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Sunday, October 17, 1999
Murray trick not enough for Kings
Not that Glen Murray has 50 of them to choose from like Wayne Gretzky does - Murray gets to pick between the one two years ago and the one last night - and since last night's came in a losing effort to Edmonton...
"It was nice to get on the board and help the team out a little bit,'' sighed the Halifax native, who didn't even crack a grin after scoring his first, second and third goals of the young season. "But we were out-worked, plain and simple. They deserved a win and we didn't.''
They almost stole a tie in the final seconds, however.
ON THE BENCH
With L.A.'s goalie on the bench, Murray wound up from 30 feet out, with nothing but air between him and Tommy Salo.
"I didn't know my stick was already broken, and when I took the shot it shattered,'' said the 27-year-old, who misfired on the quad. "I'm not saying I would have scored for sure, but I was all alone in front.''
Last night notwithstanding, it's been a pretty good start for the California nomads, who've been forced to wander the NHL while the finishing touches are put on the brand new, $375-million Staples Centre.
They haven't played a home game yet this season, but were still 4-1-1 after six games, their second best start in franchise history.
Last night's loss takes some of the shine off a decent road run.
"If you said at the start of the season that we'd be 4-2-1 on a seven-game swing we'd be happy,'' said Murray. "But at the same time it could have been better.''
That's how head coach Andy Murray sees it. He was seething after the loss, and didn't want to hear about how tired the boys were from all those away games.
"That had nothing to do with it, we were just out-worked,'' he said.
"Defensively we were awful. We don't (normally) give up that many scoring chances. We let guys walk out of the corners. They were looking to get some offence generated and we were the patsies.''
The players weren't about to use fatigue as an excuse, either. They started out with a five-game road trip, flew home to rest for a few days, then came up to Alberta for back-to-back games with Calgary and Edmonton.
"It was only a 45-minute flight from Calgary and we were all in bed early,'' said Glen Murray. "There's no excuse, we were outplayed.''
Captain Rob Blake, who doled out several punishing hits on the night and scored a third-period powerplay goal, likes how the club is going, but says they're still a few steps short of where they want to be.
"We've done pretty well, but we could have done better,'' he said.
"That's the thing: good teams do better. Good teams, when it's 5-4, take the game to overtime and win it.
'`But we're getting there.''
A LOT OF FUN
After 32 years at the Great Western Forum, the Kings christen the Staples Centre Wednesday against Boston.
"We practised there the other day and it was a lot of fun,'' said Blake. "We're going home with a lot to be excited about.''
And just because they had a bad taste in their mouths last night, doesn't mean they'll forget all the good they've done in the first six games.
"All it does is put a damper on tonight's game,'' said the coach.
"Every game stands on its own merit. There were two points that we desperately needed and we didn't get them.''
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