Another One Bites The Dust; Kings 3, Oilers 2

The Los Angeles Kings lose one in Vancouver last night and win one tonight in another back-to-back. With Jarret Stoll, Wayne Simmonds, Ryan Smyth, and whoever else out of the line up, the Kings had to lose another key player in tonight's game. Jack Johnson "took one off the ankle" in the first period and was basically out for the rest of the game. Just great. It's no secret the roster has been slowly picked off by the injury monster, and tonight was no different. The Kings faced the Edmonton Oilers with a win to go into Thursday's game against the Calgary Flames still atop the West.

The rock for the Kings has been Jonathan Quick all the way. Erik Ersberg sat out this back-to-back but I felt quite comfortable with Terry Murray going with the number 1 goalie for these important games before the 8-day rest. On a personal note, I missed last night's game because, for some reason, I was recording the "wrong feed." Apparently there were two feeds coming through from Vancouver and I was on the one with horrible audio and no video. I don't even want to go into the logistics of what in the hell was going on there, but I ended up not watching the game at all. Just as well; all reports led to the conclusion that the Kings laid a rotten egg in a 3-1 loss. Gross.

(LAKings.com)

On the other side of "gross," Brad Richardson had a great game notching a goal and an assist with a line mate who was equally having a great game in Dustin Brown. Speaking of, it definitely looked like Brownie was hurting after he scored his goal. Slamming into the boards when you're horizontal usually doesn't produce a good result, but he got up and was back on the ice as soon as he could. He had great chemistry with Richardson and I'm starting to see a glimpse of maybe why the Kings traded a second round pick to acquire the latter.

I'm glad Raitis Ivanans went at it with JF Jacques, but, man, a 2, 5, and 10? See ya later, Raitis. Hope that locker room keeps you company. Someone who actually stayed on the bench the entire game was Corey Elkins making his NHL debut. The consensus? He's a rookie kid. No one should be surprised by this non-revelation and I'm positive he'll be better in his next game. With having so many kids in the lineup, the shorthanded roster spread out the minutes with Matt Greene making a big showing with six registered hits and seemingly getting under the skin of Dustin Penner. Sheldon Souray and Ryan Potunly tied up the game with one goal each, but veteran Sean O'Donnell closed out the game with the winner from the point.

This current swing through Western Canada isn't breaking down doors; one win and one loss is decent and I'm content so far. The Kings were due for a loss and having it come against the Vancouver Canucks doesn't break my heart in the least bit. They always find a way to stick it to the Kings, so I'm fine with just moving along. They have one more game before this long Christmas break and I'm thinking that I should take a screen shot of the standings because you never know how long something like this can last.

Go Kings!

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A Flip-Flopping Good Time; Oilers 5, Kings 4 (SO)

The Kings are now in a 3-game losing streak, but it really doesn't feel like it. We still got a point last night but we had to take this crazy game to the shootout. The Edmonton Oilers scored three goals in the first period on 11 shots on Erik Ersberg and Jason LaBarbera came out for the next 40 minutes where he proceeded to let in only one goal on 30 shots. Pretty shocking but a familiar feeling (read: shot differential similar to last season). The Kings ended with 44 shots against, which is utterly ridiculous considering how they've been playing all season. The Oilers ended with 36 shots against them, which is normal for the Kings to do to their opposition, but this game was definitely back and forth.

The Oil dominated the first period whereupon Moose reassured me that his boys don't play a full 60 minutes whilst threatening a 12-year-old kid on the concourse. He turned out to be correct when the second period opened with the Kings blasting out the gates. Four goals and 20 minutes got the Kings up 4-3 with a full period left to play. Ridiculous. The openness of the game was a bit surprising as well, and there were some sweet individual moves and plays. I.E. Ales Hemsky doing about four toe-drags... in a row... like in the same possession.

(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Honestly, Gauts. Now is not the time, nor the place...

