Robitaille Is Lost to the Penguins on Waiver Claim

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Kings lost another Robitaille on Friday, this time when Randy Robitaille was claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The loss of the 26-year-old forward, who signed with the Kings as a free agent last summer, is further fallout from Adam Mair’s 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a brawl in the Kings’ Dec. 20 game against the Ottawa Senators.

While Mair serves his suspension--he’ll be eligible to return to the lineup Jan. 15--his roster spot is frozen. Otherwise, because he would not have had to clear waivers, Mair would have been a logical candidate to be sent down to the minors this week when Ziggy Palffy and Mathieu Schneider came off the injured list.

Instead, their choices limited, the Kings designated Robitaille and Brad Chartrand for assignment, exposing them to the waiver list. Robitaille, who had four goals and three assists in 18 games, was claimed by the Penguins for $35,000.

“We’re disappointed ... but we were in a little bit of a bind on our roster,” General Manager Dave Taylor said from Los Angeles. “It left us with some tough decisions. We thought there was a chance that Randy would get claimed, but we were hoping it wouldn’t happen.”

Chartrand, meanwhile, could be back with the Kings as soon as today. Ken Belanger, who suffered a broken left thumb in Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers, was put on the injured list Friday, and Taylor said that Chartrand or Kip Brennan probably would be recalled from the Kings’ American Hockey League team at Manchester, N.H.

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Alexander Frolov, the Kings’ first-round pick in the 2000 NHL draft, scored a goal Friday to help Russia to a 5-4 victory over Canada in the final game of the World Junior Hockey Championships at Pardubice, Czech Republic.

Another King prospect, Mike Cammalleri of Canada, was the tournament’s leading scorer with 11 points, among them seven goals.

TONIGHT

at New York Islanders, 4 PST, Fox Sports Net

Site--Nassau Coliseum.

Radio--KSPN (1110).

Records--Kings 15-16-7-2, Islanders 20-12-5-2.

Record vs. Islanders--(2000-01) 2-0.

Update--After finishing 30 games below .500 last season, the Islanders are one of the NHL’s surprising success stories. Alexei Yashin, acquired last summer in a trade with the Ottawa Senators, is among league leaders with 40 points.