Blake’s Play Pleases Robinson

Considering that defenseman Rob Blake leads the Kings with 84 shots in 26 games, his offensive numbers are not all that impressive with only three goals and 12 points.

But Coach Larry Robinson has been pleased with Blake’s overall game and said his former teammate is showing signs that he has recovered from the assortment of injuries that kept him out of 120 games the last three seasons.

“The Blake we saw [in the Kings’ 4-1 victory over New Jersey on Saturday] is the one that we were accustomed to seeing every night,” said Robinson, who played with Blake for three seasons with the Kings.

“He can get from the front of the net into the corners as quickly as anyone I’ve ever seen. He’s jumping up into the play without any hesitation and that’s really encouraging. Our whole team seems to build off of him.”

*

This season’s Kings, 12-9-5 and trying to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in four years, resemble the team of 1984-85.

Then-first year coach Pat Quinn helped the 1984-85 Kings end a two-year playoff drought behind Marcel Dionne. They were also 12-9-5 and went on to finish with a 34-32-14 record before losing to Edmonton in a first-round playoff series.

*

The Kings have only one goal in their last 20 power plays, but Robinson is not ready to make drastic changes.

“It doesn’t show up in our percentages, but we’ve been getting a lot of real good chances,” said Robinson, whose team has only 16 power-play goals, with Luc Robitaille and Garry Galley leading with four each.