Final games for Kings, Ducks heading into All-star break

Correspondent

The Kings arrived in Nashville for today’s showdown with the Predators, the final game before the Allstar break and one that could signal the end of the Todd Mclellan era in Los Angeles.

The struggling Cam Talbot will, fittingly, represent the struggling Kings at the All-star Game.

The Feb. 1-9 break would provide ideal timing if, in fact, the Kings decide to make a change behind the bench to replace Mclellan, a well-reputed coach with the highest salary among active NHL stewards. Mclellan seemed well-prepared, perhaps even unusually so, for a recent query about his job security. Whether that was the result of an unseen hand choreographing the response or simply the heft of a listless lull that’s seen his team lose 14 of 16 games, Mclellan confronted the question head on, as if it were expected after a recent loss to Buffalo. That was defeat No. 12 in this dismal stretch.

“Well, that’s a very fair question. If I was sitting in your seat, and you were standing here, I’d ask you that. I’m responsible for this. When you look at the team that played the first 25, 30 games, if you will, it doesn’t look like the team that’s playing right now and I’m responsible for it,” Mclellan said.

“Our staff is doing what we can, or what we believe we can, to get them to turn it around. We’re trying different things at different times, but I’m going to keep pushing away. I’m going to try and push buttons, poke people, praise people and look at how we do things. Our numbers, our underlying numbers, say we’re more the first half team than the second half team, but the win column doesn’t say that and that’s all that matters. So, it’s a very fair question.”

Mclellan’s accountability was complete and more in step with that of the Kings’ prominent players than its management figureheads, who have abdicated repeatedly. But Mclellan and his leadership group’s forthrightness didn’t help matters in a 5-1 inundation by the Colorado Avalanche. Nor did it save them when the St. Louis Blues took a more respectable effort from the Kings and handed them the same disrespectful result they get seemingly every time they take a game to overtime. They are 2-10 this season when they’ve given Kings fans a now unwelcome bonus of five minutes of or less of additional competition.

Ducks preview

The Ducks play host to the San Jose Sharks tonight before hitting the all-star break.

That pause will leave them out of action, with the exception of their lone all-star selection Frank Vatrano, until Feb. 9 when they host the Edmonton Oilers.

On their brief road trip, the Ducks stole a point in Dallas and turned in tenacious effort in Minnesota, weathering a stormy second period that was bookended by outstanding

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frames, leading to a 3-2 victory.

“For four straight games we’ve had really good first periods, and then we absorbed too much of the game in the second period, and part of that’s taking penalties,” Coach Greg Cronin said by phone. “I thought our response in the third period in Minnesota was good footing to move forward from in a positive way.”

From good footing to great footwork, mainstay Troy Terry has been on fire for over a month and newcomer Olen Zellweger has infused youthful energy –– and legs –– into the banged-up Ducks’ game in all three zones.

Terry has 22 points in his past 23 contests, including 13 in 11 January games.

Terry’s impact has been felt in the win column this year. In the 17 victories the Ducks have earned with him in the lineup, he’s poured in 20 points with a plus-10 rating. In 29 losses, he’s had just 15 points with a minus-14 rating.

Also dictating tempo has been Zellweger, a rookie callup that’s made a quick impression. Against Minnesota, he had a puck retrieval so swift and efficient that it caused Brandon Duhaime to whiff completely, sending the Wild forward banging into the end boards.

Next up for Terry, Zellweger and the whole flock will be the last-placed Sharks, who beat the Ducks 5-3 in a bizarre affair on Jan. 20 that saw the Ducks cede just seven shots on net through 40 minutes. The solution for turning around the result for the typically detail-delving Cronin was simple: finish your copious number of scoring opportunities.