Visnovsky makes himself understood on the ice

There are some obvious realizations that come from seeing Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky day in and day out for the first time.

“I didn’t know he didn’t know the language well,” first-year Coach Marc Crawford said.

Which, it seems, makes it easier to play with the Slovakian-born Visnovsky than it is to converse with him.

“Oh yeah,” said defenseman Rob Blake, who has been paired with Visnovsky in games all season.

But what Blake and Crawford have also learned is Visnovsky’s actions speak better than words.

After a slow start, the 30-year-old Visnovsky has rejoined to top defensemen in offensive production. He ranks fifth among them with 22 points, 16 of which have come in the last 15 games.

Visnovsky was fourth last season with 67 points, tops on the Kings.

“I always knew he was a guy we had to center on when we’re preparing to play the Kings,” said Crawford, who coached the last seven seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. “But the degree of his skill was a revelation. He has elite speed and elite quickness. He is among the greats in the game right now in those particular areas. He is not the defender that [the Ducks’ Scott] Niedermayer is and doesn’t position as well, but he is at the top of the league in scoring.”

Something that is even more evident on the ice. Visnovsky, who has points in five consecutive games, is effective darting his 5-foot-10, 188-pound frame into seams, where he creates scoring opportunities. That was the case Sunday, when he slipped a cross-ice pass to Alexander Frolov for a goal. “He finds openings and sneaks into them,” Blake said. “He probably creates more offense from the blue line than any other defenseman I have played with.”

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Defenseman Jack Johnson and forward Trevor Lewis, two of the Kings’ top prospects, have been selected to the United States team that will compete in the junior world championships this month in Sweden.

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Goaltender Mathieu Garon did a slide drill Monday to test his injured groin and felt little improvement.... Defenseman Brent Sopel, out because of broken bones in his ankle and hand, skated Tuesday and hopes to rejoin the team for practice in a week.

chris.foster@latimes.com