KINGS NOTEBOOK: BREAK FOR MURRAY IS TAKING IN A HOCKEY GAME.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

What does a coach do on his night off? If he's Andy Murray, he goes to a game.

Murray and the Kings coaching staff prepared for tonight's game against Pittsburgh by watching the Penguins play the Mighty Ducks on Wednesday in Anaheim.

That might seem pretty standard for a coach, but a pattern is forming in Murray's first season. Other nights off have included attending games in Long Beach where the Kings' minor league affiliate plays.

``It's good for scouting players, but it's also good to sit back and watch hockey,'' he said. ``It's good to be able to watch a player miss a pass or get beat on a play and not have your stomach tied up in knots.''

Wednesday was typical for Murray. He left his home in Hermosa Beach at 6:30 a.m. to drive to the Kings practice facility in the San Fernando Valley for an 11:30 workout. He watched a second replay of Tuesday's 5-2 Kings victory over Washington, having seen it first after the game.

Then he watched video of the Penguins for the first time and had newspaper articles from Pittsburgh pulled off the Internet.

``That is the first time I saw them,'' Murray said. ``I think it is important not to get too far ahead of ourselves and just concentrate on the game at hand. I don't think there was a need to see Pittsburgh before we played Washington. The coaching staff and I go over it and make adjustments with the team.''

The Kings have the league's top power play but were 0 for 6 against Washington, the NHL's worst penalty-killing team. Assistant Dave Tippett handles the power-play unit for the Kings and Ray Bennett works on penalty killing.

But Murray isn't upset with the team's performance. ``The power play isn't always about scoring,'' he said, admitting it was nice to get five goals at even strength. ``The most important thing is maintaining momentum and we did that.''

Kings captain Rob Blake, who played for Murray on the Canadian national team and was influential in his hire, said one of the reasons the 5-3-2 club has responded to the new coach is the work ethic Murray displays.

``Players see how much he gives of himself to them and they like that,'' Blake said. ``They want to feel like he is working as hard as they are. They want to feel like we're in this together.''

How does the 48-year-old father of three handle all this? His family is back in Minnesota, where Murray coached last year at a posh prep school Shattuck-St. Mary's.

His oldest son Jordan plays on the team and his daughter Sarah plays on the girls' team. Tonight's game with the Penguins will be special at the school because the son of Pittsburgh assistant Mike Eaves also plays on the Shattuck team.

``They canceled study hall for tomorrow night and have brought in a big TV so everyone can watch the game on the (satellite) dish,'' Murray said. ``Mike also used to be the coach there. It will be a big night.''

KINGS VS. PITTSBURGH

Time: 7:30 p.m. at Staples Center.

TV/Radio:Fox Sports West, ESPN2, KRLA-AM (1110).

Matchup: The Penguins, who lost to the Ducks in overtime Wednesday night, are in the middle of a three-game West Coast swing. Jaromir Jagr, the league's top scorer the past two years, is at it again with six goals and seven assists in his last six games. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, Jagr is its only player among the top 35 in scoring. Injuries have hurt the Penguins, who will be missing goaltender Tom Barrasso and center Jan Hrdina but will have back center Martin Staka and defenseman Jiri Slagr.

BOX: Kings vs. Pittsburgh (see text)

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