Past Lessons Will Come in Handy in Days Ahead

Only 15 games into the season, the Kings have discovered a few pertinent things about themselves: The penalty kill needs improvement, the goaltending has been hot and cold, and no third-period lead is ever safe.

On the positive side, the Kings have played better than expected without top players Adam Deadmarsh and Jason Allison and have found reliable scoring from unlikely, but welcome, sources -- Trent Klatt, Derek Armstrong and 37-year-old Luc Robitaille, who was tied for 13th in the league in scoring before Friday’s games.

What they find out over the next 18 days will be even more enlightening. Seven of the next 10 games are against top teams -- three against Dallas, two against St. Louis and one each against Colorado and New Jersey.

“It’s a big stretch for us,” said captain Mattias Norstrom. “When you play the elite teams in this league, that’s where you find out where you stand. If you play .500 hockey or better than that against those teams, you know you’re in a good spot.”

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The King organization held its collective breath Friday when leading scorer Ziggy Palffy fell to the ice for about two minutes during a drill at the Kings’ training complex in El Segundo.

“He just stepped on a puck,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “He was all right. It looked like his [left] ankle went out from under him. He didn’t miss a drill.”

TODAY

vs. St. Louis, 1 p.m.

Fox Sports Net

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KSPN (710).

Records -- Kings 8-5-1-1, Blues 10-3-0-1.

Record vs. Blues (2002-03) -- 1-2-0-1.

Update -- The Blues are allowing 2.14 goals per game and have two forwards among NHL scoring leaders -- Keith Tkachuk has nine goals and Pavol Demitra has 11 assists.