>Jeff Zatkoff saw his first NHL preseason action last night, as the Kings traveled to Kansas City to take on the St. Louis Blues.

Zatkoff reportedly played a decent game, but allowed one goal, to veteran Paul Kariya.

Also, letsgokings.com has a nice interview with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford who had a few things to say about JZ:

Ranford on Zatkoff and the tandem he shared at Miami of Ohio vs. Bernier who played as a starter at Lewiston:

I think the best way to explain that we had two individuals. We had Jeff Zatkoff and Jonathan Bernier; one playing junior as a starter and one flip-flopping in Miami. Over a two-year process, Zatkoff might get maybe 50 starts and then Bernier would probably get close to 100 to 120 starts. As far as a development process, we were concerned. We talked with the school and they felt strongly that Jeff would move into the No. 1 role. He was handed that role last year and it was a real learning experience for him being able to play the bulk of the load. I think he grew as a goalie. The way you grow as a goalie is by playing games.

Ranford on Zatkoff’s continued development if he finds himself in a tandem for the net in Manchester:

There’s going to be a four-way battle for it. You never know; injuries come into play. You never know what’s going to happen after the two spots are taken here in L.A. It’s going to be a four-way battle down in Manchester until we decide which way the guys go. So right now the way our organization works, we’ve got two guys here in L.A. There’s going to be two guys battling in Manchester; and then probably one guy in Ontario down the road here, and one in Reading. Our hope is that it’s a good goalie battle right to the bitter end and they make it tough for us to make a decision on who goes where.

On a side note, I just realized something with Zats’ mask. Yes, it’s a Manchester paint job, but it’s very similar to the design he wore as a RedHawk. Look below and note the large white space in the middle between each logo: