Duchesne Unhappily Sits

When he was signed to a three-year, $10.75-million free-agent contract, Steve Duchesne was envisioned as a power-play catalyst and an offensive presence among the King defensemen.

He’s a high-priced cheerleader now, having been a healthy scratch on Tuesday against Detroit and facing inactivity again tonight against Vancouver.

Friday, Doug Bodger was with Rob Blake on the power-play unit, because the Kings were “working with the team that’s going to be playing tomorrow night,” Coach Larry Robinson said. “We’re going to pretty well stick with the same team that we played against Detroit.”

In part, that’s because of the desperate plight the Kings find themselves in: seven points away from a playoff spot with 17 games left.

In part, it’s because of a season-long test of wills between Duchesne, a self-described “offensive defenseman,” and the coaching staff, which finds it offensive when he’s not a defenseman first.

And in part, it’s because the Kings told Robinson to do it.

Captain Blake and alternates Bodger, Luc Robitaille and Garry Galley delivered a hard-line message in a meeting with Robinson on Thursday.

“The players, that was the biggest thing they came to me and said, ‘Let’s work on this reward system,’ ” Robinson said. “ ‘If the team’s playing well, why mix it up?’ . . . They feel that if they stick with the same guys, they will go and beat any team. So we’ll try it.”

Duchesne has drawn criticism from Robinson for a lack of physical play and for mistakes with the puck. He has been pressing, trying too hard, holding onto the puck too long instead of moving it on the power play and making poor decisions, according to coaches.

And he’s sitting.

“It’s never easy,” Duchesne said. “It’s pretty much the first time in my career something like this has happened, so it’s hard.”

That career has spanned 13 NHL seasons, with 206 goals and 455 assists, and has included developing a reputation as a power-play quarterback. The Kings are 26th in the NHL in the power play, which has worked at 12% efficiency.

Tonight

vs. Vancouver, 7

Fox Sports West

* Site--Great Western Forum.

* Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 24-36-5, Canucks 20-35-11.

* Record vs. Canucks--2-1.

* Update--The record against Vancouver is deceptive, because it was accomplished against a team coached by Mike Keenan. He has been replaced by Marc Crawford, and also gone is the physical, take-no-prisoners Keenan style. Crawford’s speed-and-skill attack has shown signs of life lately with a three-goal comeback to a 4-4 tie against the Mighty Ducks, followed by a 3-0 win at Phoenix on Thursday.

* Tickets--(888) 546-4752.