Acquisition of Straka Is Welcomed

King players were informed of the Martin Straka trade in an already upbeat locker room after Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.

Then a more subtle message started to sink in -- King management is not lounging around in wait for an injury-ravaged team to heal.

The trade that brings the quick, offense-minded forward from the Pittsburgh Penguins was welcomed by the Kings, who have fared well in the standings despite an ever-growing list of injuries.

“They believe in us as a team, and they think we’re going to do a lot of special things this year,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “We’re playing pretty well right now, but obviously management felt we’ve got a lot of injuries. Picking up a guy like that’s going to help.”

Straka, an excellent skater with a deft scoring touch, will earn $4.35 million this season and is scheduled to earn $4.7 million next season. The Kings will pay Straka’s prorated salary for the rest of this season and might receive some help from the Penguins toward Straka’s salary next season.

The financially challenged Penguins in recent years have shed high-priced talent -- Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Petr Nedved and Darius Kasparaitis -- and Straka is the latest.

“For sure,” Straka said. “I know they’ve got some financial difficulty in Pittsburgh. Lang was the first guy who has to go and then Kovalev. I knew something was going to go on. I knew it was going to happen last year or this year, and it happened.”

Straka’s 12 points tied him for the scoring lead on the Penguins, the NHL’s lowest-scoring team.

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Rookie winger Dustin Brown was put on injured reserve because of a sprained left ankle and will be out at least a week.

Brown was injured in the first period Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks after taking a hit at center ice.

“It’s pretty sore right now,” Brown said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to be. It could be a month or so. At least a week, they said.”

Brown’s roster spot was taken by center Jozef Stumpel, who played his first game since Oct. 25. Stumpel, who sat out 14 games because of a bruised chest, played 16 minutes 57 seconds against Dallas. He won four of five faceoffs and did not have a shot.

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Right wing Ziggy Palffy, who has sat out four games because of a bruised jaw and facial lacerations, is not expected to join the team for Tuesday’s game at St. Louis.... Dallas center Mike Modano left Sunday’s game 2:32 into the second period when he was hit in the face by Alexander Frolov’s stick. Frolov received a double-minor for high-sticking. Modano is expected to play in the Stars’ next game, Thursday against the Kings.... Dallas defenseman Philippe Boucher had surgery to repair a fractured eye orbital bone. Boucher, a former King, had five plates screwed to the bone around his left eye, which was struck by a puck Friday against the New Jersey Devils. While with the Kings, Boucher was struck in the right eye and suffered a detached retina in the 2001 playoffs.