Visnovsky Enhances Murray’s Options

With winger Steve Heinze out of the lineup because his wife, Lori, gave birth to a son, Gage Steven Heinze, the Kings suited up seven defensemen for their game against San Jose on Monday at Staples Center.

One reason Coach Andy Murray decided to go with more defensemen was the return to the lineup of versatile defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who had been sidelined since Jan. 18 because of a knee sprain.

Visnovsky had some experience playing forward in Slovakia before he joined the NHL, and Murray was able to skate him up front on a line with Ziggy Palffy and Derek Armstrong.

“Visnovsky is a gifted offensive player and it’s time to pull out all of the stops,” Murray said. “He told me that he once scored 25 goals playing forward in Slovakia.”

Murray said his only other option was to play another defenseman, Brad Norton, at forward. Norton has played in 44 games this season and most of his minutes have been on the wing.

“I just didn’t know how much more physical play we needed in the lineup,” said Murray, who already had enforcer Kip Brennan playing on the fourth line against the Sharks. “Anyway, Ziggy likes [fellow Slovak Visnovsky] on the line because he wasn’t the smallest guy on the line.”

-- Lonnie White