Straka’s Status Remains Unclear

No news was good news for the Kings, at least for one day.

The Kings neither practiced nor diagnosed on Sunday, deferring until today an MRI exam on forward Martin Straka, injured Saturday in a knee-to-knee collision with Columbus defenseman Anders Eriksson.

Today’s medical tests are the second in four days for the Kings, who got decidedly unfavorable results last week that revealed Ziggy Palffy’s season-ending shoulder dislocation.

Straka’s injury is not believed to be as serious as Palffy’s, but it is unclear if he will go on the road with the team, which leaves today for a four-game trip.

Straka, who has six goals and five assists in 19 games since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, had to be helped off the ice Saturday by referee Kerry Fraser after colliding with Eriksson in the second period.

“He was in a little bit of a vulnerable position,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “When he fell, he fell awkwardly. It almost looked like incidental contact, but it caught him on the outside of the knee.”

Meanwhile, the Kings are on an 11-game winless streak (0-3-7-1), their longest since the 1981-82 season.

“We’ve got to go into these [road] games and compete and find a way to win,” Taylor said.

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What’s next for forward Jeff Tambellini? Probably nothing.

The Kings’ first-round pick in last year’s draft had his junior hockey rights traded to the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, but it appears the 19-year-old sophomore forward will stay at the University of Michigan.

The Kings retain Tambellini’s professional rights until the summer of 2005 if he leaves Michigan and plays junior hockey, Taylor said. Otherwise, the Kings have his rights for as long as he remains in college.

“I’ve had no indication he would leave school,” Taylor said.

Tambellini, who has nine goals in 16 games for Michigan, had two goals in six games while representing Canada at the recent world junior hockey championships.

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Defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov cleared waivers and was assigned to the Kings’ minor-league affiliate in Manchester (N.H.). Kuznetsov, 26, was put on waivers Wednesday after struggling with a minus-five rating in 16 games.