Extra! Extra! The Kings Are Mortal!

After watching the Los Angeles Kings throw everything at the Detroit Red Wings including the fixtures on the toilet on Thursday, it was hard to get up for the game against the St. Louis Blues last night. There was basically nothing the Kings could do to match the intensity and desperation they showed on Thursday, but I faithfully watched the second game wondering what was going to happen. Let's just say the number of hits to Blues' faces matched the number of shots on Jimmy Howard.

I can't remember the last time I was brought to tears from the result of a Kings game, but my mascara was definitely being smeared from under my eyes after Darren Helm spun away from Sean O'Donnell in the corner only to beat Jonathan Quick through the legs after a poke check loosened the puck from Helm's grip. The remaining 17 seconds had my hands occupying my eye space from the sheer output of effort and sustained attack from the Kings, which is usually the complete opposite in these games. I couldn't believe how quickly I was brought to my knees after Ryan Smyth had me running down the hall screaming with his power play goal late in the third period. I was expecting nothing other than overtime to come around after the tying goal. Maybe next time I shouldn't be so expectant of an outcome.



When one is given the task of following a great act with his or her own, the pressure to "bring it" is as heavy as an anvil on the chest of the performer. For the Kings, it's a rare occurrence to have an insane effort result in a loss knowing they will have to follow it up with a game against a team possessing a boring yet (arguably) similar style of play to their own. This was definitely the case against the Blues at the Staples Center on Saturday night. The slow start let me know it wasn't going to be anything like the Red Wings game a mere two days earlier. The biggest difference was the underwhelming performance of Quick. Perhaps the sheer number of games has caught up with this young pup, but the goals against were ugly and he was yanked after letting in four unsightly ones. Erik Ersberg stepped in with a little over 13 minutes to play, which was about the time where the Kings decided they wanted to try and win. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown notched a goal apiece, but it wasn't enough to get the tie and at least one point.

There are a few things from the game I wanted to mention because I found them fascinating. The first is that apparently the Blues have one of the highest penalty killing percentages in the league. Where did that come from? The other is the annoying fact that Raitis Ivanans doesn't fight. Sean O'Donnell and Matt Greene scuffled against Brad Winchester and BJ Crombeen, not respectively, while Ivanans did nothing. The roles of the aforementioned Kings players are obvious and need not be explained. Let's fix this picture, people.

The next game for the Kings will be tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks. I'm not sure the outcome here since I predicted the Kings would go 5-2 during this seven-game home stand and that they would split the two games with the Sharks. They're already two down and another loss wouldn't look very good to the misty-eyed Kings fans who were hoping this squad could actually make the post season.

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Losing Streak? Red Wings 6, Kings 4

So the Kings have lost four in a row but it really doesn't feel like it. The previous four games have all been lost in different fashions; a shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks, an OT loss to the New York Rangers, a blowout against the Buffalo Sabres, and a regulation loss to the Detroit Red Wings, respectively. Tonight the Red Wings beat the Kings 6 to 4 and yesterday the Sabres shut them out in an ugly 5-0 contest.

The game against Buffalo was a weird one; the last three meetings have been completely one-sided with this one not being any different. I thought the Kings would get the win when they were completely outshooting and outworking the Sabres. The Kings had 40 shots compared to their 23. Jason LaBarbera was the unfortunate soul in net for four of the goals and then Jonathan Quick let in the remaining two. Virtually all were odd goals that were going in one after the other, and after Barbs got pulled I kind of lost hope for the Kings to come back, which is not what I should be thinking because they can come back. They've displayed that fight before and I generally do have confidence in them to do so, but yesterday was slowly going down the toilet.

(Getty Images/Bill Wippert)

Don't be lame, Kaleta

Side note, I thought Patrick Kaleta was a total douchebag for trying to challenge Denis Gauthier and then not even throw down the gloves! What the eff was up with that?! Why would you challenge someone when your team is up four goals to nothing and then not even follow through with it?! Well Katela got what was coming to him because Gauts didn't even hesitate. He threw off his gloves and gave Kaleta a sock in the teeth and he went down like a sack of potatoes. I shouldn't be mean and say he deserved it, but he really did.

Tonight Quick was in net and I was just hoping the Red Wings wouldn't demolish my boys. They didn't, thank god, but they definitely got stronger through the game, which forced the Kings to try and keep up with them, which is nothing new considering it's the Red Wings... With a combined four goals and 25 shots on in the first period, I wasn't sure what to expect for the rest of the game since neither team was getting too much of an opportunity to set up for too long in either zone. There was a lot of neutral zone play with a lot of subpar passing, but there were still plently of goals getting past both Quick and Ty Conklin with the most memorable one being where Alexander Frolov got a pass from behind the net and skated the half circle of the goal crease and put it past the Wings. Kinda pretty and ugly at the same time.

(Getty Images/Dave Reginek)

Is this really the lighting in the Joe or is it just the angle?

Congrats to Trevor Lewis for notching his first NHL goal and point, which he didn't even get to really celebrate. His shot didn't get through cleanly, which was why everyone thought Patrick O'Sullivan had backhanded it in. I didn't doubt Sully got the goal because he's just that awesome, but Lewis got it and I'm sure he's happy about that but it definitely is overshadowed by the loss. Can you really call this a heart breaker when you weren't expecting them to win in the first place? It's a question that keeps me up at night. Those are some long and lonely hours, let me tell you. The Kings looked like they had hope until the last few minutes of the game when Jiri Hudler scored, and then Dan Cleary, and then Kris Draper. Crud.

Teddy Purcell was moved to the 4th line in the game against Buffalo (13:29), which was where he stayed for tonight's game (6:29). His minutes were reduced by seven minutes while Lewis went from 9:14 to 15:08. Needless to say (since I've said this from the start of the season), I'm disappointed that Teddy didn't make the team out of training camp and I'm bummed that he's not doing well now that he's actually up here. He got the chance to shine in his first game up by being on a line with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar! How can you not take that opportunity and run?! I'm keeping my eye on you, Teddy; you'd better shape up!

So the Kings begin a new week starting tomorrow where they'll face the Columbus Blue Jacket on Tuesday and I really hope they break this losing streak that doesn't really feel like a losing streak. They need some points here! I'd like to get above .500 because it feels like they're just trying to keep their heads above sea level.

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