Dustin Penner stays in, Alexei Ponikarovsky out for Kings in Game 5 | The Fabulous Forum | Los Angeles Times

Greetings from San Jose, where the Sharks had their full team on the ice for the morning skate at HP Pavilion but the Kings’ session remained optional. What matters most is who shows up Saturday night, when the Sharks can end the team’s playoff series with a victory. A sixth game, if necessary, will be played Monday at Staples Center.

Kings CoachTerry Murraysaid he will stick with his plan to insert left wingScott Parsein the lineup, even though Parse hasn’t played since Nov. 15 and underwent hip surgery shortly after that game. Parse will skate alongsideMichal HandzusandJustin Williams, as Parse did in Friday’s practice.

The Kings’ fourth line will be Dustin Penner,Jarret StollandKevin Westgarth, which meansAlexei Ponikarovsky-- who scored the Kings’ final goal in their 6-3 loss Thursday at home -- will be scratched from the lineup, as willOscar Moller.

Whether he’s doing it to justify General ManagerDean Lombardi’strade for Penner or he believes against all evidence that Penner will suddenly become motivated to play at both ends of the ice, Murray kept Penner in the lineup. 

“Against this San Jose team, they’ve got three dominant lines. I’ve said this before, they’ve got three lines that are probably as good as any in the National Hockey League,” Murray said Saturday morning. “And they can play the game any way you want, any way they want it. And so it’s important for us to play four lines.

“When you have your top guy out of the lineup like this everybody has to dig in, check the proper way and play hard every shift. So with Parse going into the lineup here tonight I’m going to take Ponikarovsky out. Put Penner there with Stoll. It’s a little bit of a risk but I haven’t been getting enough from the top line on that left side, on the production side of it, and Parse has ability. He has skill. So I’m going to take that look here tonight.”

Murray said he took Ponikarovsky’s Game 4 goal into consideration but found better reasons to play Penner, who has one assist and is -4 defensively in the series.

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