

Now if you're asking me the type of team I'd like, I still, ideally, would like to get back to two scoring lines, a Ricci-type third line and then an energy-type fourth line. Third-line guys can play. That's the thing with Ricci and Thornton. They could play. They could play in traffic and everything else, and then with your fourth line, you sacrifice skill to get energy. But because of our lack of secondary scoring, we probably have to look at that third line in terms of getting more skill. The second line might not be a bona-fide second line. Like I said, that was one of the favorite lines I've ever had. They were just dogs and they scored big goals, playoff goals, and they were hard to play against. It's hard to find those players nowadays.

It's a lot easier to build that way, and to get players to accept that role, if your top six (forwards) can give you what you need, in a traditional sense, in terms of putting up numbers. To win, I still believe you need those two scoring lines, four top defensemen and good goaltending. But like I said, all you've got to know is that that was one of my favorite lines in San Jose. It's hard to find those guys, but it's a little easier to do once your scoring is taken care of. We just haven't found that second layer.

Q: What did you get out of your three-week scouting trip? [This was actually at the start of the interview...]

LOMBARDI: These guys (scouts and employees) are coming together quickly. I've always said that these guys were under the gun last year. They only had half a year, and you know how I feel about scouting and the importance of the way we do things. I was really happy with the way they've come along. It took me three years in San Jose to get that staff where I wanted it. I'm not saying that's the best way to do it, but there's certain ways you want things down. When these guys get up to speed, we'll get it done sooner in terms of how we do things. It was very productive. It was probably one of the more productive three weeks I've had.

Here's more from Lombardi, about O'Sullivan, Bryzgalov, Bernier, LaBarbera and the future of Dan Cloutier...

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Q: How about O'Sullivan? You guys made it clear that he would have to earn a spot, and he's been bounced around quite a bit. What are you seeing in his game right now?

LOMBARDI: His ability, in terms of puck protection and doing things in traffic, is markedly better. I don't know if you remember the game where he had two guys on him and kept the puck and drew a penalty. From where he was last year, in those areas, versus where he is now, there is a marked improvement. He had a great summer of development and he has applied that. Now, that being said, you still have to get better. But if he continues to make half the improvement he's made, it's going to be a huge stride. That's what usually happens with these kids. The kid was always able to put up numbers at the minor-league level but he didn't have to do these things. Now, he went back and learned these things. If he keeps doing them, eventually he will start getting the chances again, where his natural instincts are going to come into play again.

To his credit, he's been responsible defensively and he has learned to battle harder. Again, he still has to get better. In terms of his work in traffic, it's one of the biggest improvements I've seen. Maybe that's because he had so far to come, but I give him a lot of credit. And he's also grown up. I've noticed, and from everything I've heard and understood, he's also grown up in terms of his attitude. It has to continue along that line. He's still a young guy. So overall, those things that don't necessarily show up on the score sheet, that he's doing now, you've got to be happy with it but it still has to get better.

Q: I know it's an irrelevant point, but was there no interest in Bryzgalov on your part?

LOMBARDI: Let's just say, not really. The question was moot anyway, with Phoenix having the pick. I think Jason (LaBarbera) has done a good job, and you also know how I feel about developing from within. Overall I think our goaltending, most nights, has been what we should expect. Some nights it hasn't been great, just like some nights our forwards haven't been great, but overall I think Jason has done a good job.

Q: Did you get to see Bernier play when you were on your scouting trip?

LOMBARDI: Yeah.

Q: Did you get to talk to him? Is he handling the whole situation the way you hoped?

LOMBARDI: No. (laughs) No, but you know what? I drove six hours from Montreal down to Lewiston to see him. Not only to see him play but to see where his head was at. He wasn't very good. I guess I wasn't totally surprised, because I've seen this with young players who get a taste of `the show' and think they might be staying, and oh boy...particularly goalies. All the sparkle, and all the things you saw, they weren't there, but this is all part of dealing with adversity and he's got to learn to fight his way through it.

At the end of my trip, the last game in Quebec. I've known Patrick Roy and I was downstairs talking to him. I was talking to him about Bernier and I said, `What's wrong with all you goalies? How long is this going to go on?' And he said, `Let me tell you something. First, no 19-year-old goalie should be in the NHL. You did right. But don't expect him to come back (to junior) and play like he can play.' I said, `What do you mean?' He said, `The same thing happened to me in Montreal.' I didn't realize that. He said, `The year after my draft year, they kept me up for nine or 10 games and I went back down. My save percentage was like .850 and I couldn't stop a basketball. Nor did I care.' I said, `Why is that?' He said, `You don't understand. It's something... it's so hard. If you would have seen me then, you never would have thought I would have the career I had.'

So it's not like, `Well, if Patrick Roy did it, it's OK.' No. He's got to start finding his way through that. He's got a new team up there and it's disappointing. Hey, that's why I made the ride down there. It's having an impact on him. He goes to Las Vegas and plays and he's the first star. He plays in Austria and he plays in London, then he comes back and he's in Hollywood and then, guess what? He's driving somewhere in Lewiston. It's dark, it's cold, it's raining, and you go in that rink and I'm telling you, it ain't Staples Center. I was just sitting there thinking, `Wow, what a difference.'

That's the whole thing with these young guys, when they go back to junior and they can't go to the AHL. They go from Hollywood back to Lewiston, Maine. There's no in-between, but that's the system and they have to deal with it. But I was thinking about it as I was walking through the parking lot. I thought, `Holy smokes,' But I thought about what Patrick said. He said, `When you're going through it, nobody understands, but looking back, it's always been the right thing.' He turned out all right.

Q: You put Jon Quick in Manchester. Was that just because of Ersberg getting hurt?

LOMBARDI: Yeah, he got hit in the head and he got a mild concussion.

Q: Where are things with Cloutier? Numbers-wise, he doesn't seem to be doing very well. What have you seen or what's the plan there?

LOMBARDI: I guess we're in the process of sorting through that. Ask me that question in another month.

Q: You're evaluating all your options at this point? Is that safe to say?

LOMBARDI: We're looking at everything, and seeing the way some of the kids are coming along. I think we had set a timeline for ourselves, as far as looking at it closer. So we'll give it a little more time here and then we're going to have to have more of a definitive answer to your question.

Here's some stuff most of you will find interesting, as Lombardi shares his opinion about some of the players he signed this summer, plus his opinion on Marc Crawford's ever-changing lines...

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Q: Along those lines, with the new faces... When you have guys like Handzus and Nagy who haven't given you much yet, how much of that is a product of them not finding the right roles and how much of it is them just not playing well?

LOMBARDI: Well, in terms of numbers, what did you expect from Nagy?

Q: Well, in this case it's probably more Handzus than Nagy.

LOMBARDI: Yeah, I think that's probably where... You know what, if there's one thing about Michal, he will be the first to tell you that he hasn't played up to his expecations. Nobody questions his work ethic. Nobody is harder on him than himself, and that's one good thing and that's why I believe he will get through it. He knows he's a better player, and that he has to play better, so what else are you going to say? He has not performed up to our expectations, and what's more important is that it's certainly not up to his expectations either. I think he's been better of late. One of the things with Michal is that his game -- if you talk to the coaches -- there's a lot of subtle things in his game that aren't (visibly) attractive. He doesn't look pretty. He plays the angles and gets his stick in the lane and wins battles down low. We've seen flashes of that, but he has to be consistent there. It's not going to be anything that's flashy. I think he's been better lately, and we've seen signs of it, but it has to be there consistently. That was his hallmark, doing those little things night in and night out. This isn't a guy who `brings you out of your seat' because he's going end to end.

