Non-Playoff Status Irks Deadmarsh Too

Not quite three weeks into his King career, Adam Deadmarsh is puzzled by the team’s struggle to secure a playoff spot.

“I think this club has a tremendous amount of talent and skill level. It’s pretty comparable to where I came from,” he said Sunday, referring to the Colorado Avalanche. “It’s a situation where we all have to pull together and get into the playoffs. It’s not going to be an easy feat.

“Obviously, Colorado has a lot of high-paid skill players that aren’t in this room, but I see what we’ve got in here and I don’t see any reason why this team can’t make the playoffs. . . . This year [the Kings] have had a tough time and gone through ups and downs. To find the reasons why is the trickiest part of hockey. If the general managers knew, everyone would be in first place.”

The Kings are ninth in the West, five points behind the Phoenix Coyotes despite a 6-1-2 surge. That lack of progress isn’t because of Felix Potvin’s goaltending: he’s 6-2-2 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. And the power play, although 0 for 7 in Saturday’s 2-2 tie with Chicago, is at 20.2% efficiency.

The missing ingredient is fire from what Coach Andy Murray classifies high-profile players. He won’t name them, but Ziggy Palffy (no goals in six games), Bryan Smolinski (one goal in seven and two in 13) and Glen Murray (no points and minus-two against Chicago) come to mind.

“A lot of guys threw everything on the ice and did whatever they could [Saturday], and a lot of guys didn’t. And that’s tough for us at this time of year,” Andy Murray said. “I think we expect more. Teammates expect more, management expects more, fans expect more and coaches expect more.”

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Deadmarsh (injured right hand) remains out indefinitely. . . . Mathieu Schneider, out eight games because of a groin strain, expects to play Wednesday at San Jose. . . . Potvin was permitted to visit his family in Vancouver, their first reunion since the Canucks traded him to the Kings Feb. 15. He will return for Tuesday’s practice. . . . Aki Berg twisted his left ankle during a scrimmage but said it wasn’t serious.