Coach Demands More Star Power

It worked with Glen Murray, who responded to preseason criticism from Coach Andy Murray with a ferocious start to the season, so maybe that’s why the coach on Saturday made his strongest comments yet about his dissatisfaction with the play of linemates Jozef Stumpel and Ziggy Palffy.

“It’s obviously frustrating for all of us, everybody watching, to see how they’re playing,” Murray said before Saturday night’s loss at Detroit. “I’m not trying to be negative on them, but we need them to play better.

“They want the responsibility of being our leading players--at least, that’s what their agents tell us--and they’re just not playing like they need to play.”

A little more effort from the duo wouldn’t hurt, the coach suggested.

“I think you have an ability level that you’re capable of playing at,” Murray said, “and then you have to work. So, if you’re not having success, the only thing you can say is, they must not be working hard enough.”

Benching Stumpel and Palffy is an option, Murray said, but not a good one. The Slovaks, he said, must pull themselves out of their early-season slump, in which they have combined for six points in eight games.

“I can only tell them so much and get after them so much,” the coach said. “The only alternative you have as a coach is taking them out of the lineup. That’s pretty tough on their teammates.

“But what do you have as a lever? You don’t have much else as a coach. You could scold them. Pat them on the back. You could tell them you like them. Tell them you don’t like them so much. But, ultimately, they have to make a decision.”

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Andy Murray rejoined the Kings for Saturday’s morning skate at Joe Louis Arena after a whirlwind 30-hour period that started with a red-eye flight to Minneapolis early Friday to meet his family for a drive to Grand Forks, N.D.

After spending the day on the University of North Dakota campus, where his older son, Brady, a 17-year-old high school junior, was making an unofficial recruiting visit, he checked in at 3:15 a.m. Saturday for a 5:15 flight from Grand Forks to Detroit.

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Nelson Emerson, sidelined since Sept. 29 because of a concussion, could return to the lineup Tuesday night at Columbus, Ohio, Murray said.