It's like that play he made last night with Nagy to create the 2-on-1. It's a little subtle board pass there. It's not something you really notice, but then when you look at it again, you say, `Wow, that's a hell of a play.' But he's got to do that more often. He never was a highlight-film player. The most important thing, in his case, is that nobody knows he has to do more than he does. That's one of the positives, about knowing his character, that makes me believe he's going to come out of it. And I don't think Nagy has been...maybe you expect a little more production but I don't know. What did you expect?

Q: A little bit more.

LOMBARDI: Yeah, you could say a little bit more, but I don't think the expectations have been as far off as with Handzus.

Q: I guess when I looked at the team in training camp, I thought the top line would be strong but then you would need maybe a Handzus-Nagy-Frolov line for some good secondary scoring...

LOMBARDI: Yeah, that's a good point. I would agree. If you look at it overall, secondary scoring has been an issue and it's safe to say that. On one hand, Fro has put his numbers up, but in Fro fashion he can be really good or a little invisible. Nagy is a little off, then you've got the whole thing with Zeus and then you've got (Derek Armstrong) struggling. So it's safe to say, as a team, there are a lot of guys there. Calder had a great camp, then struggled a little early. Then he started coming on and he got hurt. So I think we were expecting more secondary scoring, yeah, and that hasn't happened. That's the other reason, going back to the other thing, that allows other teams to gang up on our top-line guys, making their job even more difficult. So when you're talking about expectations, we would have expected more secondary scoring.

Q: A couple minutes ago, you talked about Marc having to tinker a lot with the lines. That's something that fans have talked about a lot. Many of them think he does it too much and that he's doing a poor job managing the team. Is there a fine line there, between tinkering and overdoing things? Is he crossing that line?

LOMBARDI: It is a fine line, but that's part of being a coach. Those are the things you can't always script. It's a feel that you get, not only before the game but even during the game, when you make changes. This would probably go back to me saying that we have so many new faces. He's trying to find it. You try to find lightning in a bottle and say, `Hey, these guys work.' So I think you get more of that when, going back to the point about all the new faces and people finding their roles and understanding their roles, I think that's part of what you're seeing. He's trying to find a solution.

The counter to that is, `OK, but you have to leave them together and give them a chance.' Well, I don't think he's doing... I don't think he's overdoing it or anything like that. We're 20 games in. We wanted to assume that because Handzus and Nagy's chemistry was so good in St. Louis... and that didn't work early. Then, Army hasn't been on his game. So, if (Marc) wasn't trying, people would criticize him the other way. That's just the way it works. I don't think that's a valid criticism.

OK, here's the first part of the Lombardi interview. This is only about nine minutes of a 37-minute chat, so it's going to start with some general stuff about expectations and the team's inconsistency. The next part will be following up on some of the things he mentions here, specifically the play of some of the ``new faces'' that were brought in -- Handzus in particular -- and the topics of Crawford's frequent line shifting, and whether it's excessive, and a lack of secondary scoring. But here's the first part, for now...

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Q: The question that probably comes up most is about whether the team is meeting your expectations. I don't think anyone expected a 20-0 record at this point, but everyone has their own level of expectation. What was yours, and has it been met?

LOMBARDI: I guess it's a matter of, `Which team is it?' Is it the one that started out? We clearly didn't like what we were seeing when we got back from Europe. Then you look like you're pulling it together and then we go into another slide. I guess...how do you answer the word `expectations'? You look at it and say that maybe that wasn't our team that started the way we did or maybe, when we were 7-3 for a while there, that wasn't us. I guess it depends on what team you're asking about.

Q: Well, in general what we're seeing is a lot of inconsistency, right?

LOMBARDI: Yeah, that too. But that part of it doesn't totally surprise me. At first, the scoring was there and the goaltending had been a little suspect, and now the goaltending has been fine and the scoring is not there. So I really don't know how to answer that question. You need to give me, A, B or C or something.

Q: OK, we can do that. We're saying that the inconsistency has been the major problem so far. Is that a product of the players, the coaches, of having a young roster...?

LOMBARDI: No, I don't think it's a young roster. I've talked about that before. One of the things I think that can happen, and that we're seeing a little bit now, is you look at that line there (of Cammalleri, Kopitar and Brown). One of the things that happens is that young players go through stages. Cammalleri is getting the notoriety and obviously people know who Kopitar is now. Brownie is pretty well respected in the league now. They don't surprise anybody anymore. So they start drawing more attention, and there's also expectations put on them, by the team and the coach, in terms of, `We need you guys to be good.'

I think that's part of the growth process for young players, is doing what's expected of you. I think you're seeing a little of that now. Cammy had his hot streak and all of a sudden he's at the top of the league in scoring and he's getting publicity all over the place. Well, what goes with that is a little more attention. You're not going to get as much space on the ice. Same with Kopie. You're not going to surprise people anymore. You're going to draw the best (opposing) lines. So that part of the young roster... We're young there, but in my mind we're not young enough. But in terms of that part, if you want to say (the inconsistency) is because of the youth, you don't want to use that as an excuse but it is part of the growth pattern. It's about doing what is expected of you, because other teams are watching you. So there's a little of that right now. You saw it last night. They don't get a lot of room, like they probably used to. They're going to have to learn to fight their way through that. It's all part of becoming a good player.

The other thing about inconsistency too is, people talk about the splash and dash of free agency. But when you have to bring in that many new players, that's not generally, during the building process, considered a good thing. I'm saying that generally. There is an element, when you bring in a lot of new faces, of people finding their roles. `Where do I fit?' And I think you're seeing a lot of that, with Marc (Crawford) changing the lines and things. That, usually, is a function of what happens when you've got a lot of new faces, young and old. Like I've said, in free agency you like to grab one or two guys, because that generally means you're bringing back the same crew and you're getting better, versus bringing in six or seven new faces, if you look at it in terms of new faces and older ones. You know, Jack Johnson would be considered a new player. Where does he fit? There's some of that here.

Then, whenever you're in this process, how you deal with adversity as a group is also a challenge when you haven't had a lot of continuity. It's a matter of losing a game and not going into a slide. Those good teams, when they lose one, they make sure they don't lose two. It becomes like the seventh game of a playoff series. I don't think we've established that yet. That's the feel I get from my people here. There's that whole thing of believing in yourself and defining how good you are. I think there's still an element of uncertainty there that the coaches and players have to work their way through and try to get better.

I just got a call from Dean Lombardi, much earlier than I expected, but I think I did a fair job of getting to most of the topics that have been popular on this blog: whether the team is meeting expectations, the overall execution of his ``plan,'' free-agent disappointments, Crawford/line shuffling, goaltender performance, Bernier, Cloutier, Bryzgalov, Armstrong, lack of toughness, lack of secondary scoring, etc. It's a LONG interview so most likely I'll have to break it into a few different posts. I'll get going on that ASAP.

In minor-league news, Jon Quick has been promoted from Reading (ECHL) to Manchester (AHL) and Daniel Taylor went the other way. Quick had a 7-5-1 record and a 2.46 goals-against average (10th best in the league) in Reading. Not sure what this means for the other two guys in Manchester, but something might be going on here. The Kings want to develop Quick, but why would they put him in Manchester, with Cloutier and Ersberg already there? Taylor hadn't made it into a single game with the Monarchs. I'll have to look into this...

