‘Reality Check’ Didn’t Hurt

It wasn’t a threat, according to Coach Andy Murray.

“I think, in some ways, a threat is something that you can’t back up,” Murray said Friday, talking about a discussion with the Kings’ players three days earlier in St. Louis.

“I consider what we talked about to be a reality check.”

They talked about jobs and about how losing streaks put them in jeopardy.

The Kings were on a 1-7 slide then.

“If the team doesn’t play well, they should know that, looking around the dressing room, there won’t be the same players in here next year,” Murray said. “And they might not be one of them [back in the room]. And there might be a different coach. That’s the way this business operates.”

As well the Kings know, because after they didn’t play well last season, the club turned over by about one-third and Murray replaced Larry Robinson.

Whether the warning was a factor is difficult to say, but the Kings tied the Blues, 2-2, that night and followed that game with a 4-2 win over Florida on Thursday night.

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Defenseman Garry Galley was examined for a neck problem Friday, and he believes that some of the symptoms he has experienced after suffering a concussion in New Jersey on Dec. 14 might be from jamming his neck when he crashed into the boards.

He is practicing regularly with the Kings and is hopeful of returning to the lineup Tuesday, when they play Ottawa.

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Center Ian Laperriere and winger Craig Johnson were back on the ice for Friday’s practice.

Laperriere has a bone bruise in his knee that has sidelined him for three games. He said he would be ready to play Tuesday.

Johnson has a bruised thumb and, although he could have played Thursday night, coaches decided to let him rest.

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Winger Donald Audette suffered a sprained ankle Thursday night and expects to be out as long as two weeks. . . . Goalie Jamie Storr has skated alone the last two days as part of his recovery from a concussion suffered in Montreal on Dec. 11. He is believed to be a long way from a return to the lineup.