First Line Regains Form

They started the season at a torrid pace, and so did the Kings.

In the first nine games, the team’s first line--Jozef Stumpel, Ziggy Palffy and Luc Robitaille--had 21 goals and 18 assists for 30 points and the Kings were 4-2-3.

Then the three players were not contributing as much, mostly because of injuries.

And now they’re back, and so are the Kings.

The three have 38 points in their last nine games, since Stumpel rejoined Robitaille and Palffy in the lineup.

The reason is simple.

“We’re healthy,” Robitaille said. “You can do some things as a team over time to make up [for the loss of personnel], but you need everybody playing to do the things you are really capable of doing.”

He was speaking in response to a question about Stumpel, who struggled in his first four games back after recovering from a knee injury. Stumpel has goals in his last five games after a talk with Coach Andy Murray, who told him the Kings needed more.

Stumpel’s return also has sparked Palffy, who has four goals in his last four games, and has resumed being a breakaway threat that defenses must honor.

The Kings have won six of nine games since Stumpel returned. It’s the sort of pace they enjoyed for the first 30 games of the season, before things fell apart.

It’s the sort of pace they need to keep playing at after the regular season ends.

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At the other end of the scoring spectrum is the competition between defensemen Mattias Norstrom and Sean O’Donnell. The stakes are dinner for two and the competition is keen.

Norstrom leads with a goal and eight assists for nine points. O’Donnell has a goal and six assists for seven points.

“The tiebreaker is goals,” O’Donnell said, laughing. “That next goal could be big.”

Norstrom has seven NHL goals in seven seasons, O’Donnell 11 goals in six seasons.