Loss of Murray Puts Heat on Defense

Whether the Kings are fooling themselves when they say they can mitigate the loss of Glen Murray with defense will begin to unfold tonight in Edmonton, when they face the Oilers.

Defenseman Sean O’Donnell said he believed they could.

“With Rob [Blake] back, we have a stronger defense,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve only given up seven or eight goals in the last five games [actually, seven, and only eight in the last six games].

“You can get by with an injury when you’re only giving up a goal or a goal and a half a game.”

But Murray’s loss--for six to eight weeks because of a torn knee ligament--also will be felt on defense. With speed, size and a work ethic, he was a valuable defensive winger.

“We put a lot of pressure on the defense, but it’s not just the defensemen. We talk about the defense like it’s the goalie and the defensemen, but the forwards have been doing a good job for us backchecking,” O’Donnell said. “If they don’t, you’re dealing with two defensemen against five and that’s not going to work. It takes everybody.”

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He gave up 10 goals in his first two games after completing rehabilitation for a groin injury, but King goalie Jamie Storr has given up only eight in his last six games. He has started eight games in a row, the longest streak of starts in his career.

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The Kings are 5-8 in one-goal games and are four for 37 on the power play in those eight losses. They are one for 15 on the power play in their three ties.

The Kings are 17 for 160 on the power play, and have scored more than one power-play goal in a game only once: two in a 5-0 victory over Chicago on Nov. 21.

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The Kings have activated forwards Sandy Moger and Eric Lacroix from the injured list.

TONIGHT at Edmonton

6, Fox Sports West

* Site--Edmonton Coliseum.

* Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 13-21-3, Oilers 15-17-4.

* Record vs. Oilers--1-0.

* Update--Third-period goals by Boyd Devereaux and Roman Hamrlik only 64 seconds apart in the third period gave Edmonton a 3-3 tie with Philadelphia on Sunday and provided a spark for a mistake-prone Oiler team that needed it. Hamrlik’s goal came on the power play, on which Edmonton was one for its last 45 before that score. The Oiler goalies are under fire, with fans pushing for a trade for Toronto’s Felix Potvin that has been rumored since the Maple Leafs spirited Curtis Joseph from Edmonton as a free agent last summer.

* Robitaille report--King winger Luc Robitaille has 497 goals in his quest to become the 27th player in NHL history to score 500.