Here's something that's more certain. Teddy Purcell -- although I'm told he now prefers to go by ``Ted'' -- is off to a great start in Manchester. Here's a report from Purcell's hometown paper in Newfoundland.

Purcell in Manchester

I don't have a firm day when this interview will take place yet, but it will be soon. I figured I'd open things up for questions now, especially since it's a holiday week and it might take people a couple days to see this.

Go ahead and post your question below. Ask anything you'd like, but keep in mind: Lombardi doesn't speak in soundbites. If you've read transcripts of his interviews before, he gives long, in-depth answers. So the more specific your question is, the more likely I am to ask it. Specific questions lead to shorter answers, which leads to me being able to ask more questions.

So, fire away.

This is the 12th tiime in franchise history that the Kings have been shutout in consecutive games. It last happened on March 24 and 26, 2002, in 4-0 losses to both Phoenix and Vancouver.

How about three in a row? Only once, back in 1969, during the Kings' second season. Two of them were double shutouts!

Jan. 1, 1969: St. Louis 0, Kings 0
Jan. 5, 1969: Oakland 0, Kings 0
Jan. 7, 1969: St. Louis 5, Kings 0

So you could say that the Kings will be trying to avoid three consecutive shutout losses for the first time in franchise history when they play Phoenix on Wednesday.

Following up on all the discussion yesterday of line combinations, here's how they were skating for most of the second period, at least:

Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown (the reunion tour)
Moulson-O'Sullivan-Frolov
Nagy-Handzus-Willsie
Thornton-Armstrong-Zeiler

Blake-Visnovsky
Stuart-Preissing
Modry-Johnson

It's 1-0 Dallas after two periods, with Steve Ott recording a second-period goal on a deflection in front of the net. Jason LaBarbera has stopped 14 shots.

Here are Crawford's thoughts on why he broke up the line of Kopitar, Brown and Cammalleri last game: ``We're looking and saying Fro is playing so well right now, we put Cammy and Fro together and opponents will have to decide do we shut down Cammy and Fro or try to play our top people against Kopitar. That's the notion. Yesterday, we didn't get enough from anybody.''

Marc Crawford's tendency to shuffle line combinations at the drop of a hat has been well chronicled over the last two years. It's nothing new. He's a coach who likes to tinker and he probably did the same thing in Vancouver and Colorado. I asked Patrick O'Sullivan, who has probably been shuffled around more than anyone this season, if players accept the frequent changes as just being part of the game.

``From our standpoint, we know it's going to change,'' O'Sullivan. ``It changes just about every game. Basically, we just have to be ready to play with anybody. The top two or three lines are fairly interchangable.''

I asked O'Sullivan if it ever got frustrating, or if it was difficult to establish chemistry given the frequent changes.

``It can be difficult,'' O'Sullivan said. ``You like to develop some chemistry with guys, but as players it's not really in our control. It's situational, and at the end of the day we all just have to go out and play our games. If you're a new guy, it might be a little difficult at first, but anyone who has been here the last couple years, we're all familiar with each other.''

Derek Armstrong doesn't have a goal this season. Some of you might have noticed.

``He needs to generate more than he is right now, there's no doubt about that,'' Crawford said. ``You talk to any player on this team and they'll tell you this guy is a hard worker, conscientious. Right now, he's squeezing the stick too tight and we're trying to relax him as much as we can. No one feels worse about his lack of scoring than he does.''

Crawford started Armstrong off on the second scoring line at the beginning of the season but dropped him to the energy line because of his struggles. But when Kyle Calder got injured Crawford oddly moved the struggling Armstrong onto the second power play unit. It sounds like that could change soon.

``We probably have to look at other people right now to take that spot vacated by Calder,'' Crawford said. ``We have a lot of good candidates for that.''

An 11-year veteran in this league, Armstrong has never been a big goal scorer. He has 59 goals in his career. But he doesn't remember ever going this long without a goal.

``I'm more frustrated with myself than anything,'' Armstrong said. ``I've got to get it out of my mind and stop thinking about it. I just have to do the little things, to get pucks to the net and create traffic around the net.''

Ivanans skated with the team today but Crawford lists him as out for Monday and doubtful for Wednesday. His likely return is Saturday at San Jose. He will have to wear a mask for four weeks, which could limit his physicality.

``A lot of his physicality is just the robust style he plays,'' Crawford said. ``The ability to engage in fisticuffs and those sort of things, I'm not sure how necessary that is. It's nice to have that in your game. It's nice for players to feel comfortable having someone who can take care of that part of your game. But right now he can't and he has to accept that and find ways to contribute for us when he is able to play full out.''

Ivanans said he plans to take it easy but won't make any promises.

``Maybe the mask will come off and I'll drop my gloves,'' Ivanans said. ``You never know what will happen in the heat of the moment. But I think I can play a physical game with the mask.''

Ivanans no-fight policy could be put to the test Sunday in Anaheim. He took notice of Chris Pronger of the Ducks attacking Michal Handzus last Tuesday.

``I came home and turned on the TV just in time to see the overtime,'' Ivanans said. ``He's always doing cheap stuff like that, doing something at the end. I'm kind of sick of seeing Pronger doing that stuff.''

It was just 11 days ago when I talked to Michael Cammalleri about this stretch of games, and he talked about the importance of winning because he believed one or two teams in the Pacific Division would start to pull away. ``We want to be one of those teams,'' Cammalleri said. Well, since then the Kings have lost three of four games and, sure enough, the Ducks and Sharks have shown signs of pulling away.

``It was obvious to a lot of people. I was no prophet in saying that; you knew it and I knew it,'' Cammalleri said of his prediction. ``The trend is happening and we're catching ourselves on the wrong end of that trend. We've got to change that in a hurry. If you win a few, you're right back where you want to be.''

I asked Cammalleri if, given how the Kings seem to be in a funk at home, this might be a good time to hit the road.

``It's not bad,'' Cammalleri said. ``For me, personally, I don't like staying at home for too long. You get kind of stale at home. I like getting on the road. I think a lot of guys in here, from just talking, we're really looking forward to getting on the plane and getting out of here and doing the job on the road.''

Of course, the road trip starts with a game at Dallas, against a Stars team that will be motivated after their recent third-period collapse at Staples Center.

``They'll be ready,'' Cammalleri said. ``A lot of us have played a lot of games against the Dallas Stars. We don't have any questions about what they bring, and the challenge they've always brought us. I don't think that's even a question. We need our best against that team, every time we play them. We've never beat them without playing real well, except maybe the last time.''

Michael Cammalleri said his left ankle was a little sore but not swollen today after being hit by a puck late in the third period Saturday. He practiced without limitation. He said he could barely get off the ice after the game against Phoenix because the puck struck a nerve. It was extremely painful, he said, like having your funny bone hit by a sledgehammer.

A Kings representative said the team wouldn't say whether or not they put a claim in on Bryzgalov. They wouldn't usually announce a failed waiver claim anyway, but it's really a no-win situation for them to do so. If they say yes, that's going to upset the goalies. If they say no, then the fans are going to think they're not doing their job.

Cammy looked like he just had a bruise. He was upset coming into the locker room after the play but stayed at his locker and didn't seek treatment.

Though the game stories will be all about Bryzgolav, he didn't have that much of an impact on the game. The Kings never got any real chances on him that would have gotten by any NHL goalie.

