Robinson Sees Benefits to Being the Underdog

The comparisons to last season have been ongoing, and a frequent one has concerned how other teams perceive the Kings.

Last season, they were able to sneak up on opponents. At the beginning of this season, they were a known quantity and the element of surprise was no longer there.

But as the season has progressed, surprise has come back, because the Kings’ 24-36-5 record hardly commands respect.

Fine, said Coach Larry Robinson, who plainly relishes the return to underdog status.

“Everybody’s kind of counting us out,” he said, “and there’s nothing better to answer those people who don’t think we’re going to make [the playoffs] than to win. People think we’ve thrown the season away. The season ends on the 18th of April.”

Or if the Kings can make up seven points on Edmonton and/or San Jose, who are tied for seventh in the Western Conference, it can continue.

“We’re going to prove to everybody that we’re in here and we’re going to fight to the end,” Robinson said.

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Since October, the Kings have been waiting for Steve Duchesne’s game to arrive, and it appears time has just about run out.

Duchesne, who has four goals and 19 assists and is minus-six defensively, was signed to a three-year, $10.25-million contract as a veteran free agent in the off-season. He was a healthy scratch in Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory over Detroit, and it probably won’t be the last time.

“From what I’ve seen and heard over the last two or three games, he’s still not willing to pay the price to make the play,” Robinson said, decrying Duchesne’s lack of physical play. “I saw the other night where he put the puck right on the tape of [Calgary’s Rene] Corbet.

“He’s . . . fighting his game and we can’t afford to wait. We’ve got to win games and we’ve got to have guys in there who are willing to pay the price to win games. That’s the bottom line. . . . We’ll see how the next few practices go.”

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Only Tampa Bay, Boston and San Jose have scored fewer goals than the Kings’ 149, but the four goals scored against Detroit could offer some light in an otherwise dismal offensive season.

In part, the optimism is because the goals came from Ian Laperriere and Doug Bodger, who have only two each, and Russ Courtnall, who has only three. The other came from Rob Blake, who has eight but four of them have come over the last seven games.

“We can’t rely on Luc [Robitaille, and his 31 goals] all the time,” Robinson said. “We can’t just look for three guys [including Glen Murray, 15 goals; and Donald Audette, 13]. It’s a heck of a lot harder to check 18 guys than it is just worrying about one or two guys.”