rdquoBut the sudden scoring touch begged the question

They had a lot from the outside.”The reason for the improved defensive zone play The Kings went back to the drawing board, so to speak.“We went back to practice and we worked on it,” said right wing Wayne Simmonds. “We have that home plate attitude as head coach Terry Murray says the five dots that everyone’s come back to I think we’re reverting to that more. Guys are stopping in the house and then fanning out from there.”Despite putting in a ragged performance in a sloppy, 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on December 3 at Staples Center, the Kings put in one of their finest defensive efforts of the season in the third period.“I think we bounced back pretty good after they tied it up,” said defenseman Randy Jones. “We played some strong defense and Quick was there anytime we broke down. There were a few breakdowns and when do that against a good team with good players like they have, they’re going to capitalize. But we got back to our game plan and we played a strong second half.”The Kings have won their last three games and have outscored their opponents, 12-7 during that stretch.

Scoring is on the upswing again, and one reason is that even though star center Anze Kopitar is in the midst of a woeful eleven-game goal scoring drought, others have picked up the slack.And one source has come out of nowhere, almost literally...center/left wing Brad Richardson.Richardson, who has been centering the fourth/checking line, has seen his ice time creep higher and higher in recent games and he has evenbeen getting time on left wing with Stoll and Dustin Brown.On December 1 at Anaheim, Richardson deflected a point shot by defenseman Jack Johnson for the game-winning goal late in the third period, his first goal with the Kings and his first NHL goal since January 30, 2008, when he was with the Colorado Avalanche.Two days later against the Senators, Richardson scored his second goal in as many games, knocking in a rebound at 3:51 of the second period.“I was just trying to play a good checking game and try to get in on the forecheck,” said Richardson. “It’s fun to get up and play with Brown and Stoll. Hopefully that can continue.”“Richie’s hot,” said right wing Wayne Simmonds “He’s been working hard all season long I’m so happy to see him get rewarded. I knew it was only a matter of time and I think they’re just going to keep coming for him.”The coaches have certainly noticed his improved play.“I’m really happy with Richardson,” said Murray “His game has been progressing throughout the year. In the last dozen games, he’s starting to show that stuff I guess we heard about last year. “He’s earning the right to play as many minutes and I’m real happy for him that he’s getting some reward from his effort by scoring goals.”But the sudden scoring touch begged the question...who was the guy wearing Richardson’s jersey and what did he do with Brad Richardson“I’m just trying to work hard and when you keep working hard, usually, good things will happen from that,” Richardson beamed “Last year was tough with injuries.

But this year, I’m getting some consistency and that helps a lot.”“Someone’s got to step up when the key guys go out,” Richardson added. He went to the net hard and there was an empty net for me.”“It’s going to happen where guys go through droughts like that. The other guys on the third and fourth lines have to pick it up.”Despite the goal-scoring streak, Richardson remains firmly grounded. Indeed, when asked if it was time for him to ask for time on the top line, Richardson laughed.“I don’t think we want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” he said.But with Richardson making a big enough impact to earn increased ice time and to get some shifts with Brown and Stoll in criticalsituations, something had to give, and against the Senators, slumpingwinger Teddy Purcell found himself seated firmly on the bench while Richardson took his place on the line with Brown and Stoll.“When the score is 3-1 and now it’s 3-3, I’m more concerned about checking properly,” Murray explained following his team's win over Ottawa. Although it praised Richardson, it was a direct call out for Purcell, warning him that his ice time is on the line if he cannot pick up his game, and not just in terms of goal scoring it was a clear indictment of Purcell's play, with and without the puck.Indeed, after a pretty solid pre-season in which he showed signs of improvement in his play without the puck, Purcell has not shown much this season in terms of the hard, heavy “dots-to-boards” play that Murray stresses.Although no one expects Purcell to run over and through opposing players or knock them flat, he is expected to at least hold his own in the majority of physical battles, but has rarely done so this season.