Corkum Remains Low-Key

It doesn’t get better for Bob Corkum than to score against his former teammates in a game his new teammates win.

Corkum got his third goal of the season and third goal as a King on Wednesday night in a 5-2 victory over Phoenix, his former employer.

“It’s the best thing that’s happened to me this year,” said Corkum, who signed with the Kings as a free agent on Dec. 28 after the Coyotes didn’t want him.

The goal came just after the Kings had killed off a penalty as Mattias Norstrom came out of the box and took a pass from Ziggy Palffy and fed Corkum.

And it came about three minutes after Corkum was caught by Phoenix’s Teppo Numminen to thwart a breakaway.

Anybody who has been cast aside by a team wants retribution, but Corkum’s desire was somewhat muted.

“I really just enjoyed coming over and seeing the guys again,” he said of his former teammates. “I made a lot of friends over here.”

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King winger Craig Johnson sat out Wednesday night, sidelined in deference to the stature of 6-foot-8, 255-pound Steve McKenna, whose mission was to counter the Coyotes’ rugged play.

The result of it was that Ziggy Palffy spent some of the night double-shifting, playing with his normal line--centered by Jozef Stumpel--and with a line centered by Ian Laperriere.

Palffy was delighted. “I want to play more,” he said. “I like it better when I get more time.”

Palffy has had back problems that have limited his ice time, but a new training regimen has helped in rehabilitating him.

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Coach Andy Murray shifted winger Luc Robitaille to a line with Bryan Smolinski and Glen Murray, moving Jason Blake to the Stumpel-Palffy line to confound Phoenix’s defensive plan.

The process seemed to work, with Blake earning an assist on Palffy’s final goal and Robitaille finding some room to maneuver, cycling the puck with his linemates.