Galley Earns the Support of His Coach

When Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, talks with Coach Andy Murray at the end of the season about which players to keep and which to let go, one vote is certain.

“I think [Garry Galley] earned himself a new contract,” Murray said of the King defenseman on Sunday. “He’s been one of our biggest success stories this year.”

Galley came to camp with something to prove: that last season, in which he was occasionally scratched and which he finished with surgery for a hernia, was an anomaly and not a sign that he was finished at age 36.

He had four goals and 12 assists in his 60 games then; since trying an off-season training and nutrition regimen, he has had seven goals and 13 assists in 45 games.

Murray hastens to point out that contracts are Taylor’s job, not his. And if Taylor agrees with Murray, the Kings need to offer Galley at last $1.984 million because he is already earning $1.804 million in the last year of a three-year contract. Another option is to allow Galley to become a free agent, opening the door to negotiate with him at a lower figure.

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Winger Donald Audette, who had been out since Jan. 6 because of a sprained ankle, returned to practice Sunday.

Audette said he is ready to play tonight, but the Kings are more cautious, and Murray said that when Audette does return, it probably won’t be at his former spot: at right wing on a line with Bryan Smolinski and Glen Murray. “At this point, I think it would be an injustice to Jason Blake . . . to take him out and put Donald in [with the Smolinski line],” the King coach said.

TONIGHT

vs. Calgary, 7:30

Fox Sports Net

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 25-22-7-3, Flames 23-27-6-3.

* Record vs. Flames--1-0.

* Update--Calgary limped at the start of the season, then picked up speed, largely spurred by the goaltending of Fred Brathwaite. But the Flames have flickered lately, earning only three points in their last 15 games and going 0-7-1-2 in their last eight, including a 4-3 loss at Phoenix on Saturday night.

* Tickets--(888) 546-4752.