Team Turns to Penguin Archives for Help

In an effort to get more scoring production from left wing Kevin Stevens, the Kings asked Pittsburgh to send them old game tapes of him as a high-scoring forward on the same line as Mario Lemieux.

“We were playing back tapes of when Kevin played there to see some things he was doing then that he’s not doing now,” Coach Larry Robinson said. “His positioning was much better than it is now. His stick was on the ice. Now, he’s trying to make a concentrated effort to go to the net, but he’s not concentrating on what he’s going to do when he gets there.”

In the Kings’ 5-3 loss to the Penguins on Tuesday night, Stevens did not score in five shots on goal, but did play better, according to Robinson.

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Left wing Craig Johnson will undergo abdominal surgery today at University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Johnson, who has played in 16 games this season, is expected to sit out at least 12 weeks. . . . At this point last season, the Kings were 12-11-6 compared to 12-14-3. . . . The Phoenix Roadrunners, the Kings’ International Hockey League affiliate, ended their eight-game losing streak in Rob Laird’s first game back behind the bench. Laird, who replaced John Perpich on Dec. 6, is 1-0-1 in his second stint coaching the Roadrunners. He had a 78-61-26 record for the 1994-95 and 95-96 seasons. . . . Neal Broten, acquired by the Kings in a trade with New Jersey last month, had two goals in Phoenix’s 4-1 victory over Utah last week.