Murray Impressed by What He Sees

The videotape projected on the big screen in the hotel’s meeting room showed the evidence.

“I didn’t think we dominated them as much as we did,” Coach Andy Murray said Sunday after watching and relishing a rerun of the Kings’ 2-0 victory on opening night at Nashville. “We missed some great scoring opportunities.”

It was a game the Kings pointed to since June, but now that it’s over, St. Louis awaits and L.A. hasn’t won on Blues’ ice since a 1-0 decision on Jan. 11, 1997. The Kings have won only twice at St. Louis in the ‘90s and carry a 1-9-3 record there since Jan. 23, 1992.

But . . .

“I’ve never lost to St. Louis as a head coach,” Murray said. “We’re trying to say that we’re a different team. I don’t think Brad Chartrand has ever lost to St. Louis, or Jason Blake or Fran Kaberle. [The King record of futility at St. Louis] doesn’t make any difference. It’s just the next game.”

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The Kings, for the most part, adhered to their coach’s 40-second-shift dictum Saturday night, but there were exceptions and they were summarily addressed. Among them was Blake, who had a shift in which he started to the bench three times, turned back to the ice each time and when he finally made it off the ice, did so completely exhausted and earned a scolding.

In one second-period sequence, the Kings had three line shifts before Nashville could accomplish one.

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Saturday’s shutout earned Stephane Fiset his second start in a row in goal, tonight against the Blues.

Murray has said that he will play whichever goalie gets hot, though Jamie Storr will probably play at least one game in this five-game trip.

Tonight at St. Louis, 5 PDT, Fox Sports West

* Site--Kiel Center. * Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 1-0, Blues 0-1.

* Record vs. Blues (1998-99)--0-3-1.

* Update--St. Louis played a listless opener in a 2-1 loss to Phoenix on Saturday night. At least the Blues’ players did. The fans at Kiel Center were anything but apathetic. One behind the Coyotes’ bench dumped a cup of beer on Dallas Drake and became the target of a thrown water bottle in response. Problem was, the water bottle hit a nearby kid instead, inciting a near riot before police intervened. The Kings took Sunday off the ice, a respite that was earned by defenseman Rob Blake, who played 29 shifts and 28:21 at Nashville.