Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick takes All-Star honor in stride

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, named to the NHL All-Star team Thursday, had a typically low-key reaction to his first All-Star honor, the first for a Kings goalie since Mario Lessard in 1981.

"It's a great accomplishment. It's something I'm looking forward to do at the end of the month," he said, talking about the Jan. 29 game after the Kings skated in El Segundo in advance of Thursday's game against the Dallas Stars at Staples Center.

"But right now we've got a lot of things going on here. We've got a big game tonight against Dallas. That's ultimately what we're all focused on."

The only other Kings goalies to make an All-Star team were Terry Sawchuk in 1968, Rogie Vachon in 1973, 1975 and 1978, and Lessard. Quick enters Thursday's game with the fourth-best goals-against average (1.93), fifth-best save percentage (.934), a league-leading six shutouts and eighth-best number of wins (18).

Quick said he didn't know any of the other all-stars and that he found out he would be taking part in the game in Ottawa when Coach Darryl Sutter gave him the news on the ice at the end of the morning skate. He joked that his teammates didn’t treat him like an all-star.

Kings' Jack Johnson pays tribute to Tim Tebow after goal [Video]

If Kings defenseman Jack Johnson really wanted to honor Tim Tebow on Monday night, he would have scored 15 seconds earlier ... with 3:16 showing on the clock.

Tebow, the devout Christian quarterback of the Denver Broncos, freaked everyone out Sunday both with his dominating performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers and by passing for 316 yards and a 31.6 average, bringing to mind perhaps the most famous Bible verse of all, John 3:16.

Alas, Johnson wasn't quite able to pull that off, instead scoring with 3:01 remaining in the second period of the Kings' 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Staples Center. So he did the next best thing: he Tebowed, dropping to one knee right there on the ice.

Times writer Lisa Dillman described the origin of the tribute in Tuesday's paper:

"The background behind it was that I've got some buddies that flew in from Michigan," Johnson said.

"And we were watching the [football] game last night and after the game they said, 'If you score, would you Tebow for us?' I said, 'Sure deal.' Then I ended up scoring and I thought, 'I've got to pay up.'"

After Denver quarterback Tim Tebow's stirring overtime victory over the Steelers on Sunday, Johnson excitedly tweeted: "love it, so happy for him. Awesome!!! Show the world."

Apparently Johnson decided to do the same thing.

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-- Chuck Schilken

Interim Coach John Stevens tries to heal Kings, generate scoring

Interim coach John Stevens will be behind the Kings’ bench Thursday for the second straight game while General Manager Dean Lombardi finishes arrangements to hire a replacement for Terry Murray.

All indications remain that the new coach will be Darryl Sutter and that Sutter will take over next Tuesday. After facing the Blue Jackets, the Kings will play at Detroit on Saturday and at Toronto on Monday before returning home to face the Ducks next Thursday at Staples Center. Apparently, Sutter has some family and farming responsibilities to wrap up in Alberta but he should be able to sort everything out within the next few days.

Lombardi declined to elaborate Thursday while watching the Kings’ morning skate at Nationwide Arena. “I’m working through the process,” he said.

Though it’s odd to take so long before appointing the next coach — and the Kings’ 3-0 loss at Boston Tuesday was more of the same performance that undermined Murray — Lombardi said he has confidence in Stevens’ ability to run things for a while. “I’m not too worried about with Johnny having their respect,” Lombardi said.

Stevens is expected to stay on when Sutter is appointed, though it’s unclear whether Sutter will want to also choose an assistant.

In the meantime, Stevens is running practices, trying to find ways to produce goals and end the Kings’ five-game losing streak. Players, who have been addressed by Lombardi twice in the past few days, acknowledged Thursday that this hasn't been business as usual.

“It’s the first time for me. I’ve never had a coaching change in the middle of a year at any level, I don’t think. It is weird,” defenseman Jack Johnson said.

“It is what it is and you’ve got to deal with it. When the puck drops you’re still playing hockey. The game hasn’t changed. It’s kind of when we’re sitting around the room and we’re thinking about it, it’s weird.”