The Kings were outshot in every period and didn't get a shot on goal in the third period until 10:52 in. LaBarbera said the afternoon start may have played a part.

``Those 1 p.m. games are pretty tough, I think,'' LaBarbera said. ``It's tough for everyone to get into. It's so early in the day and we're not really used to that as a team. Sometimes I think it's almost easier for a road team to deal with those games because they don’t have to deal with family, spouse, kids or anything.''

Crawford disagreed, saying the team was prepared.

``Unfortunately, we didn't have much finish tonight,'' Crawford said. ``We didn't have any finish. It was a game tonight where there wasn't a lot of offense. There wasn't a lot of offense on either side. The only real chances in the game were when they go on the 5-on-3.''

Here's what Gretzky had to say about putting Bryzgalov in the lineup a few hours after he joined the team: ``I knew it was probably going to be a tough game for him because 24 hours ago he wasn't sure where he was going to go or what team he was going to end up with. We knew it was going to be an emotional day for him but he played hard and now he'll have an opportunity to make our team better.''

It was the first time this year the Kings were shutout. At the end of the notes produced by the Kings, they remind us that the team was 5-10-4 through 19 games last year. Does that make any of you feel better?

``We treated it like one of the bigger games of the year for us,'' LaBarbera said. ``For whatever reason, we didn't play as well as we needed to. Maybe it will be good for us to get on the road. We've been home for too long, I think. It will be good for everyone to get on the road and enjoy our time away.''

First shutout of the season coming against Bryzgalov? Kings were outshot 11-6 in the second period and 25-17 over the first two. Phoenix's goal came on a 5-on-3.

but he's starting for Phoenix. The Coyotes claimed him before the Kings had their chance. I'll try to find out today if the Kings put in a claim. Bryzgalov is wearing No. 30 for Phoenix. Interesting that they are starting him so soon. Great opportunity for LaBarbera to show the Kings don't need Bryzgalov ...

With the Kings possibly having interest in Bryzgalov and other rumors floating around about trades the Kings could make for a goaltender, here's Jason LaBarbera's reaction ...

``If you start thinking about all that stuff, you'll drive yourself crazy and probably end up playing worse. The season is so long. You can't get caught up in playing good for four games or OK for four games. It's just a matter of playing hard every night and giving your team a chance to win.''

Tom Preissing was made a healthy scratch last Saturday against Dallas. Crawford said at the time that the move was more to get Kevin Dallman in a game than to send a message to Preissing. However, Preissing said his poor play was part of the reason.

``Whether he was trying to or not, it obviously said something about my game,'' Preissing said. ``If I was playing well, I probably wouldn’t be out of that game. There's kind of two ways to look at it, you can take a positive out of it and try build from there or you can just get more frustrated or upset with it. I took as positive and I'm trying to play a better game from here on out.

``As much as its not fun, sometimes being able to sit out and watch the game from a higher level kind of makes you realize the game isn’t as hard as you think it is when you're not playing well. I think the biggest thing for me is I was overthinking, which is an easy thing to do when you’re not playing well.''

Kyle Calder wasn't cleared for contact in his re-evaluation last night. Crawford said Calder won't make the trip to Dallas, and he obviously won't play tomorrow against Phoenix.

``He can skate but he has to be guarded in his contact right now because the healing process is still involved,'' Crawford said. ``We want to allow him to get his finger back in good shape and the only thing that's going to do it now is time.''

Crawford said he expects Raitis Ivanans to practice Sunday. ``We're looking forward to his return,'' Crawford said.

It's been indicated to me that if the Kings do decide to put a claim in on Bryzgalov, it won't take place until tomorrow morning, shortly before the deadline.

It's sort of a game of ``chicken,'' a situation like this. Let's say a team such as Phoenix might be on the fence about claiming Bryzgalov. But if they know the Kings are interested, keeping him away from the Kings might provide the impetus to grab him. That's purely a hypothetical, but it's one reason the Kings would be unlikely to come out and say, ``We want him,'' even if they do.

Ilya Bryzgalov was indeed put on waivers this morning, something the Ducks confirmed a few hours ago. We're attempting to determine the Kings' interest, but regardless, I'd be stunned if 10 teams passed on Bryzgalov. He would be due roughly $900,000, pro-rated, for the rest of the season.

Well, the Kings have played only 40 minutes of the 60-minute game a lot this season, but it's usually the first period they take off. Thursday night showed it's a lot uglier when it's the third period.

You could tell the Kings were taking this loss hard. The locker room was like a desert. I had to wait around for 15 minutes to talk to O'Sullivan and Johnson. Crawford was a little snippy as well. Asked if he thought the Ducks were sending a message that they're still the defending Stanley Cup champions in the third period, he answered: ``We didn't respond the way we needed to respond tonight. We have to be better next time we get in that position. As far as messages go, messages are probably for AT&T.''

The Kings played the Ducks even for five of six periods plus overtime in the two games but lost three points in the standings. The Ducks (9-8-3) have a winning record for the first time this season.

``They came out hard in the third,’’ O’Sullivan said. ``They’re a good team but I think we’re as good. It’s disappointing that happened in the third.’’

The Kings were outshot 17-7 in the third period. The Kings really dominated the first two periods but the Ducks scored when Perry got a pass in front of the net that perfected knicked off Visnovsky's skate, then scored again when the Kings forgot about Perry coming out of the penalty box. Crawford called both goals for the Ducks fortunate. I suppose it is fortunate for the Ducks that the Kings didn't mark Perry out of the box, though it's fortune the Kings could have controlled.

``The third period was the difference tonight,’’ Crawford said. ``I thought the first two periods we played extremely well and they were fortunate to be where they were. You have to give them credit, they closed out the game well and didn’t give us many opportunities, and we made it a little too easy for them.’’

Here are Ryan Getzlaf's thoughts on the game: ``I tell you what, we weren't worried about them. We were worried about what we were going to do. The first peroid was not a good start for us and not the way we want to start off a game, and they dominated most of the first half. But we were able to rally around each other and score a few big goals.''

Crawford didn't blame Aubin for the third period: ``I thought J-S was great in the first period. He was unfortunate on the chances they scored in the second period. The third, I look at it as it wasn't J-S. It was the fact we had a lot of second shots, a lot of rebounds that became loose pucks that were won by the Ducks. That's something the team has to take a lot more pride in doing. I thought J-S was very good in the first and you couldn't fault him for many of the goals from then on.''

It's hard to argue with that, though Aubin could have done a better job wrapping up some of those rebounds.

Here's Crawford's optimistic summation: ``Our team has been very good at responding to the next challenge and they've been pretty good at learning lessons along the way. That's where we're at. We're a team that's learning. Next time we face that situation we expect to be better.''

Notes and quotes from the locker room to come.

Kings up 1-0 after one with a goal from Kopitar. Kings are outshooting the Ducks 11-4. Here's a fun note for you guys to read during the break.

When Michael Cammalleri has had a tough game and needs advice, he turns to the locker next to his at the Kings’ Toyota Sports Center practice facility.

`` `Wayne, what do you think I should have done with that one,’ ’’ Cammalleri asks.

That’s former Kings great Wayne Gretzky whom Cammalleri is querying. And, even though Gretzky is there in name only and is actually the coach of division rival Phoenix, Cammalleri swears he answers back.

