Darryl Sutter recalls taking over the offensive-struggling Kings five years ago Saturday

Reporting from Pittsburgh —  Darryl Sutter was feeding cattle on the family farm in Viking, Canada, when he took a call from Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi and made a decision that changed the course of the franchise’s history.

It was five years ago Saturday that The Times confirmed Sutter had agreed to replace Terry Murray and coach a team that was well-schooled defensively but struggled to score. Murray was fired after the team practiced in Boston to begin a trip that also stopped in Columbus and Detroit; the Kings will make the same stops on their current seven-game journey, including Sunday’s game at Boston.

Sutter’s hiring wasn’t announced for a few days, allowing him time to get help on the farm and study a team he believed had talent and character. Those assets, and his familiarity with Lombardi from their collaboration in San Jose, were key reasons he took the job. He coached his first game on Dec. 22, 2011.

“Dean had called me a couple times just to see if I was interested in coaching again, not implying anything. And we talked off and on anyways about different things,” Sutter said Saturday. “My intent always was, I’d sort of left my window open, but there were only three or four places I’d go because I wasn’t going just to coach somewhere again.”

He sensed the team needed a new approach. “We had to understand that we weren’t going to play in our zone, and that’s the way they had played. They sort of protected the house and didn’t get out at all,” he said. “We had to change that and become a possession team, to become a top team. We just couldn’t throw pucks away. We had to try and make plays, had to try and just play more of a checking game, not a defensive game.”

That worked, aided by the return from injury of Mike Richards, the acquisition of Jeff Carter, and the promotion from the minor leagues of Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, and Slava Voynov.

“We knew we were going to be challenged in terms of scoring, but there was still enough there depth-wise that we knew we were close enough if we could get in,” Sutter said.

“Once you start coaching, it was close that whole time whether you were going to be in or out. We had a lot of 1-0 games we were losing, and stuff like that, but you could still get the guys to believe it’s not that far, you’re closer than you think.”

They made the 2012 playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the West. The rest was history: the first of two Stanley Cup titles in three seasons.

“We got a little more aggressive. I think it was more of a mentality change, an attitude change,” right wing Dustin Brown said. “Terry was more of a great teacher of the game, and he was the right coach for us in that development period, but Darryl came in and kind of pressed some buttons and pushed us and the emotional part of the game that was lacking a little bit when we were playing under Terry. Darryl was a little more blunt and a little more emotional, and that’s probably what we needed.”

Players sometimes tune out their coaches after awhile, but Brown said Sutter is still effective.

“We’ve won a lot and had a lot of disappointments as well, but I think the one thing, especially this year, is just being on the same page,” Brown said. “It’s different for every player, but collectively I feel like he’s hard, he pushes you, all those things, but it’s very evident that we’re all in it together and trying to help each other.”

UP NEXT

At Boston

When: 10 a.m. PST Sunday

On the air: TV: FS West. Radio: 790

Update: Defenseman Brayden McNabb (broken collarbone) joined the team to practice but hasn’t been cleared for contact. Bruins right wing David Pastrnak, who leads Boston with 19 goals, will be out after undergoing a surgical procedure on his elbow. The Bruins are 1-3-2 in their last six games.