Johnson also said the team’s last practice was “one of the best practices we’ve ever had.” Stevens said he’s trying to deal more with emotions and the mind-set of the team than with strategy.

“When something of this magnitude happens, if you look at the last four years and where this team has come from and the success they’ve had, to go through emotionally what they have the last few days, it was just about trying to get some reps in and trying to get some energy and focus on getting things done on the ice,” Stevens said.

“Just trying to build some spirit back up after what they’ve been through emotionally in the last couple days.”

Kings begin practices without unsigned Drew Doughty

The Kings took to the ice Saturday for their first training camp scrimmages minus restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty, who remains unsigned.

General Manager Dean Lombardi said he had not spoken Saturday with Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan.

On the ice, it was business as usual -- or as close to usual as you can get without a franchise-quality defenseman.

“The plans do not change at all,” Coach Terry Murray said. “We’re going to miss Doughty. I wish he was here to be a part of it. He’s a very important player, a big part of the locker room. He’s a fun guy to be around. He’s a great player for us but the plan does not change for the training camp. We have to get ready for the start of the year. We’ll go through the same plan as we had in the early part of August.”

Murray said he didn’t think he needed to caution players about not letting Doughty’s contract talks become a distraction.

“It’s not my area of concern,” Murray said. “I know I’m the coach of the team and I want Doughty here but that’s the business side of it that everybody is very aware of the way it is. It’s been like that for years.

“Players use the opportunity, I guess, to get as much money as they possibly can. I don’t begrudge anybody that. I’m not going to be upset at Doughty when it finally gets settled. I’m going to be very happy that he’s here and welcome him to the team and let’s get going.”

No one quite knows when that will be, of course. The Kings’ last offer was an average of $6.8 million for about seven years, but Doughty is believed to be seeking $7 million or slightly more.

Kings seek another upturn after up-and-down season

A year ago, simply making the playoffs was enough of an accomplishment for the Kings after an eight-year absence from postseason play.

When this season began they considered making the playoffs to be the jumping-off point for their larger goal of making an impact in the chase for the Stanley Cup.

That could still happen if they erase the Sharks’ 3-2 series lead Monday at Staples Center and carry the series back to San Jose for a winner-take-all seventh game Wednesday. But Monday’s game will be the second straight time the Kings will have faced elimination in this series, keeping them on a tightrope with no safety net below.

They navigated that perilous situation in winning Game 5 at San Jose on Saturday but needed goaltender Jonathan Quick’s 51-save performance to do it. They’ll have to do it again Monday at Staples, where the Sharks won the third and fourth games of the series last week.

“It’s maybe been the underlying theme of this team this year,” said right wing Dustin Brown, the Kings’ captain. “We had a great start and then we put ourselves behind the eight-ball a third of the way through the season, and then we do it again another third of the way through the season, and we found a way to battle back.

“You’ve got to try to take the positives out of our resiliency this year. That might come into play in this series. We got Game 5, we’re back on home ice. We’ve just got to take it really one shift at a time, one period at a time and go from there.”

They've had to be resilient in this series, too. After losing the opener in overtime, they recovered to win the second game, 4-0. After absorbing a crushing defeat at home in Game 3 -- in which they squandered a 4-0 lead before losing in overtime, 6-5 -- and then losing Game 4 as well, they came back for a 3-1 win at San Jose on Saturday.

"This has been a roller coaster of a series. We’ve been up, we’ve been down. We’ve blown leads. We’ve pretty much done everything," Brown said.

Kings end long and winding road trip with 3-2 win over Ducks

Playing the last leg of a 10-game road odyssey that could have broken them, the Kings on Wednesday reasserted themselves into the West playoff picture with a 3-2 victory over the Ducks that lifted them into sixth place in the mad playoff scramble.

A slick backhand backpass by Justin Williams set up light-scoring defenseman Willie Mitchell in the left circle for a slap shot that eluded a screened Curtis McElhinney at 6:45 of the third period and gave the Kings a 6-1-3 record in their season-long stretch of 10 straight games away from Staples Center. On Thursday they return home for the first time since Jan. 26 and will face the Minnesota Wild.

