Long Road Back for Blake, Berg

Defensemen Rob Blake and Aki Berg both played Wednesday night in the Kings’ 1-1 tie at Detroit despite spending most of the last three days traveling back from the Olympic Games.

Blake, who played for Canada and was named the top defenseman of the Olympics, played nearly 31 minutes and was a force on both ends of the ice in recording three shots on goal and three hits. Berg, who won a bronze medal with Finland, started sluggishly but played nearly 19 minutes.

“My legs are all right, but my head is tired from traveling,” Berg said. “I was a little slow in the first period but I was OK after that. It will probably take about a week or a week and a half before I start to feel good again.”

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Because of injuries to left wing Luc Robitaille (groin) and defenseman Garry Galley (knee), who both have been assistant captains for most of the season but did not make the two-game trip, the Kings named Sean O’Donnell and Ray Ferraro as their replacements. The only problem was that the team did not have enough A’s to put on their jerseys, so they both wore jerseys without them.

TONIGHT

at Chicago

* 5:30 PST

* Fox Sports

West

Site--United Center.

Radio--XTRA 690 (AM).

Records--Kings 26-20-10; Blackhawks 22-25-9.

Season record vs. Blackhawks--3-0.

Update--Goaltender Frederic Chabot, who is 1-2-3 this season with the Kings, will start tonight after being recalled this week from Houston of the International Hockey League. In three games this season, the Kings have outscored Chicago, 8-3, and shut out the Blackhawks twice. Chicago will be without Gary Suter, who is serving the fourth and final game of his suspension for his hit on the Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya.