Holding Call Grips Murray

Coach Andy Murray was still scratching his head Sunday after nearly wearing out a video copy of a holding call on Mattias Norstrom at 7:56 of the third period of Game 2 at Detroit.

Faced with the Red Wings’ Sergei Fedorov coming with the puck and a head of steam, Norstrom made contact.

The problem, said Murray, was that Fedorov made like Greg Louganis on the play, diving to the ice to embellish what the Kings figured was a marginal call anyway.

“He has a lot of skill and theatrical ability,” Murray cracked.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored a power-play goal 1:22 later, on a shot in which Tomas Holmstrom interfered with goalie Jamie Storr, according to King coaches.

Fedorov dismissed the complaints as gamesmanship.

“I guess he is trying to disturb the players with those comments and stuff,” he said. “It’s a North American thing. It’s definitely not a European thing.

“I’m not upset. I’m just surprised a little bit, and I don’t want to make a big deal of it. I just want to let him know that I play fair hockey.”

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Whether it was a show of confidence or a motivational ploy, on Sunday the Kings were given itineraries for a return trip to Detroit for a Friday Game 5.

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Ziggy Palffy, who scored twice Saturday after being nervous and struggling in his first playoff game Thursday: “[In the playoffs], it’s tight and there aren’t many gaps on the ice. If you get a scoring chance, you’ve got to score because you’re not going to get many.”

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Kings’ defenseman Aki Berg, who has been scratched for the first two games of the series, will probably play tonight.