Kings Are Not About to Be Pushed Around

The idea was that maybe the Kings could use some third- and fourth-line muscle to play in the Pacific Division, but Dave Taylor, the team’s senior vice president and general manager, pointed out Sunday that they had only four fighting majors in the first nine games.

Maybe there’s enough muscle.

“I like our club and I feel like we have good speed in the third and fourth lines,” Taylor said.

Then came Sunday night, when a structural flaw in Staples Center was revealed.

They made the penalty boxes too small.

At one juncture, King winger Steve McKenna served much of his fighting penalty standing up while three teammates got seats. Across the wall, the San Jose box was also full after the ice was littered with sticks and dropped gloves.

The Kings lost their primary enforcer, Matt Johnson, to Atlanta in the expansion draft, and it has been left to McKenna and, to a lesser extent, Sean O’Donnell to handle the police work.

Both were called on when the Sharks answered King goals with frustration fights involving O’Donnell and San Jose’s Ronnie Stern in the first, and O’Donnell and Bryan Marchment in the second. McKenna and Andy Sutton got off lighter twice in the second, being assessed roughing calls.

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McKenna may have gotten the worst of it when a Shark stuck a finger in his eye during a second-period confrontation.

McKenna, who recently came off the injured list after laser eye surgery to repair a partially torn retina sustained in a scrap in St. Louis, reported blurred vision in the eye. A visor, worn on doctor’s orders, did not help, and the eye will be examined today.