Practice Becomes a Talk Show on Ice

Perhaps what the Kings have is a failure to communicate.

Coach Andy Murray addressed the issue at practice Wednesday, when he had his players call for every puck in an effort to avoid duplicating the mistakes the Kings made Tuesday night in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals.

“We’re trying to get our players to talk a little bit more on the ice,” Murray said. “It’s the kind of thing that picks the energy level up in practice, but more importantly we feel we haven’t been communicating with [goaltender] Felix [Potvin] enough, and where to place the puck. It’s been an area of concern for us.”

Potvin lost sight of the puck in a pileup in front of the net, allowing Washington’s Peter Bondra to scoop up a rebound and easily score 21 seconds into overtime, leaving the Kings 1-3-1-1 and frustrated with their slow start entering tonight’s game against the Ducks at Staples Center.

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Murray criticized some of his players for not doing enough to pick up the team’s lagging offense. The Kings have scored only two goals in their last two games. Tuesday, they squandered a power-play opportunity in the final minutes of regulation, with winger Ziggy Palffy missing a shot at an open net.

“What’s been a little confusing is some of our guys who can do some things [offensively] haven’t accepted that and haven’t done it,” said Murray, who wouldn’t identify the players. “We need some of our guys to extend themselves, to go outside the comfort zone.”

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After hosting the Ducks, the Kings embark on their longest road trip of the season--six games in 11 days, starting Saturday at Detroit.

TONIGHT

Mighty Ducks at Kings, 7:30 FSN, ESPN2 (subject to blackout)

Site--Staples Center.

Radio--XTRA (690), live; KSPN (1110), delayed until 8:15 p.m.

Records--Kings 1-3-2-1, Ducks 2-4-1-0.

Season series (2000-2001)--2-2-1.

Update--Palffy (general soreness) and defenseman Aaron Miller (sprained wrist) sat out practice, but Andy Murray said both will be in the lineup tonight.