Feb. 06--It wasn't a bag skate on Friday, far from it.
But the Kings had a much longer and tougher practice than what was expected after Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Ducks. They often trickle off the ice in dribs and drabs -- usually Jeff Carter escapes first -- but most exited Friday at about the same time after a grueling session.
Coach Darryl Sutter was aiming for a reset, feeling there was some slippage in the upper echelon of the lineup. With the chance to get in three practices before a seven-game trip starts next week, Sutter felt things were moving in the right direction after session No. 1 on Friday.
"Oh yes, no question," he said. "We're a team that our stars and our captains are the same group. Those guys drive the bus. They drive the bus for us, win or lose.
"It takes a couple of days to reset it and go from there."
They have an off day Sunday and an early morning practice Monday before departing for Boston.
"Some guys need to get their fitness back up again, guys that haven't been playing very much," Sutter said. "If those guys are going to help us do anything down the stretch here, then they have to push their fitness up the next two or three days, today being the first day of that."
The Kings lead the Pacific Division by seven points. They have only one game remaining against second-place San Jose. The first five games of the upcoming trip are against Eastern Conference teams and the final two against Western Conference opponents.
"At this point in the season, it's a vital road trip for how our season is going to end up," captain Dustin Brown said. "We can wrap our heads around that and get ready to go. We can put ourselves in a good position with a really good road trip and come back home in first place. . . . It's important to have that road-mode mind-set right from the get-go and maintain it."