The prettiest goal had to have been be from Jarett Stoll. Right-shot on the right side gets the puck and wrists it up past Mathieu Garon's left shoulder. Sick. The most ridiculous save was by Barbs in the shootout. Actually, he had plently of surprising saves! It's amazing how plesently surprised you can be when you're not expecting anything from your goaltender. This isn't me being a jerk; I love Barbs. He's the most chill guy you'll ever meet, but I can't invest so much emotion in his play anymore. I've been hurt too many times. So, yes, his play was good besides some instances when he was out of position and the Oil would just miss the net completely.

Do you know who is a waste of space? John Zeiler. He played 4:23 and did absolutely nothing. We don't need two players who are going to play less than five minutes on the playing roster on the same night. Raitis Ivanans? You notice that monster of a man; he has a purpose. Zeiler? Waste. Of. Space.

So the Oil get a win under their belts as they head up to San Jose and try to play in the same sand box with the Sharks. Have fun up there, boys. My Kings play the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight and I forsee this being a bit easier than the Sharks.

Last thing: Read Tom Preissing's 5th post! Intelligent hockey players do exist! It's like finding a diamond in the rough.

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Mini-Rant – 3 - It's Like a Bad Car Accident, You Just Gotta Look

John Buccigross is a moron. This is a certifiable fact. After speaking at length to my friend over at Hockey Blog in Canada, Teebz, we’ve decided to take two different approaches to Bucci’s weekly articles at ESPN.com. He has gone the way of never reading anything by him again, and I have chosen to suffer through them just to illustrate to you why exactly he is a gigantic tool. In looking through his Mailbag from this week (on December 6) titled “Some advice for Ducks, Leafs, jersey buyers ... and drummer lovers,” there are some points I’d like to...discuss.

1) Josh from New York asks about what the thoughts are on re-sizing goaltender equipment, which he would have already known had he read any of the numerous opinions on that subject. He thought Bucci had the ultimate answer??? Whatever, here's the response.

I just think it's going to be hard to go backward in terms of protection, and my argument for net size is also based on the size of the goalie himself. Remember how big Phil Esposito looked on those big, bad Bruins teams? He was like 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds. Ilya Kovalchuk is 6-2 and 235. Roberto Luongo is 6-3 and 175. Twenty years from now, we will have a 6-4, 250-pound player as fast as Kovalchuk and a 6-6, 220-pound goalie who is bigger and faster than Luongo. Also, the quality of equipment for the skaters to block shots and the coaching to collapse on the goaltender also contributes to less net to shoot at.

Wait one damn second you ass-hat, can you imagine someone 6’6” trying to squat under the crossbar, not to mention that the goaltender is gaining extra inches from his skates and the padding on his rear? And if you think someone that’s 250 pounds is gonna out perform someone that’s 15 pounds leaner, you’re completely off your rocker. I don’t care that he said “in twenty years,” he’s still an imbecile. Did this guy ever play collegiate or professional sports? Don’t you know that carrying an extra 15 pounds while you’re trying to outwork the guy next to you is not ideal? I mean, why do you think the Oil is trying to get Penner to lose weight? The boy needs to slim down in order to compete with the players that are smaller (thus quicker) than him. 245 pounds is a lot to lug around.

And that’s a pretty shitty last sentence. Why don’t you check out how to put words together to create sentence flow.


2) Lauren from Oregon asks about Manny Legace’s recognition within the NHL. Now her question is legitimate; Legace rocked in one of my fantasy leagues a couple of years ago. But she probably could have asked her dog and gotten a better answer. Within his response are these sentences I have pasted here, which shouldn’t have ever been uttered because they’re so elementary in their logic.

His small-sample playoff record is not good. His save percentage has gone down in the playoffs. It has to go up. You have to get better in the playoffs, not worse; otherwise, you can't be among the NHL's elite.

Way to state the obvious, moron.


3) Most times when people say random things, I find them hilarious because they’re out of left field and catch me off guard. Bucci’s random thoughts just scare me. Philip from Minneapolis asks some questions with the third one being about rookies staying with veterans. This is Bucci’s response to that question.

