Kings make lineup changes at Dallas
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The Kings canceled their morning skate in Dallas after they arrived from Chicago in the wee hours of Thursday morning. They instead had a meeting at their hotel, and afterward Coach Terry Murray announced a few lineup changes.
Defenseman Peter Harrold will come out of the lineup and Jake Muzzin will be in Thursday night against the Stars, though Murray didn’t explain why. I’ll catch up with him later and ask his reasoning.
Muzzin was recalled from Manchester on Monday after Drew Doughty was placed on injured reserve because of a concussion.
As for Doughty, the Kings said he will not play on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. [updated at 3:15 p.m.] A day earlier, General Manager Dean Lombardi had said the star defenseman was doubtful for that game.
Also, forwards Kevin Westgarth and Brayden Schenn will be in the lineup against Dallas in place of Andrei Loktionov and Trevor Lewis. In the past few days Loktionov has gone from first-line left wing to fourth-line center to a healthy scratch, an interesting journey.
Murray has been critical of Schenn’s defensive shortcomings, and Schenn acknowledged he’s still adjusting to the NHL.
“I’m watching lots and lots of videos and sitting out and watching the games,” he said. “Obviously you want to be in. I just have to learn from it.”
On the defensive side, Schenn said, “just learning your positioning is the main thing. You don’t want to get beat off the wall and you want to stay tight to your man below the circles there. In junior, it’s kind of I’ll take the puck and go, and here it’s obviously a little different.”
More later at www.latimes.com/sports
-- Helene Elliott in Dallas