The Ducks played one of the best defensive games they've mustered in a while, banding together in front of McElhinney to help the struggling goalie as he tries to replace the still-ailing Jonas Hiller.

However, McElhinney left two rebounds the Kings turned into goals and the Ducks had no margin for error since they were also without their two top centers. Saku Koivu missed the game because of a sore groin and Ryan Getzlaf was with his wife following the birth of the couple’s son, Ryder James Getzlaf, Wednesday afternoon.

Goaltender Ray Emery, recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League Wednesday morning, was in uniform as McElhinney’s backup.

Johnson, Mitchell to play as Kings go for record

The Kings, who tied a club record Thursday by earning a point for the 11th consecutive game (8-0-3), can set a record Saturday if they continue the streak against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.

They will make the attempt with a full lineup: Defensemen Willie Mitchell and Jack Johnson, who missed practice on Friday, said they were ready to play Saturday. The Kings are 5-0-3 on this trip and have points in nine straight road games (6-0-3), two short of the longest road point streak in team history.

“I’m good. I had some bumps and bruises that I needed to address [Friday],” Johnson said Saturday after participating in the team’s morning skate.

Mitchell also skated Saturday morning and said he felt fine.

“Just a bit of a bruise from last game,” he said. “Everything’s working good today.”

The rest of the lineup will stay as Coach Terry Murray had it in practice Friday. The lines will be Ryan Smyth-Jarret Stoll-Justin Williams; Brad Richardson-Anze Kopitar-Wayne Simmonds; Kyle Clifford-Michal Handzus-Dustin Brown, and Alexei Ponikarovsky-Trevor Lewis-Kevin Westgarth. The defense pairs will be Mitchell-Drew Doughty, Johnson-Rob Scuderi, and Alec Martinez-Matt Greene.

Murray said he reviewed video of the Kings’ 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday to confirm his impressions that Andrei Loktionov had not played well defensively. The rookie center had a 0 plus/minus rating but he did lose eight of nine faceoffs.

“He got exposed a little bit in some of those important situations,” Murray said, “so just back away this game and give him a little bit of a break.”

The Kings can’t afford to back off against the Islanders, even though this is the last real road game of their 10 straight games away from Staples Center. Their actual road finale and last away game until March 9, is Wednesday at Anaheim.

“You’ve got to bring a good game here tonight. There’s no way you can allow yourself to be ambushed,” Murray said.

Kings hoping for more offense from their defense

Kings defensemen played a role in all four goals in the team’s 4-3 victory over Phoenix on Saturday, and Coach Terry Murray would like to see that happen a lot more.

Matt Greene got a stick on the puck in the neutral zone before Phoenix turned it over on the first goal, which was scored by Justin Williams; Drew Doughty scored the second goal after a nice fake; Alec Martinez scored the third goal with an assist from Greene, and Jack Johnson’s blast created the rebound that led to Jarret Stoll’s diving game-winner.

“That would be a very good thing to continue,” Murray said, “and that’s really where you have to come to today, with the way teams play on the structure and their [protect] home-plate attitude. You’ve got five down tight. There’s not a lot of room to make plays. Unless something good is happening off the rush or you get now second options off of rebounds.”

Murray was asked if he had ever considered using Johnson or Doughty up front to capitalize on their mobility and shots, but he said he never thought about it. The notion of using Johnson at forward isn’t so far-fetched: General Manager Dean Lombardi has said Johnson played more like a rover than a defenseman while at the University of Michigan and contributed a lot offensively.

Murray said San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle often plays like a rover, finding open ice away from the puck and sneaking into the offensive zone.

“You can do that from the back end and be more effective than as a forward player because you’re coming from up top. You’re very hard to identify,” Murray said. “You can lose people. Defending players are focused more on the puck sometimes and now you lose that player on the back side coming in.”