Joe Thornton did the same thing when he was a rookie in Boston. Top-level hockey players are used to the "billet" family arrangement. It saves the young player from worrying about some issues he would have to take care of on his own as they try to play in the greatest hockey league in the world. Can you imagine making about $50,000 a paycheck at age 18 and living on your own in Chicago? Good gosh, I'd end up naked on a sail boat in Lake Michigan with a stack of pancakes, a harmonica and a 1989 Mad Magazine.

I honestly feel violated.

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Kings 3, Oilers 4

I'm not exactly mad at the outcome of this game. The Kings only get one point as they are snuffed on the shootout by Mathieu Garon. The Oilers grab two points and the Kings take home one. But let's hit the rewind button.

First period:
- Aubin is in net with Jonathan Quick as his backup. Aubin is up against Garon.
- On D, it looks like Crawford has changed those up as well. It's JJ with Blake, Vish with Klemm (now on D), and Modry with Stuart. Looks like Preissing is a scratch.
- Handzus - HIT
- Kings Goal - Kopi (12) throws up a nice wrister at 5:29. Brown finishes a pass to Kopi on the breakout but gets rocked and is taken out of the play. But he grabs an assist and so does Blake and Kopi is now tied with Cammy for goals on the team.
- Zeiler - HIT
- Ivanans - HIT
- Kings have a PP against Torres with a too many men penalty. The Kings got some good opportunities but only get one shot registered.
- Click to the Pat/Ravens game. The Pats are down in the 4th; are the Ravens going to hand them their first loss of the season?
- Klemm gets a holding penalty. The Kings killed it but not well. They weren't able to clear it so the Oilers were able to get some solid shots on Aubin.
- Kopi gets a delay of game penalty.
- Zeiler is clearly making his presence known by being able to be the nagging pest under the oppositions' skin.

End of 1st:
- Interview with Patrick O'Neal and Kopi. Ultimately he doesn't say anything the fans don't already know. The Kings have to play a full 60 minutes. No surprises there.
- Shots on goal: Edmonton gets 9 to Kings 6.

Second Period:
- Don't get to watch until 4 minutes in. Quickly see that Edmonton has scored and that Ivanans took a penalty.
- Tom Brady throws a clutch pass and the Pats are up 26-24.
- Back to the Kings, JJ took the puck all the way into the Oiler zone and to the net but gets pushed off and denied. Nice effort though.
- Ravens' Scott (57) is acting like a freaking baby! The Ravens lose 35 yards because of him. haha! Oh!! Is he crying????
- God! This is the longest 44 seconds of my life! And yes, I don't have control over the remote.
- Back to the game to see a slo-mo replay of Penner's PP goal, which I deem as LAME. Oil up 2-1.
- Oilers get a penalty, The Pats win, and Kraft is happy.
- Kings Goal - Brownie nets it (11) with assist to Cammy and Kopi. A familiar sight. Hear that, KingsCast? The DAM Line actually put up some points.
- Ratti loses his stick but Blake gets involved in the fray and smashes an Oiler down.
- Nagy becomes visible and makes a quick pass to Stuart but is denied!! Garon!! Argh!
- Oiler Goal - Thoresen scores on a redirect due to a sloppy play by the Kings.
- Cammy - HIT
- Kopi - HIT
- Brownie - HIT on open ice.
- Kopi gets a shot off at the buzzer and gets a nice opportunity. No goal, but I like the effort to the end.

End of the 2nd:
- Kings have 13 shots on to the Oilers 10
- The Kings have 13 scoring chances to the Oilers 7, which is good to hear.
- I thought Blake was very involved near the end of this period. He was getting in the scuffles and moving his body around.
- Stat - Brownie leads the league in hits with 100. (He gets 10 from this game, so ends tonight with 110 hits total.)

