Since putting his top three point producers on the same line, Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter has been in search of balance, a quest that has become more relevant on this season-long road trip.
The Kings played the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night -- a 2-1 loss -- just 24 hours after a road game against St. Louis. The Kings are a young team, but even young legs get tired.
To that end, Sutter has been attempting to balance shifts as much as possible. Against St. Louis, all the Kings' forwards except enforcer Kevin Westgarth took between 15 and 23 shifts, and Sutter urged his forwards to keep those shifts as short as possible.
"Length of shifts is more important than rolling four lines," Sutter said. "If you manage the timeouts right, there's not necessarily a rotation there. You can kind of get away from that."
Since Sutter put center Anze Kopitar between wingers Dustin Brown and Justin Williams, that line has produced but others have struggled. In search of some balance, Sutter dropped Jarret Stoll from the second line to the third line, but the Kings have still been a top-heavy team.
The Kings will need their depth. They have two days off before Tuesday's game at Tampa Bay, but they finish their road trip with four games in six days, including a daunting New York-to-Dallas back-to-back set.
NOTES, QUOTES
--Saturday's game marked a rare meeting between the Kings and the Carolina Hurricanes, who have faced each other only six times since the end of the NHL lockout in 2005. Before Saturday, the teams had almost evenly split their previous five games, with each team winning twice in regulation and the Kings claiming an overtime victory. Overall in the series, the home team is 8-2-1 in the last 11 meetings. The Kings had won three straight games over the Hurricanes after being winless in the previous four meetings. The teams will not meet again this season.
--Facing the second leg of a back-to-back set, along with a long night of travel, the Kings shuffled the lineup and replaced three players. The most obvious change came in goal, as backup Jonathan Bernier got his ninth start of the season in place of Jonathan Quick, who played the previous night in St. Louis and suffered a 1-0 loss. Also not particularly surprising was the substitution of Andrei Loktionov, in for enforcer Kevin Westgarth, who played fewer than five minutes Friday night. The most surprising was the addition of defenseman Alec Martinez, who had been a healthy scratch from the previous nine games, in place of rookie defenseman Slava Voynov.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We've got to find ways to score goals. We're not waiting for the power play. You can't do that in this game. You've got to find ways to generate offense." -- Kings center Jarret Stoll.
ROSTER REPORT
PLAYER NOTES:
--LW Kyle Clifford landed a big promotion this week. Clifford, who had been playing on the fourth line, got moved up into a second-line role alongside C Mike Richards and RW Dustin Penner. Clifford, known more for his hitting than his scoring, has three goals and six assists in 53 games this season. "I just wanted a bigger body to play more minutes against a bigger team (St. Louis), that's all," coach Darryl Sutter said. He was similarly short when asked about Clifford's effort against the Blues, mostly because the Kings suffered a 1-0 loss, their sixth shutout loss of the season. "Hey, we lost," Sutter said. "I wasn't happy with anyone."
--G Jonathan Bernier got the start Saturday night, after being on the bench for his longest stretch of the season. G Jonathan Quick, an All-Star, had started the previous nine games. That meant that, because of the Kings' extended All-Star break, Bernier went 25 days between starts. Bernier's previous longest stretch this season without appearing in a game had been 16 days. Bernier might get another start on this road trip, as the Kings play the New York Islanders on Feb. 10 and the Dallas Stars the next day.
--D Alec Martinez returned to the lineup after a nine-game absence, replacing rookie D Slava Voynov. Martinez, who has two goals in 24 games this season, had been a lineup regular in the previous two seasons, and his lack of playing time this season really had little to do with him. The Kings have two young talented players in D Drew Doughty and D Jack Johnson, as well as three veterans in D Matt Greene, D Willie Mitchell and D Rob Scuderi. Martinez's playing time diminished because of the emergence of Voynov, who has four goals and seven assists in 33 games this season.
MEDICAL WATCH:
--Simon Gagne (concussion) was put on injured reserve on Dec. 28 and is out indefinitely.
--Scott Parse (hip) was put on injured reserve on Nov. 9 and underwent surgery on Dec. 2. Parse will be out until at least early April and might be out for the season.
GOALTENDERS:
--Jonathan Bernier.
--Jonathan Quick.
DEFENSE PAIRINGS:
--Rob Scuderi, Drew Doughty.
--Willie Mitchell, Jack Johnson.
--Alec Martinez, Matt Greene.
FIRST LINE:
--LW Dustin Brown, C Anze Kopitar, RW Justin Williams.
SECOND LINE:
--LW Kyle Clifford, C Mike Richards, RW Dustin Penner.
THIRD LINE:
-- LW Brad Richardson, C Jarret Stoll, RW Trevor Lewis.
FOURTH LINE:
--LW Andrei Loktionov, C Colin Fraser, RW Trent Hunter.
