Brown Is Making It Tough for Murray

King training camp ends in a little more than a week, and although a couple of young players might make the team, a majority will be handed one-way tickets to minor-league affiliate Manchester (N.H.).

One of the players on the fence is forward Dustin Brown, the Kings’ top pick in the 2003 draft, who has caught the eye of coaches despite being only 18.

Brown, who had 34 goals and 42 assists last season with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, scored his first goal of the preseason Sept. 18 against the Mighty Ducks.

“We have some tough decisions to make here,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “He’s made them that much tougher because he’s played pretty well.”

The Kings currently have 42 players on the roster: 25 forwards, 14 defensemen and three goaltenders. With about 10 forwards expected to be sent down, the odds are against Brown. Still ...

“He’s worked extremely hard,” Murray said.

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Luc Robitaille and Derek Armstrong scored power-play goals, Roman Cechmanek made 20 saves and Kings defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1, in an exhibition game at Las Vegas.

The second exhibition game between the Pacific Division rivals was physical, with the teams combining for 150 penalty minutes. Among the infractions was a game misconduct to Colorado’s Peter Forsberg for fighting Sean Avery with less than six minutes remaining.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.