Johnson has had seven assists in his last 10 games and is three points from the career-best 36 he scored last season on eight goals and 28 assists. Doughty has two goals and five points in his last 10 games but with four goals and 25 points remains well off the pace he set last season in collecting 16 goals and 59 points. He hasn't been as assertive or effective at either end of the ice as he was last season, and that was true even before he suffered a concussion and missed six games in October.

But Murray said Doughty has been more actively involved in the offense lately and hopes that’s a positive sign.

“The last half-dozen games he’s really got his feet going. That’s the big difference in his game for me, is his skating,” Murray said. “He’s alert. He’s jumping. He’s got nice energy level. We’re seeing a lot of puck-carrying but we’re seeing a lot of good things happening away from the puck in the offensive zone.”

Murray said the coaching staff had been reviewing video with Doughty and telling him to become more involved but it might have taken time for the message to sink in.

"Your effectiveness, you have an impact in every game whenever you’re jumping and using your skating ability in the game today," Murray said of Doughty. "Just moving the puck and standing there and looking for a shooting opportunity -- that was good maybe a decade ago, but it’s a different animal that we’re looking for at the back end and he’s got all the tools, he and Jack, with their size and strength, the minutes they can play and the way they can skate. They can generate a lot on the secondary part of the scoring for us and that’s the game that he’s been showing recently."

-- Helene Elliott

 

Kings' morning skate: Mostly quiet on the Western front

The Kings had a quiet and optional morning skate Monday, and Coach Terry Murray said he’s likely to make most of the remaining game-day skates optional in order to help players conserve energy.

Defenseman Rob Scuderi, who appeared to injure his ankle late Saturday and didn’t practice Sunday, is expected to play. Murray said Scuderi skated early Monday morning “and tried everything out,” and gave the thumbs-up sign upon leaving the ice.

Murray said the lines and defense pairs will remain the same as they were for the team’s 4-3 victory Saturday at Phoenix, which would leave Andrei Loktionov on the left with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, Ryan Smyth with Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams, Kyle Clifford with Trevor Lewis and Wayne Simmonds, and Brad Richardson with Michal Handzus and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

On defense, Willie Mitchell will pair with Drew Doughty, Scuderi with Jack Johnson and Matt Greene with Alec Martinez. Jonathan Quick will start in goal.

“Win, I don’t want to change too much here,” Murray said. “It was a good effort --very good effort the other night. Go back over it and review it, there were some great decisions made with the puck. Offensive-zone play obviously, and I like the tempo. And the attitude of compete was real good, so we’re going to stay with the lineup and hopefully bring the same kind of game.”

One thing that could use changing is the Kings’ power play, which is 0 for 22 over seven games and through Sunday’s games had slipped to 19th in the NHL, with a 16.7% success rate. The league average through Sunday was 18.3%.

Doughty and Johnson were an effective power-play duo in the playoffs, but Murray said he doesn’t plan to reunite them — at least not yet.

“It’s tempting but I think we’re going to hang in there with the same group right now,” he said. “You reinforce the five-on-five play that we showed the other night with the goals that were going in from the back end, and it’s the same kind of a look that you want to have on the power play.

“That’s where we’re running into a little bit of a situation, I believe, where it comes up top and we’re still waiting for those passes to be coming back down low, guys waiting on the goal line on that strong side. Actually that player should be coming to the front of the net, coming to the high slot and you’re not an option. So up top, the puck has to be handled with the umbrella look and take it to the net looking for rebounds. That’s just a play off the puck that we need to get better at, to be more consistent at. And I think whenever you eliminate the options on the puck movement it forces things to come to the net.”

Check back for more at www.latimes.com/sports, including some musings by Murray on the Kings’ defensemen making more offensive contributions lately.

-- Helene Elliott

Drew Doughty says Jack Johnson's contract numbers aren't a blueprint for him

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said Monday that teammate Jack Johnson’s signing of a seven-year, $30.5-million contract extension with the club won’t have an impact on his own contract negotiations with the Kings.

Doughty is in the final year of his entry-level contract and is eligible to become a restricted free agent after the season. He’s represented by high-power agent Don Meehan of Toronto-based Newport Sports.

