This King Pair Proves Fruitful

Michael Cammalleri smirked a bit at the suggestion. Alexander Frolov took a wide-eyed approach at the thought. King Coach Andy Murray denied it was so simple.

Still, the Kings’ 3-1 victory over Columbus at Staples Center on Sunday night was a chance for those in Murray’s doghouse to enhance their images. Cammalleri had a goal and an assist, and Frolov scored a goal as the Kings built a 3-0 lead through two periods and cruised home.

Cammalleri had been benched for two games and has four points in three games since. Frolov was given detention, being the only starter required to do a skate the day after Thursday’s 5-2 loss to Detroit.

The two contributed on all three King goals, which gave the Blue Jackets five losses in their first six games.

“You would prefer your players to recognize things without doing that,” Murray said. “But if it was as simple as sitting a player down, we’d use it all the time.”

The change was noticeable, especially in Cammalleri. He helped the Kings score on two of their five power plays in the first period. They had been two for 17 in their last two games.

Cammalleri started the season skating on the Kings’ top line. After the 5-4 loss to Dallas in the opener, Cammalleri was given a chance to ponder things.

“I don’t know if [sitting down] helped, but you want to play,” Cammalleri said, smiling.

His three-game point streak since his return was extended when he started a rush that finished with Derek Armstrong’s power-play goal. That gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 8 minutes 15 seconds into the game.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Cammalleri extended that lead 10 minutes later, taking a pass at the blue line from Pavol Demitra, then gliding to the left face-off circle before whipping a shot for his first goal of the season.

“The smaller players in this league all play with an edge,” Murray said. “If you’re a smaller player in this league, you have to play big.”

Frolov added to that, scoring his second goal of the season just after Columbus’ David Vyborny stepped out of the penalty box, giving the Kings a 3-0 lead 13:34 into the second period.

“I knew I hadn’t been scoring,” Frolov said. “I knew I had to work harder.”

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The Kings were without Luc Robitaille, who suffered a groin injury in the last minute against Detroit. Robitaille tried to practice Saturday but left the ice after about two minutes.