After Passmore’s Push, Storr Returns Tonight

Steve Passmore turns back all 18 Boston shots in a 5-0 victory Friday, so who is in goal for the Kings against Phoenix tonight at Staples Center?

Jamie Storr.

“He’s played very well against Phoenix,” Coach Andy Murray said Saturday of the reasoning behind the assignment. “And I think the way Stevie played is an incentive to Jamie.”

The idea is that Passmore showed he can push Storr for playing time, spurring him to play better.

Storr’s record against the Coyotes is only 4-9, but he was 2-2 with a 2.27 goals-against mark against them last season and Murray tends to dismiss statistics that precede his coming to the Kings as coach.

“It was a great opportunity for Steve,” said Storr, who was scheduled to play Friday but was relegated to backup duty when he was late reporting to the morning skate, missing a meeting.

“I really wanted to play that game. . . . But out of the situation, there is a little light. It gave my body time to heal.”

Storr had played four games in six nights before sitting Friday.

“If I had played last night, it would be harder for me today at practice. But today I felt 100%, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”

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Murray tends to break the season into segments, and the Kings are 3-1-1 in the first part. They have led every game.

“In every game there’s been something good for us,” the coach said. “I would be a lot more worried if we had played just badly in one.”

Both Ziggy Palffy and Luc Robitaille have points in each of the five games.

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Palffy, who came to the Kings in 1999 in a trade with the Islanders, has severed his final bond with New York, selling his home on Long Island.

TODAY

vs. Phoenix, 5 p.m.

Fox Sports Net

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KRLA (1110).

* Records--Kings 3-1-1, Coyotes 3-1-0.

* Record vs. Coyotes (1999-2000)--2-4-0.

* Update--Goalie Robert Esche gets his first NHL start tonight for the Coyotes, who used Sean Burke against Philadelphia on Saturday night. Phoenix center Trevor Letowski, who ended his holdout Friday by signing a one-year contract that had been offered last summer, will probably play some tonight. Today was the target date for the Wayne Gretzky group to take over the Coyotes, but the deal isn’t done.

* Tickets--(888) 546-4752.