Kings Feel Right at Home on Top

Is this when the wheels fall off, when the Kings finally feel the absences of so many injured players and fade to the back of the Western Conference pack?

What they’ve achieved so far is remarkable, a coach-of-the-year caliber job by Andy Murray. They’ve had games when their top three centers were injured, their best defensemen were wearing casts and their goaltending was, um, exciting. (That’s almost every game, in truth). Their penalty killing has ranked near the bottom of the league all season and their power play is in the bottom third. And for some reason they can’t hold three-goal leads.

Despite these flaws, they led the Pacific Division for six weeks -- toppled by the Sharks on Monday -- supporting Ziggy Palffy’s marvelous skills with plugging and resilience.

“There weren’t many games we won where we weren’t the better team, or got points in games where we weren’t the better team,” Murray said. “There are some teams in the league that can do that. The other team can be better, but they’ll find a way to get the win. We can’t do that.”

But after tonight’s game at Staples Center against the New York Rangers -- who might make the playoffs before Mark Messier draws Social Security -- the Kings play 19 consecutive games against West rivals. An already rugged road will get tougher. Murray, who’s driven to the point of near fanaticism and takes players’ injuries almost as a personal affront, must squeeze even more water from this stone.

Players say it can be done.

“Everybody in the lineup has been contributing offensively and defensively,” Eric Belanger said. “I don’t think it’s a surprise we’ve been in first place. It’s going to be a race until the end of the year to win the division, but I think we can do it. To get third overall in the conference would give us confidence, and that’s what we’re looking at.”

And not through rose-colored glasses.

“We know that Dallas is going to come on and they’ll be a playoff team at the end of the year,” Murray said. “There’s just too much there for them not to be. Phoenix is moving into a new building and has got a lot of home games coming up. Anaheim is very capable, as much as people want to talk about how they’ve struggled....

“We’re pushing. We weren’t good [last Friday, in a 5-0 loss at San Jose] and people would say, ‘Maybe you’re like that because that was your lineup.’ As soon as you start to accept that, then we’re accepting mediocrity.”

To Murray, getting the playoff berth automatically given to the division leader is less important than surpassing 90 points “as fast as we can.... If we do get 90-plus points, maybe you’re looking at jockeying for position in the month of March.”

He has split the season into two parts: the 34 games before Christmas, in which the Kings were 16-11-4-3 for 39 points, and the last 48. They began the second segment with a loss and a tie and have 40 points after 36 games; to get 90 they’ll need 50 points of a possible 92, a .543 percentage.

The cutoff for West playoff spots last season was 92 points. The Kings had 37 at Christmas on a 15-12-4-3 record but fell apart after losing Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh to injuries and getting weak goaltending.

The danger of not finishing first is, the Pacific runner-up can’t be sure of a playoff spot.

“I agree with Andy that you’ve got to get up there in points,” Luc Robitaille said, “but I know how big it would be to be first in the division. Home-ice advantage is huge, and it would be a lot easier if we don’t have to battle for sixth, seventh, eighth. If we want to go a long ways, being first in the division could really help.”

But they’ve got a long way to go before they can think of going a long way in the playoffs.

“Just when you think you’re doing everything great, there’s two or three teams right with you, doing just as great,” Robitaille said. “One week you could be first and one week you could be dead last. That’s just the way the league is.”

Lecavalier Attitude

Tampa Bay Coach John Tortorella and center Vincent Lecavalier rarely speak, except to exchange barbs, as they did last week when Tortorella benched Lecavalier for most of a period for making a pass that led to a defensive-zone turnover.

Lecavalier declared it “an awful call” and said Tortorella restricted his creativity and instinct. Tortorella said he was “tired of the excuses and whining.... I don’t care who ... he thinks he is.”

Coaches rarely win battles such as these against franchise players. And invariably, the coach blames the media for publicizing it when he wanted it public to make a point.

“It always gets blown out of proportion,” Tortorella told The Times’ Chris Foster on Monday. “I coach other players just as hard. I have asked for accountability from all our players just as hard. It makes for a nice story.... It’s not going to change. I’m going to demand accountability out of him. I’m going to demand accountability out of all our players.”

Lecavalier, called “the Michael Jordan of hockey” in 1998 by then-owner Art Williams, blamed the clash on a team slump that has nearly negated a strong start.

“I said what I had to say. I’m going to stand by it,” Lecavalier said. “It’s over.... When you win every game, it’s all great. When you start losing, sometimes emotions take place. It’s part of the game. I think I have been working all year.”

Peek at the Future

According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, 145 NHL scouts and general managers were accredited at the World Junior Championships, which continue this week in Finland. Officially known as the World Under-20 Championship, it’s one-stop shopping for next year’s entry draft and a chance to monitor players already drafted.

All 30 NHL teams are represented, but Bryan Murray of the Mighty Ducks won’t be there. It seems his passport expired and he couldn’t get a new one in time.

Three former NHL players have sons playing in the tournament. Steve Tambellini, vice president of player personnel for the Vancouver Canucks, is the father of King prospect Jeff Tambellini of Team Canada. Swede Thomas Steen, who played 14 seasons with Winnipeg and scouts for Minnesota, can keep tabs on his son, Alexander, a 2002 first-round pick by Toronto. The boy was born in Winnipeg but plays for Sweden. Among his teammates is Robert Nilsson, son of Kent Nilsson, who starred for the Atlanta and Calgary Flames, Minnesota and Edmonton and scouts for the Oilers. Robert Nilsson, born in Calgary, was drafted 15th by the Islanders in June.

Next year’s tournament will be held in Grand Forks, N.D., at the University of North Dakota’s $104-million Ralph Englestad Arena. It could be the best form of hockey going if the NHL is silenced by a labor dispute -- and maybe the best even if the NHL is in session.

Slap Shots

New York Islander center Alexei Yashin is expected to make a full recovery after cutting two tendons and a nerve in his right forearm when he was hit by a skate blade last Tuesday. Yashin, who shoots right-handed, underwent surgery and will wear a cast for about a month. He’ll need about six or eight weeks’ rehabilitation after that.

Peter Forsberg and Mike Comrie made their first appearances Saturday in a while, both in Colorado’s 3-2 overtime victory over Philadelphia.

Forsberg had sat out 19 Avalanche games because of a groin-abdominal strain, and Comrie had been embroiled in a contract dispute with Edmonton before the Oilers traded him to the Flyers Dec. 16.

Forsberg played 16 minutes 58 seconds and recorded an assist (and wins on 11 of 16 faceoffs) in his return. Comrie played only 6:26 in his Flyer debut and had no points.

How happy are the Florida Panthers that taskmaster Mike Keenan was fired as coach after a 5-8-2-0 start and was replaced by General Manager Rick Dudley?

“When they got rid of Mike and brought Duds in, the atmosphere really changed,” said forward Matt Cullen, a former Duck. “It’s more positive and a little lighter. Maybe that fits our team better because we have a lot of young guys that are kind of starting out in the league.

“When I got here last year [in the Sandis Ozolinsh trade] guys were pretty beat down. It was kind of the same old thing with a few of the guys.... Guys got to start with a clean slate. It was like a breath of fresh air to start over, and we have been playing some pretty decent hockey since.”

After facing 39 shots in Canada’s first two games at the World Junior Championships, Marc-Andre Fleury must have thought he was on vacation. Fleury is on loan to Canada from the Pittsburgh Penguins, for whom he played 17 games and faced 556 shots -- an average of 33 a game.