Kings’ Victory Is No Accident

Andy Murray was happy to be back at work, happy to be back in the playoff hunt and, perhaps most of all, happy to be able to call on the line of Ziggy Palffy, Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh at crunch time.

Palffy scored two power-play goals, Deadmarsh scored the winning goal with 13 seconds to play and Allison assisted on all three Thursday night as the Kings defeated the Nashville Predators, 3-2, in their coach’s first game back with the team since his single-vehicle accident last month in Wisconsin.

“I felt pretty good,” Murray said, looking a bit drained in the aftermath but otherwise none the worse for wear. “I told the guys before the game that if I called out any strange names, just disregard them.

“They helped me out a lot, played real hard.”

Until the final frantic moments, however, it seemed that all the Kings might take out of the Gaylord Entertainment Center was a sloppy tie or, worse yet, an overtime loss after squandering a two-goal third-period lead.

In the blink of an eye, though, Deadmarsh, Allison and Palffy combined forces to help the Kings end their three-game winless streak in front of 15,533.

Palffy, whose two goals pushed his team-leading total to 24 and gave him 10 in the Kings’ last nine games, started the game-winning sequence when he lifted a backhanded shot off the side of the Predator net.

Allison, swooping in from behind the net, took the rebound and passed through the crease to a charging Deadmarsh, who scored his 23rd goal.

“I didn’t have much time,” Allison said. “I thought Deady was going to the net. I just tried to get it there, whether it was off the goalie or off someone else--just try to get it there so he could try to get a piece of it or bang it in.

“I was fortunate that it got through to him and he buried it.”

The combined eight points for Allison, Deadmarsh and Palffy gave them 27 in six games since the Olympic break.

“Those three guys make each other look better,” defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. “They’re fun to play with and they’re fun to watch.”

Murray surely must think so.

The coach was back behind the bench after missing five games while recuperating at home in Faribault, Minn., from injuries suffered in a Feb. 15 accident outside Sparta, Wis., including a concussion, four broken ribs, a broken and separated left shoulder and numerous cuts and scrapes.

While assistant Dave Tippett filled in as interim coach, Murray’s return was twice delayed because the coach experienced symptoms of post-concussion syndrome, among them severe headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Only last Saturday, Murray said that doctors had told him it could be several more weeks before he felt well enough to resume his coaching duties.

By Wednesday, however, his symptoms had subsided. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., cleared him to go back to work and Murray, growing antsy at home and eager to rejoin his team, flew into Nashville on Wednesday night.

“The doctors tell me, and it’s the same with our guys, you can be in that post-concussion syndrome ... and as soon as your symptoms are gone, you’re OK,” Murray said before the game. “If I was a player, I’m sure I wouldn’t be playing, but nobody’s going to hit me or check me or anything like that....

“The way I feel right now, I can do everything that I want to do.”

He only had to smile at his good fortune when the Kings were given a five-on-three opportunity late in the first period, simultaneous penalties having been called on the Predators’ Scott Hartnell and Greg Johnson.

Palffy took advantage, slapping a pass from Allison past goaltender Mike Dunham to give the Kings a 1-0 lead with 26 seconds to play in the period.

With 4:05 to play in the second period and the Predators’ Cliff Ronning in the penalty box for slashing, Palffy and Allison teamed up again. Palffy, from the left circle, shoveled the puck to Allison behind the net and took off toward the crease, got a return pass from Allison and slipped the puck into the net.

The Predators tied the score in the third period, Ronning scoring on a slap shot with 14:04 to play and Tom Fitzgerald on a redirection with 10:55 left.

“They could have made it a little less exciting the first game back,” Murray said.