Gretzky isn’t the only Kings great who still has a locker at Toyota Sports Center. The five Kings whose jerseys are retired -- Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Rogie Vachon -- all have lockers with nameplates, though Vachon’s is temporarily down to make room for Matt Moulson up from Manchester with Kyle Calder on injured reserve.

It’s the work of equipment manager Darren Granger, who said he got the idea from the Detroit Red Wings.

``It’s a nice tough,’’ Cammalleri said. ``I really like it. Obviously, when I got Gretzky beside me I was pumped. It makes you think of the guys who played here and the work they put in.’’

Patrick O’Sullivan is another King with a prime seat next to Robitaille, who still works for the Kings as president of business operations but prefers his office to the locker.

``I think more than anything it’s showing respect for what they’ve done for the organization, and it can be a reminder of where this game was before we got here,’’ O’Sullivan said. ``A lot of great players have played in this organization and it’s nice to see their names.’’

Let's see if any bad blood spills over from last game. Mathieu Schneider is out for the Ducks with a hip injury. Kevin Dallman is the scratch for the Kings.

As previously posted, Jean-Sebastien Aubin will start for the Kings. It's just his fourth start since he came off injured reserve. I asked him if, as a veteran, it's easier for him to deal with uncertain playing time than it would be as a younger player.

``It doesn't matter, really,'' Aubin said. ``You have to be ready anyway. Even if you're not playing, you can jump in, in two minutes or something. Or even if somebody gets hurt in warmups. So you've got to be ready anyway. So, it's all right. It's the way it is and I accept that. All I can do is be ready when they tell me I'm playing.''

The subject of shootouts also came up. Shootouts are always more fun for skaters than goalies. Aubin has been involved in one shootout this season, an Oct. 16 victory over Minnesota.

``I don't mind it,'' Aubin said. ``It's tough when you lose but at least it gives you a chance to win. ... It gets ride of boring ties. At least you have a chance to win.''

I asked Aubin if he bothered to study opponents' moves, knowing that they can change so often.

``You know the things you see from TV,'' Aubin said, ``but most of them don't make the same moves all the time. Does it make a difference? I don't know. I try to make them make a move first, and not make the first move myself.''

Check out this note from Michael Farber's NHL column on SI.com. Is it just a coincidence that the same chatter used to float around the Kings' dressing room?

``The scuffling St. Louis Blues are going to reevaluate their conditioning program in the coming days. The problem: the Blues might be too fit. The program, designed by strength and conditioning coach Nelson Ayotte, is so demanding that team executives think it might be draining the players. “We’re looking at it all,” St. Louis president John Davidson said. “Not what we’re actually doing as much as the volume of it. Paul Kariya’s said he just doesn’t feel like he’s got his legs.” If Kariya, assiduous in his conditioning, has been worn to a nub, then it surely is time to pull back on the throttle.''

SI.com column

-- J.S. Aubin will start in goal tonight. Marc Crawford's short answer on the matter was that he wanted to play both goalies in the two games against the Ducks and that Aubin hasn't started at home for a while. Aubin's last start at home was Oct. 16 vs. Minnesota.

-- It appears that Kevin Dallman will once again be the healthy scratch tonight.

-- Rob Blake and Michael Cammalleri did not skate this morning, but it was just a standard exemption. Cammalleri admitted yesterday to being quite tired, so it's not a surprise to see him take the morning off.

-- Kyle Calder skated after practice and is scheduled to be re-evaluated tonight.

-- Raitis Ivanans should be able to start skating in a day or two and resume practicing shortly after, Crawford said.

More notes and quotes to follow...

This is Chapter 271 of the Neverending Blog Saga. It's come to my attention that some people are still having trouble commenting. If so, it's most likely because you're still logged in through the TypeKey thing. You don't need to do that anymore. In fact, it's hindering you. So before you post something, log yourself out and ignore the line above ``name'' that tells you to sign in. It's not necessary in order to comment.

I just tried it myself and it worked, so the problem should be solved. For now. If you want to use this as a test post, to make sure your comments will appear, feel free. And the next time one of your IT guys tells you they're upgrading something, unplug your computer, pick it up and run away.

Before the Dallas game, the Kings had a five-game stretch in which they scored only one power-play goal in 17 chances. Against the Stars, though, they went 2 for 4 on the power play. Against the Ducks, they went 2 for 8.

Coach Marc Crawford said the key to the Kings' power-play success is generating shots from the point, from players such as Lubomir Visnovsky, Rob Blake and Brad Stuart. Visnovsky has two power-play assists in the last two games and Stuart has one.

``When you have a point shot that is able to score, the way we do, it spreads out the defensemen,'' Crawford said. ``The simplicity of having that weapon forces the opponent to make choices.''

The good news? The Kings, who were 0-5 when trailing after two periods before Saturday's Dallas game, have put together consecutive brilliant third periods. They erased a four-goal third-period deficit to beat the Stars in overtime and erased a two-goal third-period deficit against the Ducks on Tuesday before losing in overtime.

The bad news? Well, the fact that the Kings faced those big deficits to begin with. Even the best teams can't afford to regularly put themselves in late-game holes, something the Kings freely acknowledged Wednesday.

``We've come back against two strong teams in the third period,'' Michal Handzus said. ``That's a great sign but we have to make sure we don't get put in that situation too often. We have to make sure we take the lead and play with the lead, but it's great for our confidence to know what we can come back.''

Michael Cammalleri added, ``We take a huge amount of confidence from the way we've been finishing. I'm not worried or concerned because of the way we've been starting. If we can change that, we're going to be a handful. We do have to change that, because we can't be spotting teams three-goal leads.''

Lubomir Visnovsky got a day off from practice today. Alexander Frolov left the ice about halfway through, but Marc Crawford said neither player had issues that would keep them from playing tomorrow. Then again, Crawford would say that if Visnovsky was spotted in a wheelchair...

*tap tap* Is this thing on? First of all, I want to apologize to everyone for the problems we've been having on these blogs. It's ridiculous and inexcusable. Our online guru, Josh Kleinbaum, and his team have been working for days to overcome the massive incompetence that created this problem, and hopefully they have succeeded. Please let me and Matt know if there are continuing problems.

Anyway, for those who haven't seen/heard about it, there was an incident at the end of overtime last night. In the moments after the buzzer, Michal Handzus shot the puck at Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Chris Pronger took offense, slammed Handzus into the boards and started a scrum. Handzus and Pronger ended up shoving and Pronger eventually pummeled Handzus with a few punches.

Pronger got an instigator penalty and because the penalty occurred in the final five minutes, Pronger was eligible to receive a one-game suspension from the league office. But no suspension came down today. Here's a sampling of reaction from the Kings' dressing room:

Handzus: ``It happens. It's not in my control. It's hockey. It's just one of those things. It's one game and then you move on. (A suspension) is not up to me. It's up to the league.''

Michael Cammalleri: ``I don't think (Pronger's hit) was necessary, but I'm not the expert. It's up to Colin Campbell. ... It does (carry over to the next game) and it doesn't. The emotion and intensity and the desire to beat them carries over, but the team that does a better job of not letting the (B.S.) carry over will do a better job. The team that can focus will have success.''

Jack Johnson: ``I don't know why (Pronger) would do that. I just kind of laughed at him. There was no need to do that. He obviously knows Handzus isn't a fighter. He was just trying to beat the buzzer with a shot.''

Derek Armstrong: ``I think it was an instigator. Handzus didn't take his gloves off so I think that's an instigator right there. (Pronger) is a hard-nosed player. There's a time and place for everything, and we can't get caught up in that stuff.''

