Berg Looming Large on Ice

In only his third NHL season, defenseman Aki Berg--a plus-10 before Thursday night’s game against San Jose--has impressed King General Manager Dave Taylor with his physical play.

“He’s been playing real well and [King Coach] Larry [Robinson] has been using him in a lot of situations,” Taylor said of Berg, the third pick overall in the 1995 draft. “He plays on our regular penalty kill and he’s averaging 20 minutes of [ice time] per game.

“He’s just coming into his own now and he’s only going to get better. . . . We like what we see. When we drafted him, playing the body was a big part of his game. He was hard to play against and he’s just now starting to do that [in the NHL].”

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Russ Courtnall, who signed an unrestricted free-agent contract last Friday, played in his first game with the Kings on Thursday against the Sharks. Courtnall’s debut came sooner than expected because Glen Murray had food poisoning and was sent home before the game.

Courtnall was called for a cross-checking penalty at the end of his first shift 4:48 into the game. He made up for the mistake later in the period when he assisted on Yanic Perreault’s goal at 9:40 that gave the Kings a 2-0 lead.

Courtnall began playing on a line with left wing Steve McKenna and center Roman Vopat, but Robinson also used him in other combinations throughout the game.

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Left wing Vladimir Tsyplakov, who has a broken right hand, and defenseman Doug Zmolek, who has a bruised left foot, did not play against San Jose, but both could be back in the lineup Saturday against Dallas at the Forum, according to Taylor. . . . Right wing Brad Smyth, who has not played since Oct. 28, was the Kings’ only healthy scratch.