Murray Doesn’t Sell Palffy Short

If Jason Allison is the Kings’ answer to Shaquille O’Neal, as Coach Andy Murray suggested last week, then who is Ziggy Palffy’s counterpart?

“I guess you could call him a short Kobe [Bryant],” Murray said of the Slovak winger, who had four goals and three assists in the first three games of the opening-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. “You know, a lot of flair and, obviously, tremendous skill level and finishing ability. Both make a lot of money....

“We’ve seen this before from Ziggy. I’m not surprised by it. It’s just [that] you’d like to see it for 82 games. It would be a treat. That’s the bottom line with Ziggy: I still don’t think he realizes how good he can or could be.”

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After benching Jaroslav Bednar and Lubomir Visnovsky in favor of Nelson Emerson and Andreas Lilja in Game 3, Murray made another change Tuesday night, inserting right wing Steve Heinze and benching Cliff Ronning.

“Cliff hasn’t been feeling real well of late,” Murray said before the game, “so we’re giving him a break. He’s just not 100%. He could play, but it’s a coach’s decision as much as anything.

“Nelson Emerson came into the lineup and was very hungry. We would hope that Steve Heinze would come in with that same type of determination.

“We thought Emerson was strong.”

Said Emerson, who had played in three of 19 games before Monday night: “When I had my concussion early in the year, I could have probably shut it down and retired. This is why I came back, just to play in a game like [Monday].”

Heinze, who had played in one of the Kings’ previous 10 games, hadn’t scored a goal since Jan. 15. He scored 15 in the regular season, none in his last 27 games.

Jerry Crowe

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When Steven Reinprecht touches the puck at Staples Center, no one boos.

When his Avalanche teammates call to him in the dressing room, they often yell, “Hey, throw-in.”

That could be changing if Reinprecht continues playing as he has this season.

Last season’s trade between the Kings and Avalanche is usually called the “Rob Blake trade.” Sometimes, it is known as the “Adam Deadmarsh-Aaron Miller deal.” Reinprecht’s role seemed to be as the answer to a trivia question.

Or so it seems around the Avalanche dressing room.

“When the guys want to joke around, they call me ‘throw-in,’ stuff like that,” Reinprecht said. “I guess there’s no changing that. It was a pretty big trade.”

That may be changing. Reinprecht scored six minutes into the second period Tuesday and the Avalanche went on to win, 1-0.

He has brought some much-needed offense to an Avalanche team that was without Forsberg during the regular season and Milan Hejduk since Feb. 28.

Reinprecht was fourth on the Avalanche with 19 goals and tied for fourth with 46 points. In the playoffs, he has three points, including the game-winning goal in a 5-3 victory in Game 2 against the Kings on Saturday.

Yet the King fans boo Blake.

“That’s a good thing that they save that for Blakey,” Reinprecht said. “At least, that’s how I feel.

“The trade is behind me and I don’t dwell on it. I got to win a Stanley Cup. I just want to continue my progress as a hockey player.”

That progress has been significant, in the eyes of one teammate who had not seen Reinprecht play this season until the playoffs.

“He’s a whole different player now,” Forsberg said. “He has some dangerous wheels on him.”

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Reinprecht’s development as a player hasn’t surprised the King hierarchy.

“A lot has been made about the fact it was Rob Blake for Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller,” Murray said. “People have kind of forgotten about Steven Reinprecht. I tried to remind people at the time of the trade that Steve Reinprecht is a very good player.”

Reinprecht had 12 goals and 29 points with the Kings before the trade.

“[The Avalanche] asked for him,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “I think their people liked him as much as we did when we signed him as a free agent out of Wisconsin. He’s a clever offensive player.”

Chris Foster

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Viscous hits have been common in the series.

Because of the history between the teams, including a seven-game playoff series last year and four rough games this season, it’s not a surprise that tempers are flaring.

“There are some big hits out there,” Colorado captain Joe Sakic said.

“We’ve kind of developed a dislike for one another. Especially with the way the games have been.... Guys are skating hard so when you do see hits, they’re bigger because of that.”

Lonnie White