Marc Crawford: ``(Pronger is) a competitive guy. Everybody respects his competitiveness and we have to be ready to play against him. I didn't think (the hit) warranted anything and it didn't get anything.''

Here's a little something I threw together on the Kings-Ducks rivalry for the front page of today's newspaper. It's perhaps a little optimistic on the Kings' prospects this season, but the optimism is flowing after Saturday's win. We'll see. J.P. Hoornstra, the Ducks beat writer for the newsgroup, provided me with the quotes from the Ducks players.

Crawford said Calder was day-to-day and would be re-evaluated by the medical staff tomorrow. Calder has been skating hard but, once he gets doctor's clearance, he will need to get comfortable handling and shooting the puck again before he can play in a game. Crawford didn't seem optimistic that Calder would play in a game this week.

Crawford said making Preissing a healthy scratch was more to get Dallman in a game than to send Preissing a strong message the way he did Nagy earlier this season.

``I wanted to play Dallman,'' Crawford said. ``He's had to withstand long layoffs. He's practiced so, so hard. I talked to Tom. You never can not be concerned when you don't play. I told him this is what I expect from you, and this is why we're playing Dallman. We really felt Dallman deserved to play. I'll be upfront and let them know if it's a situation where I think something is missing from their game.''

Raitis Ivanans is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow to free up a pinched nerve and have a plate inserted in his cheek. He is expected to be out through the week. He's hoping to start skating again in five days. His cheek is still black and blue and his left eye bloodshot 10 days after the injury occurred when he was struck by a puck in San Jose.

``I can't stand sitting around anymore, that's for sure,'' Ivanans said. ``But it's going to have to be a little longer.''

It's come to my attention that people are having trouble posting comments even after registering. I've passed this on to our Web guy and he'll hopefully have it worked out sometime Monday.

You may have noticed the blog is now requiring registration to post. I'm told the server was having problems after the upgrade because it was hit hard by spam and, as a result, registration was made a requirement to post comments. This may just be temporary but I couldn't put a timetable on when it will stop. So, for those who like to comment, you may want to register. It's free and quick. All you need is an e-mail address.

The Kings are off today. Practice resumes tomorrow.

Whew, I'm exhausted. After Dallas scored to tie the game, I briefly considered walking out of Staples Center never to cover sports again. If we still used typewriters, I'd have a lot of crumpled-up pieces of paper lying around.

The five goals in 5:07 beginning with 7:14 left in the third period were the quickest five goals in Kings history. The previous record was 5:37 at Hartford on Nov. 2, 1985.

``It was just an amazing, amazing game,’’ Anze Kopitar said. ``It followed a script that’s never been done before. This could be the craziest game of my career when it’s all said and done.’’

The Stars had won 34 consecutive games with a lead of more than one goal. Crawford seemed to be acknowleding defeat when he pulled LaBarbera. Then the red light started going off faster than the goals could be announced.

``This is a character-building win for our club,’’ Crawford said. ``It’s something we can look to down the road as the turning point of our season. It wasn't fluky. It was the result of a lot of hard work and determination by the players.''

Both Kopitar and Crawford said the second goal was when the Kings started thinking they had a chance. Crawford said it was an extra boost that the goal came from the line of Thornton, Zeiler and Handzus.

The Kings outshot Dallas 14-4 in the third period and 27-9 after the first period.

For a game like this, it's always fun to check out some quotes from the opposing team ...

Dallas goalie Marty Turco: ``I think the whole third period was brutal. People keep talking about a lesson, but I just think it's embarrassing. Other than embarrassing, it's a total lack of respect for each other.''

Dallas coach Dave Pippett: ``In practice, we go over how important it is to keep pushing. But it takes a hard lesson like this for it to really sink in.''

Got to rush off now but I'll have a lot more later.

Hope you guys at the game didn't leave early. Overtime.

to start the third period. I have to think this is more to rest LaBarbera in a lost cause than to bench him for his performance.

Visnovksy tries a lazy pass halfway across the ice. It's picked off easily by Sergei Zubov, who brings the puck up and leaves it beautifully for Jeff Halpern to blast it past LaBarbera. 4-0 Stars at the end of two periods.

I know you all have been wanting to comment on this game, which the Kings trail 2-0 early in the second period. They are being outshot 16-8 so far.

Tom Preissing is a healthy scratch. Kevin Dallman is in. Raitis Ivanans is out, as expected. Jason LaBarbera is starting in goal.

Hopefully the blog will be cooperative tonight. As I'm eating dinner here at Staples Center, I'm reading the prospect material provided by the Kings and found it interesting that Brian Boyle is one of only two first-round picks from the 2003 draft not to have played in the NHL. Gabe Gauthier and Ted Purcell have scored points in the past five games for the Monarchs.

Tonight, we're allegedly going to have that blog upgrade promised weeks ago. The blog will be down for about six hours starting at 9 p.m. The upgrade will supposedly have a better method of spam blocking that will enable all the people -- mostly overseas -- blocked from viewing to have access again.

Kings games on Nov. 13, Jan. 31, Feb. 10, Feb. 28 and March 2 will air on AM 1260 rather than the usual 1150.

Patrick O'Sullivan practiced without his full face mask today for the first time since taking a puck to the face Oct. 6. He plans to play without the mask from now on.

``Technically, I should have it on for another week or two,'' O'Sullivan said. ``But if we worried about doctors and technicalities then none of us would be playing hockey. They said it's up to me. I put up with it long enough to let it heal and it's just time to take it off.''

O'Sullivan said he doesn't think the mask affected his game but that it did bother his breathing.

He did not skate today. He's been suffering from headaches this week as a result of the puck he took to the face in Friday's game at San Jose, breaking his cheekbone. Crawford said Ivanans was scheduled to skate Friday or Saturday, but that if he did not practice Friday he likely would not play in Saturday's game.

The Kings are in the early stages of a stretch in which they will play 11 consecutive games against Pacific Division opponents. Given the way the division standings looked this morning -- last-place Phoenix was just five points behind first-place San Jose -- this month could have a huge impact on how the division race ultimately plays out.

``There's no real favorite right now,'' Michael Cammalleri said. ``In the end, one or two teams will probably pull away, and we want to be one of those teams.''

Since even Phoenix can't be considered a ``gimme'' game at this point, the pressure is on the Kings in every game this month, but Cammalleri said the parity in the division doesn't make things excessively difficult on the Kings.

``I don't think it makes it any easier or harder,'' Cammalleri said. ``It's just the situation we have. We're pro athletes and we have to adjust. It's a tight division and we're right in the heat of things right now.''

Nothing is won in November, of course, but a solid month of games against division opponents will go a long way toward helping the Kings break their five-year playoff drought.

``These are the games early in the season that you can't lose,'' Dustin Brown said. ``At the end of the year, games against the teams are going to be very important. The playoffs might be decided by one point and everybody is going to look back at these games.''

The Kings had a day off Tuesday, at least from hockey. They were told to assemble at the training facility at 7:30 a.m., at which point they were told to hand over their wallets and cell phones. (No, it wasn't Tim Leiweke collecting them to sell on EBay to pay for L.A. Live.) The players divided up into four teams for an amended version of The Amazing Race, CBS's Emmy-winning reality show. Jerry Bruckheimer, a huge hockey fan, is the show's executive producer.