Meehan and several associates have been in Southern California the last few days catching up with clients -- they represent five members of the Kings -- and were scheduled to attend the Kings’ game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night at Staples Center.

“I don’t really think it has any bearing on the amount I’m going to sign for or the amount of years I’m going to sign for,” Doughty said after the team’s game-day skate in El Segundo.

“To be honest with you, I have no idea how long it’s going to be. We haven’t talked at all.

“I’m just here to play and not worry about that stuff. That is why my agent’s out here, to talk and deal with that stuff. I want to know what’s going on and what’s being said, but I’m going to stay out of the negotiating process.”

Doughty, 21, is nearly three years younger than Johnson. However, he was a finalist for the Norris Trophy last season and is considered to have greater upside than Johnson.

Asked if he could imagine committing to a seven-year deal, which is among the longest the Kings have ever given any player, Doughty was, well, noncommittal.

“That is a long time,” he said. “It’s great for the Kings organization to have Jack around for that many years, unless he gets traded. He’s a great player and a huge part of this defense corps and this organization, so it was really good for them to get him.”

The news of Johnson’s signing last Saturday was applauded by his teammates -- including Anze Kopitar, who said the new deal meant that Johnson would have to buy him dinner. Johnson said Monday he plans to pick up the tab for everyone in Dallas, the first stop on the Kings’ next trip.

“It’s the first opportunity I have to buy them dinner and I figured I’d do it on the road when guys don’t have families and stuff around,” Johnson said. “Sometimes at home they have plans and you don’t want to interfere with their plans, so I figured on the road would be a good time to do it.”

He already has a steakhouse picked out and is prepared for teammates to eat hearty and not opt for the petite cut on the filet mignon.

“I would hope they wouldn’t, because I don’t think I would,” he said.

There wasn't much news out of the morning skate. Coach Terry Murray said the lineup will remain the same as it was against Columbus, which means no Brad Richardson, Peter Harrold or Davis Drewiske. Murray said he planned to chat with Richardson and go over some video of the forward's recent games to explain why he's no longer in the lineup.

Also, the Kings said the NHL had made a change on the scoring of their second goal against Columbus on Saturday. The goal, previously awarded to Alec Martinez with assists to Johnson and Marco Sturm, was tipped by Sturm and given to him. The scoring sequence now reads Sturm, with his third goal of the season, from Martinez and Johnson.

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Drew Doughty. Credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images

Kings after deadline: Kings 6, Columbus 4

Notes and quotes from the Kings' 6-4 victory over Columbus at Staples Center. Thanks, as always, to PR guru Jeremy Zager, whose Grandma Schwartz is going to come to a hockey game very soon.

Kings Coach Terry Murray

On the game: "It was a great start to the game, first half of the game I thought was exactly what you wanted to have with the compete, with the intensity and doing the right thing, getting it in, scoring some goals.  Things started to change after we gave up that first goal, we got a little too casual again with puck management through the middle of the ice, gave them a lot of energy and gave them a lot of life the rest of the game I thought from that point.  Bottom line is we get that win, hopefully good things can start to happen here as we build off this."

On Jack Johnson's seven-year extension: "That’s great for Jack. He’s a young guy that’s going to be a great player in this game for a long time, so it’s great to get him locked up.  Those young defensemen are very hard to find, the guys with skill and talent and ability like that.  I’m hoping that he and Drew Doughty can end up being the anchors of this blue-line core for a long time."

On Jonathan Quick’s performance: “When you get a 4-0 lead like that, now you want to just play the right way, your goaltender has to stay real sharp do the right stuff, keep it simple, just stop the puck. . . . I think when he’s on his game those are easy plays for him.”

Kings center Anze Kopitar

On the game and a full lineup:  "Greenie [Matt Greene] talked about it before the game, to take a look around the room.  As healthy as we’ve been all year, right from the get-go, and we added Sturmie [Marco Sturm] to the lineup, too. Those are the guys and I’m pretty sure there’s not going to be any major changes.  We have to feel comfortable with everybody that is here and we have to trust that everybody is going to do their job.  It was definitely not the way we wanted to finish that game but two points is two points."