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Stevens, Kings set to visit Bruins

Dec 13, 2011 - 3:51 PM (Sports Network) - The struggling Los Angeles Kings will play their first game since the firing of head coach Terry Murray, as they open a four-game road trip with tonight's tilt at Boston's TD Garden.

Mired in a four-game losing streak and burdened with the lowest-scoring offense in the NHL, the Kings fired Murray on Monday and replaced him on an interim basis with assistant John Stevens.

"[The players are] accountable. The coach has to pay the price but make no mistake, they're the ones accountable for this," said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi.

The Kings, who are averaging just 2.21 goals per game, are 12th in the Western Conference with a 13-12-4 record.

Murray took over behind the Los Angeles bench for the 2008-09 season in place of Marc Crawford, and compiled a 139-106-30 mark during his tenure with the Kings.

Prior to joining the Kings, Stevens posted a 120-109-34 record while serving as the Flyers head coach from 2006-2009. Philadelphia reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2008 under Stevens, who won a Calder Cup championship in 2005 as the head coach of the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms.

The Kings have scored a total of six goals during their current four-game losing streak. Los Angeles was dealt a 2-1 loss by the visiting Dallas Stars on Saturday. Brad Richardson scored the lone goal for Los Angeles, while Jonathan Bernier allowed both goals on 28 shots in the Kings' fourth straight loss.

Compounding LA's offensive issues is the fact that the Kings have been playing without forward Mike Richards, who has sat out the last four games with a head injury and is sidelined indefinitely. The centerman is leading LA with 11 goals this season and he had nine scores in 11 games right before getting injured on Dec. 1 against Florida.

Los Angeles is 5-3-3 as the road team this year and will also make stops in Columbus, Detroit and Toronto on this trip.

Boston has an amazing 15-2-1 record over its last 18 games, but the Bruins lost consecutive regulation decisions before getting back on track with Saturday's 5-3 win in Columbus.

Joe Corvo was the surprise offensive star for the Bruins on Saturday. The defenseman, who entered the game with no goals on the season, tallied twice, including the go-ahead power-play marker in the third period.

Nathan Horton, Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly also lit the lamp for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask relieved No. 1 netminder Tim Thomas for the third period and turned aside all 11 shots sent his way. Thomas allowed three goals on 25 shots over the first 40 minutes.

The win may prove costly for the Bruins, however, as Chara suffered a lower body injury in the second period and didn't return. The 2009 Norris Trophy winner suffered the injury on a collision with Blue Jackets forward Antoine Vermette and will sit out tonight's game.

Boston forward Daniel Paille missed Saturday's game with a head injury and is not expected to play tonight. Neither is forward Gregory Campbell, who sustained a foot injury in Saturday's win.

The Bruins are 10-6-1 as the host this season and have eight wins in their last 10 contests at the Garden.

Los Angeles has won five straight over the Bruins, although four of those encounters went past regulation. The Kings have also taken four in a row in Boston and suffered their last loss in Beantown on Jan. 10, 2002.