Third Period:
- Nagy - He hasn't been visible, which is nothing new. But hey! He makes an appearance by taking a holding penalty! Fantastic.
- Brown - Fox mentioned a possible team MVP. I completely agree with this because I think he's shown a ton of consistency from the start of this season. When Cammy and Kopi haven't been able to produce, you could always count on Brown to step it up and take it to the net.
- Zeiler - HIT
- Brownie - HIT knocking the helmet off Pitkanen (and that's a pretty terrible picture)
- 10:54 left - Energy is still high and the Kings are laying on the pressure.
- Oh my lord, Zeiler almost got a goal. hahaha
- The Kings are throwing their weight around but can't get anything out of it.
- 7:30 to go - random thought: How much ice time has Gabe Gauthier gotten this game? I haven't heard his name since the first period. What the f. (and his picture is pretty terrible too) Hmm...it looks like he logged in 7:14 in ice time over 11 shifts.
- 5:56 to go - How did that rush not get converted into a goal???
- Stuart hits Penner and then Penner comes back around and checks Stuart. Conclusion: Penner is quite a large boy. Wasn't he supposed to be losing weight?
- 3:10 left - Kopi makes a beautiful pass...to no one. Damn!
- 2:00 left - This isn't looking good. The Kings are down 3-2 and they can't get anything past Garon.
- 1:28 left - BLAKE TAKES IT TO THE NET!!! Omg, I think I felt a small tear trickle down my cheek.
- Upon review the goal is given to Nagy with an assist to Blake at 18:32.

End of 3rd:
- Kings outshoot Oilers 31-21. What I really liked was that the Kings got 12 shots on and held the Oilers to 2.
- I'm impressed with the Kings' play through the whole 60 minutes thus achieving their goal. You can't deny their efforts.

OT:
- Sully hits the post
- Brownie straight up pushed Staios to the ice. Was he even paying attention? That knock down seemed way too easy.
- Vish makes a good showing in the five minutes of OT.
- Garon is a beast for these five minutes. Geez.
- Brownie shows off some ridiculous moves!!

End of OT:
- WOW! Hey guys! The Kings decided to show up and try to make something happen in OT!
- Interestingly, the Oilers are 6-0 in shootouts. Ok, how can the worst team in the NHL have the best shootout stat? Stuff like that baffles me.

Shootout:
- For the Kings, no surprises with Cammy, Brownie, and Kopi taking the shots.
- For the Oilers, it's Gagner, Nilssen, and Horcoff.
- First round: Cammy hits the crossbar and it's a no goal call and Gagner scores
- Second round: Brownie shoots wide and Nilssen is stopped
- Third round: Anze is denied by Garon's right leg pad and Horcoff doesn't need to take the shot

End of game:
- Edmonton wins 4-3 and takes home two points. The Kings get one point.
- So when was the last time Cammy, Anze, and Brown ALL got denied in the shootout???
- I can't be too sad with this ending even though it was a loss. The effort was drastically different from Saturday's game, so you can't beat them down for that.

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Hidden Gems - 6

These notable quotes were found in Phil Coffey's "More quotes than you can shake a stick at" on NHL.com. Here are my three favorite from his selection.

1) “I guess I had a large behind when I got there. That was Kris Draper’s funny joke. First it was ‘Big Swede,’ then ‘Big Ass,’ then ‘Bubble Butt,’ then ‘Bubba.’ Now, most of the guys just call me ‘Bubs.’ That’s the evolution of the whole thing. It’s stuck for 12 years.”
-- Flames defenseman Anders Eriksson on the origin of his nickname, “Bubs.” Could have been worse; Draper could have called him “Stinky.”

This is pretty much self-explanatory.

2) “Two things with Dustin ... he has to continue with the conditioning and be intense. He has to get himself at a weight where he’s comfortable going up and down the ice. At times he looks incredibly fast and powerful, but at other times ... all I’ll say is Dustin has been very receptive to what we’re asking him.”
-- Oilers coach Craig MacTavish on Dustin Penner.

Finny – haha I was RIGHT! His ass DOES look big in those pants! I think they’re trying to slim your boy down. But, seriously, he DOES have quite a bit of junk in the trunk.

3) "That's the reason why I'm here. He brought me to this country and drafted me No. 1. When he's behind the bench, it's a little bit special for me."
-- Thrashers winger Ilya Kovalchuk is more than a little loyal to Atlanta GM/coach Don Waddell.

Umm…ok... It’s because he’s foreign, isn’t it. If you haven't clicked on Kovalchuk's link yet, do it now. You won't regret it. That's a promise.

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