Slaney Benched to Consider Mistake

King defenseman John Slaney’s miscue helped lead to the Sharks’ game-winning goal in overtime with four seconds remaining Sunday, and he found himself out of the lineup on Wednesday in Montreal. But Slaney will return tonight in Philadelphia.

“The last couple of games, I haven’t really played how I played last year,” he said. “I tried to make a pass and didn’t make a good pass to Ray [Ferraro] and Ray lost it at his feet. When I saw that, I tried to get myself back and then I lost myself. It was my fault, I should have looked at the clock. I didn’t know there was that many seconds left for him [Viktor Kozlov] to score.”

Said Robinson: “I just don’t feel he is playing with the same grit and determination he was playing with before he got hurt last year.”

Slaney began last season in Colorado, and had six goals and 17 points in 31 games after the Kings acquired him in December 1995.

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Defenseman Jan Vopat is getting anti-inflammatory injections in an attempt to reduce the herniation in the disk, which in his lumbar region. He could be out for two or three weeks.