Palffy, Stumpel Get Chance to Rest Injuries

Perhaps the most skillful of the Kings found himself “coaching” in the Super Skills competition Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.

Ziggy Palffy was resting his aching back, standing in street clothes behind a bench.

At least the hurt is isolated.

“There’s no pain in my leg right now,” he said. “It was shooting from my back.”

Palffy is having back pain for the first time in his life, and it has cost him five of the Kings’ first 40 games. In the other 35, he has averaged a point a game, with 14 goals and 21 assists.

The origin of the back problems is unknown, but the pain shows up in occasional spasms that occur when inactivity is broken by exercise.

“When I drive in, 30 or 40 minutes, it stiffens up and there are problems,” he said.

Plane trips across the country can be agony.

Therapy is an exercise regimen to strengthen the back and trunk, and it’s something he might have to deal with the rest of his life.

He is on day-to-day status, playing when he can.

His contemporary and childhood friend, Jozef Stumpel, also was “coaching” Sunday, resting his knee, which was bruised a week ago at Dallas.

Stumpel reports his knee continues to improve, but his availability for Tuesday night’s game against Ottawa is questionable.

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Glen Murray recorded a 103.5-mph blast in the skills competition, the fastest shot among the several such events held around the NHL this season.

“I don’t know where it came from,” Murray said. “I only know you never get to use it in a game.”

In the skills competition, the puck is set up about 20 feet from the goal and the player skates in from the blue line and blasts away at an empty net.

Actually, Murray faced a similar opportunity in the Kings’ last game. In the final minute, he had a puck in open ice and an empty Florida net in front of him. Taking no chances, he slid a puck slightly below the speed limit into the crease for the final goal in a 4-2 win.

As usual, Craig Johnson was the fastest King, touring a lap in 14.270 seconds to win for the third season in a row.