The teams were sent out in vans to different locations and had to complete the first of five tasks. The first team to complete all five tasks won the competition. The tasks were:

A) To hit a fly ball beyond the infield grass at Dodger Stadium. Tommy Lasorda was there to provide assistance and, I'm told, a profane pep talk, as only Tommy can provide.

B) To have an artist in Venice Beach sketch a portrait of one of the players.

C) To teach a 10-minute lesson in a classroom at Torrance Elementary School.

D) To stand on a surfboard for at least five seconds in the Manhattan Beach water.

E) To find Jim Fox in Hollywood. A clue was posted near Bob Miller's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which the players also had to locate.

The teams took cabs to each location, but for one of the cab rides, they were not given money. They had to ``beg or barter'' for that ride, and they could only go on to the next task when they had completed the previous task.

All of this was taped and will be made into a show on FSN in the near future, so I've been asked not to reveal the winners. But the players' competitiveness did come out, and the winners were quite proud of themselves.

Only one of the teams did not complete all five tasks. A member of that team said, ``We just didn't want to leave Dodger Stadium. I think we hit about 100 balls. That was so much fun.''

The team-building exercise got a general thumbs-up from the players, although one did say, ``It was a lot of work. The last thing I want to do on a day off is exercise. But it was still a fun thing.''

Jason LaBarbera, a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays and baseball in general, particularly enjoyed the day.

``It was cool,'' LaBarbera said. ``We didn't know what the next task was going to be. To hit baseballs at Dodger Stadium was awesome. I wanted to stay there all day. ... We all had to do our part and act like a team, so that was a good lesson to take away.''

Well, that didn't take long. Matt Moulson has been recalled by the Kings and will practice tomorrow.

Practice lasted about an hour today, pretty standard stuff for guys who haven't been on the ice much over the last couple days. A lot of one-on-one drills, puck protection stuff. Crawford really barked at someone -- I believe it was O'Sullivan -- for turning over the puck deep in the zone, but otherwise it was a standard skate.

Ivanans didn't practice today but he's expected to give it a go sometime before Saturday.

Word is that Matt Moulson might be headed back to Los Angeles, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

The Kings spent yesterday doing a team-building function, patterned after ``The Amazing Race.'' I'll have more info about that later this afternoon. For the most part, the players really enjoyed it, particularly the chance they got to hit baseballs at Dodger Stadium. It was all filmed and will be made into a show for FSN sometime soon.

More notes and quotes later...

Tuesday-Day off
Wednesday: 10:30 a.m.
Thursday: 10:30 a.m.
Friday: 10:30 a.m.
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. skate, 7:30 p.m. game vs. Dallas

Short practice for the Kings today before a regularly scheduled meeting with NHL personnel. I should have the practice schedule for the rest of the week by the end of the day.

Short stay for Moulson with the Kings. He was assigned to Manchester. Not sure what this means for Saturday. Calder isn't expected be ready so they could call someone else up this week. At least Moulson has his first NHL goal to show for his cross-country trip.

After some dreadful attendance the past few games, this was the second sellout of the year.

The Kings were whistled for a season-low one penalty.

The big difference, statistically, from this game and the previous night's was in giveaways. The Kings had 19 compared to six last night and the Sharks had five compared to 18 last night.

Rob Blake actually led the Kings in shots with five. I wouldn't say that's a good thing.

Crawford mixed up the lines a lot again in the third period, saying he was searching for something to penetrate their defense.

LaBarbera couldn't be blamed for the first two goals. The first one was really a crisp play with the one-timer off a hard pass from Thornton. The second he was screened out and couldn't see the puck. The third would have been a good stop but he was there and should have had it.

Ivanans won't need surgery and Crawford is hopeful he will be able to practice this week and play next Saturday with a mask. ``Obviously, he's a tough kid to be able to handle that,'' Crawford said of the shot Ivanans took under his left eye with the puck Friday. ``That would have knocked out just about anybody.''

The Kings have tomorrow off but will be back to practice Monday.

``We knew before the game that we captured their attention with how we played in San Jose. We knew they were going to be better. Our goal was to be better ourselves, but I thought tonight we had too many passengers. When playing a team of that caliber, you need to have everybody -- all hands on deck.''

``They didn't give us a great deal tonight. I thought, in the third period, we at least generated some chances. They're a team that, when they get a one goal lead, they're very adept at protecting it.''

``I thought the second period, which has been our strength the last couple of games, was probably our weakest tonight. I thought we did a decent job in the first period and, in the second, we just couldn't muster anything. Again, I thought in the third period we did generate some attack. We got some shots through but they were equal to the task.''

``We absolutely would have loved to have been in first place but we're not. There's nothing for our team to be ashamed about. We're playing a lot better at this time this year than we were at this time last year. We got to be about improvement. Every day we put on our skates, our goal as a team is to make subtle improvements in our game. We are getting better, although tonight was a hard game for our fans to see that.''

On the long layoff: ``I think it's going to be beneficial for our group. Some of the older players will get a couple of days off. We'll do a little bit of team building for the group and have some great practices later in the week. It's a division month for us so it shouldn't be a problem for our team to get up (after the layoff).''

Cammalleri
``We were pressing a little bit. We played a little more of an impatient game. It was a big game we were excited about and could have been a big win for us, so maybe that got us a little jumpy.''

LaBarbera
``It was a lot different game than it was last night. Last night, there was a lot more flow and a lot more shots around the net. They did a good job of sticking to their game plan. Right from the get go, they were trying to get pucks in deep and cycle the puck.''

On Sharks' second goal: ``The rebound came off me on a high shot. It put Stuart in a tough spot because he didn't really know where the puck was and had a tough time finding it at his feet. JR just swiped at it and put it in. It was one of those scramble plays that are tough, but JR did a good job finding it and putting it in.''

On Sharks' third goal: ``Cheechoo is one of the best scorers in the league but I felt I was there. Actually, I couldn't believe it went in. I felt I read the play well and was there, it just somehow trickled through.''

notes and quotes from the locker room to come ...

18,118. Second sellout of the season. Still 2-1 Sharks with 11:03 left in the game.

Not many chances for the Kings that period with six shots.

Roenick knocked in a rebound after Alexei Semenov had hit the puck inside. It looked like Stuart screened out LaBarbera on the shot, and Roenick put it on a nice angle in the upper right corner. Kings have some work to do in order to stay in first entering the long layoff.

Former San Jose defenseman Brad Stuart rocketed a deep slap shot from near the blue line on the left side to beat his former team. It might have knicked the leg of a Sharks player. Couldn't tell. Second goal of the year for Stuart.

and it's not going well so far. Frolov gets a penalty for hooking a minute in and the Sharks score on the power play. Joe Pavelski knocked a one-timer past LaBarbera off a pass from Joe Thornton on a bang-bang play. Can't blame this one on LaBarbera. Johnson was the closest to Pavelski but didn't come up on the play.

Some good news: This is the best looking attendance I've seen in a while. Upper level is full. Lot of empty seats across from me in loge, though.

Since there's no TV tonight, Bob Miller will be signing copies of his book, ``Tales From the Los Angeles Kings,'' on the Staples Center concourse near the Team L.A. store. For those in the Santa Barbera area, Bob will also be signing at the Borders in Goleta tomorrow at 2 p.m. Ask him to tell you a Jack Kent Cooke story. He has a million of them and they're all classic.

-- It was an optional skate this morning, after the late-night arrival from San Jose. Both goalies and perhaps 10-12 skaters on the ice this morning.

