Boucher Is a Scratch Once Again

King defenseman Philippe Boucher was scratched Monday night at San Jose for the 10th time in a row, and all of the extra practice and all of the extra work can’t knock the rust off his game.

“Really, if this goes on much longer, we’d probably like to send him to Long Beach to play a game or two,” Coach Larry Robinson said. “But with [Doug Bodger] out [because of an injury], he’s our only extra defenseman. And there’s a flu bug going around with us now, so. . .”

So Boucher watches from the press box in a dark suit while the Kings find success on the ice without him.

“The guys are pretty good about it, but you don’t feel a part of it,” he said. “It’s a feeling that you can’t get any lower, but you don’t want to moan about it. I’ve taken it hard, because you want to help and I feel like I’m not doing my job watching games from the press box.”

Still, he understands why he’s there.

“The team is doing well, so there’s no reason to change the lineup,” he said. “And maybe Larry doesn’t have confidence in me. . .”

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Winger Sandy Moger is back after a long rehabilitation from a back injury, and his game appears altered.

Moger, who spent much of his time on the ice near the net to tip the attempts of long-range shooters, has been roaming the outside a bit and shooting more than the one or so times a game he had been limited to earlier in the season.

“I’d like to get 2 1/2 to three shots a game,” said Moger, who scored against Buffalo after an apparent goal of his against Edmonton was waved off.

Forget it, Robinson said.

More shots are “a coincidence,” he added. “His game is around the net.”

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San Jose right wing Brantt Myhres, who checked into a treatment center in Los Angeles for alcohol dependency after the exhibition season, began playing again Dec. 12, but has had a couple of run-ins concerning his history.

The latest was Saturday when, after a fight with Myhres, Buffalo’s Paul Kruse paused on his way to the penalty box to sip from an imaginary glass.

On Jan. 5, New Jersey’s Scott Stevens allegedly called Myhres “a drunk.”

Said Myhres to the San Jose Mercury News of the Saturday incident: “If that’s the best he can come up with after getting whipped, I feel sorry for him.”