Johnson Avoids Moving Costs

Craig Johnson was expecting major upheaval. With one telephone call from the Mighty Ducks, order was restored.

Johnson, who spent the last eight seasons with the Kings, was cut free after a difficult season and was preparing to move his family to Atlanta, where the Thrashers had agreed to give him a tryout. Then the Ducks, looking for a veteran forward, came calling with a contract two days before training camp started.

“We were all set to leave town,” Johnson said. “We had everything in storage and had rented our house in Manhattan Beach.”

Johnson has made the most of the chance. He seems set for a spot as a fourth-line grinder. He excelled in that role Sunday against Phoenix, checking and grinding and even creating scoring chances.

“I just have to do what they ask,” Johnson said. “I just have to use my speed, win draws and contribute maybe on the physical side, dig the puck and score some goals here and there.”

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The Ducks, who are working out in San Diego through Thursday, saw a welcome sight Tuesday: a fully active Steve Rucchin.

Rucchin, nearly recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery, played with abandon during practice and said he would play his first game this weekend, either Friday against Florida or Saturday at San Jose.

Andy McDonald, coming back from a concussion, also participated fully in practice. His weight is up to 180, five pounds below his playing weight before the injury. Still, he may not return until December.

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Former Duck defenseman Fredrik Olausson signed with HV71 in the Swedish league, but has yet to play because of injuries.... The Ducks assigned defenseman Mike Mottau to Cincinnati.

-- Chris Foster

Training camp in the Finnish Elite League went like this for center Esa Pirnes: Report on time, work on a few things, and don’t fret. A roster spot will be waiting.

As the Kings’ sixth-round draft choice, training camp has been redefined for Pirnes.

He has scored two goals in two exhibition games, but all it means to him is another day that he hasn’t been sent down to Manchester of the American Hockey League.

“You have to show all the time you can make the roster for the next game,” he said. “I’m the new guy here. There’s a lot of guys that have played here, so I have to show right away what I can do and that I’m worth keeping.”

Pirnes, 26, scored 23 goals in 56 games for Tappara last season. He played for Finland in the World Championships in May, and had two goals and three assists in six games. Finland wasn’t overly competitive, despite having Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, and finished 3-3-1 after a quarterfinal loss to Sweden, but Pirnes caught the eye of the Kings and was drafted a month later.

He has shown good hands and quickness, and scored twice Sunday against San Jose, on a breakaway and on a power play wrap-around shot.

“It makes us think about putting him into some more games now,” Coach Andy Murray said. “We’ll see if he can do it consistently or not. That will be his challenge.”

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The Colorado Avalanche scored twice in the first three minutes of the second period and defeated the Kings, 3-1, Tuesday at Denver.

Riku Hahl, Teemu Selanne and Dan Hinote each had goals to give Colorado a 3-0 lead. Defenseman Joe Corvo scored at 9:47 of the second period for the Kings, who were 0 for 7 on the power play.

-- Mike Bresnahan