-- Raitis Ivanans won't play tonight, not surprisingly given that the side of his face was a swollen mess after last night's game. Since it's a back-to-back situation and there are six days off after tonight's game, there won't be a callup from Manchester. Obviously if Ivanans is going to be out a while, there will be. So that means John Zeiler back in the lineup tonight and Kevin Dallman as the only scratch, unless someone gets hit by a slap shot between now and 7:30 p.m.

-- Jason LaBarbera is back in goal tonight. J.S. Aubin got quite a workout in practice. The coaches put him through a series of drills, most of which were focused on rebound control. I asked LaBarbera about the concept of maintaining momentum. You hear starting pitchers talk about it in baseball, about wanting to follow up a teammate's effort with a solid effort, so I asked LaBarbera if that translated to goalies. ``You don't want to be the guy to let everyone down,'' LaBarbera said, ``especially if the team played well and won the last game. At the same time, you don't want to think about it too much because you don't want to put too much pressure on yourself.''

I asked LaBarbera if he learned anything about San Jose by watching from the bench, any tendencies that might help him tonight. He said, ``For me, I've never really focused on what the other team is doing. It's nice to see how they set up the power play and how they set up in the offensive zone, but for the most part I focus on myself. If I worry too much about what the other team is doing, I'll think too much. I don't even like to know what we're doing. I just focus on myself and how I play.''

-- Tonight's game will truly be the home debut for Matt Moulson. He was with the Kings in training camp last year and this year but has never played a game at Staples Center. He said the only exhibition games he played were at the Pond/Honda Center. Moulson scored a goal in his NHL debut Friday and said he enjoyed the experience, even though it was a bit harrowing at first. ``My head was spinning a little when he first came out,'' Moulson said. ``It was pretty loud and I caught myself looking around a little. I was pretty excited but after the first couple shifts I calmed down. I had (Derek Armstrong) and Scott Thornton there to calm me down during the game. If I made a bad play, they would talk to me and tell me to just keep playing hard.''

-- The Kings put together an impressive victory last night, but one number was glaring: the 47 shots on goal the Kings allowed the Sharks. I asked Jack Johnson what he took away from that game and how he interpreted that shot total. ``Shot totals can be deceiving,'' Johnson said. ``Just because they get a lot of shots doesn't mean the quality was great. Aubin definitely stood on his head at times and (the Sharks) did have some quality chances.''

I asked Johnson if he thought the Sharks got frustrated, after they scored just one goal on 20 first-period shots, and started to make mistakes. He said, ``We just kind of had to weather the storm. San Jose, they typically come out flying in the first period, particularly the first half of the first period. I think we showed a lot, from the standpoint that we were able to come back strong after that.''

Finally, I asked Jack about the upcoming six-day break and the importance, from a mental standpoint, of going into it with a victory and remaining in first place in the Pacific Division. ``We definitely want to secure the No. 1 spot and feel good going into those six days off,'' Johnson said. ``We've got to give it all tonight and then rest up during those six days.''

-- Regardless of tonight's result, the Kings will take tomorrow off and return to practice Monday morning.

Nice performance by Aubin with 45 saves. The Kings only had that many shots against them once last season, so Aubin stepped up big to keep them in the game. Matt Moulson with his first goal in his first NHL game.

Another one with the Sharks on Saturday night, this time at Staples. I believe Rich will have some notes and quotes from the morning skate and I'll be at the game.

Here's some game quotes from the Associated Press ...

"We needed [Aubin] to be great early, and he was," Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford said. "Everybody knows the Sharks are a really strong club, and that won't change. But great goaltending allows you to build confidence in yourselves."

"It felt like a little more," Aubin said of his shots against. "You know you're going to play [San Jose] eight times, so you'd better make sure you're ready. I felt pretty good this morning, but it was a tough game."

"I was just trying to think about calming my nerves down out there," Moulson said. "It felt good to get on the ice and just try to concentrate on the game."

Patrick O'Sullivan hopes Saturday's game against San Jose is his last wearing the full face mask. It looks like he will be able to keep the three teeth he had surgically placed back in his mouth after he took a puck to the face during a game against St. Louis on Oct. 6.

Michael Cammalleri hasn't scored a goal in three games. OK, that's hardly a scoring slump. But Cammalleri had people a little spoiled with 10 goals in the first 10 games.

``We'll change that this weekend,'' Cammalleri said of the drought after practice Thursday. ``We won the first two games so that wasn't frustrating at all. The last game was a little frustrating since we lost.''

Henrik Zetterberg's two-goal performance Thursday for Detroit moved him ahead of Cammalleri for the league-lead in goals.

``I've been getting chances, and that's the key,'' Cammalleri said. ``They'll start going in in bunches. I just got to bear down, pick my spots a little better and it will go in.''

retroactive to Oct. 31. This move was expected. He'll be eligible to come off Nov. 7 but isn't expected to have the cast off his left hand and be re-evaluated for two weeks.

Good news. Just heard back from a Kings representative that Crawford says the surgery went well and Calder will be in a cast for two weeks, then re-evaluated. Looks like the injury landed on the good side of Crawford's spectrum.

from Manchester. Moulson, 24, leads the team with five goals in eight games. He will be making his NHL debut, wearing No. 28.

Jean-Sebastien Aubin will get a turn in the net tomorrow at San Jose.

Jason LaBarbera, who has started the last five games for the Kings, will get a game off before coming back to play Saturday's home game against the Sharks.

``I like playing a lot (of games),'' LaBarbera said. ``I've always been like that. But they need both of us playing at our best so I understand. If I play both games the J-S wouldn't have played for three weeks, so that's probably not fair to him.''

Aubin was pulled in the third period of his last start Oct. 18 against Calgary. LaBarbera entered the game and had played every minute at goalie for the Kings since, winning four games in a row before Wednesday's loss.

``That game is in the past now,'' Aubin said. ``I've been pulled many times in my career. You can't be frustrated sitting out when the other guy's playing well. He's carried us. We've won four of five. Now it's my turn to step up and give my teammates a chance to win.''

Crawford said the move was more to give LaBarbera rest in a back-to-back situation than to get Aubin playing time.

``There's probably only three or four goalies in the league who will play all three games of a three-in-four,'' Crawford said. ``I think it's a good time for J-S to come in. Over the past couple years, he's been more used to being a guy that spells people off. He'll get a good opportunity to come in and we're looking for him to have a strong performance.''

Kyle Calder fractured his left thumb when he was hit with a slap shot early in the third period last night and will require surgery. Crawford said Calder is out at least two weeks and perhaps a lot longer. The team will call someone up from Manchester later this afternoon. I'd think Brady Murray is the most likely candidate.

``If he just needs plates and screws in the thumb, then he'll be re-evaluated in two weeks and that would be the good side of it,'' Crawford said. ``If they have to do more invasive surgery or a reconstruction, then it will obviously be a little longer. We're all hopeful it will be the less severe one that will require him to have the cast on two weeks, and then we'll start from there.''

Calder, who scored the Kings' lone goal in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to Columbus, has been the best of the team's offseason acquisitions. He was nicknamed ``Grease'' by teammates for his gritty play. He has three goals and three assists in 13 games.

``We've been pleased with how he's progressed,'' Crawford said. ``He's got an injury now. That's part of the game. It's unfortunate but someone else will get a good opportunity now and that's how we'll look at it.''