Good Times: Kings 6, Coyotes 1

I was pretty unexcited to watch this game against the Phoenix Coyotes, but I was glad I was watching this game rather than the contest between the Tampa Bay Lightening and New York Islanders. This win definitely renewed some hope that the Kings aren't completely sucking balls. Both Alexander Frolov and Brian Boyle had two-goal nights with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams getting one each. I must say, Boyle had a very productive night: 11:11 of TOI, 2 goals, was a +2, and received a double minor. Frolov was just in the right place and the right times, I heart him.

This game saw a lot of interesting penalties. Out of the 21 total, here are three noteworthy instances:

• Matching cross checking penalties (Michal Handzus and Zbynek Michalek). With the scuffle drawing the whistle, I was surprised that cross checking penalties were called. Weird.
  
• Matching double minor roughing penalties (Shane Doan and Brian Boyle). Just some good ole punching each other in the face.
  
• The one that was the most questionable was the altercation involving Denis Gauthier and Scottie Upshall. Gauthier put Upshall into the boards and Gauts received a boarding penalty while Upshall got a slashing penalty. I haven't seen commentary on the hit, but I really didn't think a boarding call was warranted. So following the hit, a Coyote player started to jaw at Gauthier so obviously Gauts was going to defend himself. Lo and behold, Gauthier threw his stick to the ice and took off his helmet and the Coyote player skated away.

WHAT. A. PUNK.

Really? You're just gonna walk away like that? Honestly, when both teams aren't playing for playoffs spots and your team is down 6-1, you should just be a man and throw down. That was a chicken move and he heard it from the crowd. Gauthier ended up receiving a 5-minute unsportsmanlike penalty and a 10-minute misconduct on top of the 2 minutes for boarding. Weak sauce. So the Kings have four games left with three on the road in Western Canada and the last home game of the season against the San Jose Sharks.

Wooo...

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R.I.P.: Coyotes 2, Kings 1

Well with five games left in the 2008-09 season, the Kings are finished and all I can say is, "It's about time." They've been floundering their existences away by playing in games they knew they didn't have the stamina to win. I'm not exactly able to pin point at exactly when the season was basically over, but I can guesstimate. In my own opinion, the season was toast around the time the Kings played the Boston Bruins. It was the beginning of a long roadtrip and the toll they took from the season didn't help at all. I guess one could question whether or not fitness actually played a role in their downfall. Ron Wilson said he was surprised at how not in shape the Toronto Maple Leafs were when he joined the team last summer. I figure if it could happen there, there's no reason why it couldn't happen in LA.

The fact that players are out with injuries (Alexander Frolov, Jarret Stoll) or fixing injuries (Kyle Quincey) and that management has brought in players (John Zeiler, Oscar Moller, Brian Boyle) to form a hodge podge roster every game isn't very faith-inducing. I don't even know who's playing center or left wing on any given line anymore. The hockey is terrible and it's not like they're playing opponents who are playing great hockey themselves. I'm not that excited to go to the Kings home game tomorrow but it's the second to last game at Staples Center and I'll make a half-assed attempt to milk it for all it's worth. I'm trying to think of an opponent that is more unexciting than the Phoenix Coyotes, but I really can't. It's bad enough that the Kings played them yesterday, but to have to play a home-and-home is wack. (My apologies to any Coyotes fan who has found his or her way over here.) Perhaps I'll have the desire to write something more on the game tomorrow, but this is all I got today.

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36%: Predators 4, Kings 3 (OT)

Newsworthy tidbits from this game:

• Matt Greene scored his second goal of the season.
• Jack Johnson scored with a little over one minute to go in the game.
• The Kings need Jarret Stoll back. In this first game without Stoll they were 36% in the faceoff circle.

36% IN THE FACEOFF CIRCLE!!!!!!

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Better Than Nothing: Kings 1, Stars 0 (SO)

So I was pretty much unimpressed with this outing against the Dallas Stars. It was a boring first two periods with the Kings getting only 3 shots on net in the first period! BORING. The offense was no where to be found for the longest time and Jonathan Quick once again stood on his head to keep the Kings in the game. By the end of the game they had gotten their act together (a little bit) and kept the Stars to 29 shots (thereabouts) and they had 30 shots themselves. The hits were virtually even as well that came with some casualties.

Raitis Ivanans nudged Trevor Daley into the boards and Jarret Stoll left the ice after a hit involving his knee. Kyrs Barch tried to pick a fight with Ivanans and left the game as well. I'm not sure what the status of Stoll is, but I'm hoping that it won't take him out for the rest of the season. That would hit the Kings roster pretty hard since Alexander Frolov is already out and Patrick O'Sullivan was shipped off to Edmonton.

(AP)

Looks like good times

The game eventually ended with little fanfare and I was starting to fall asleep, but the overtime frame woke me up when the Kings decided to wake up too. The pièce de résistance was the shootout. It only took three rounds to end the game and Anze Kopitar was FINALLY in the lineup to take the shot; it feels like he hasn't been in there this whole season. His shot looked very similar to his move last season against the Minnesota Wild where he went one way and his stick and puck went the other. Go Kopi!

Jack Johnson was unimpressive with his low shot, but Justin Williams finally did something. He went five-hole on Marty Turco and it looked like we were going to a 4th round until Turco ended the game. Instead of stopping himself after he held the puck between his legs he slowly slid into the net and his whole body crossed over the goal line. The goal went to review and the game was over.

(AP)

Thanks Turco!

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Sofa King: Blues 2, Kings 0

According to Bob Miller and Jim Fox the Kings set the record for the most shutouts in a season last night. That's... really not something to be proud of. The Kings faced the St. Louis Blues and were shutout 2-0. Once again Jonathan Quick made some fantastic saves while the Kings offensive players came up with nothing. There hasn't really been any offensive showing or upside from any player lately except for maybe Jarret Stoll and Drew Doughty.

Speaking of the offense, the roster moves have been interesting as of late.

• Why was Teddy Purcell benched in the previous game? He's been getting chances and taking shots on the power play when others haven't.
• Why has Oscar Moller been scratched here and there? Injurying flaring up?
• How long has Alexander Frolov been playing with his injury (whatever that may be)?
• Why was Kevin Westgarth in the line up? He was basically useless.

There are about 10 games left and I'm just hoping the Kings don't crash land to 15th place in the West, but I actually don't see them ending in 14th as much of a stretch since the Blues have picked themselves back up and are in contention for a playoff spot. I just don't understand why the Kings can't have a season where they're magically contending for the 8th spot in the last month of the season. So what if they end up playing Detroit or San Jose, at least they wouldn't be in the basement. Still, it's a miracle in itself that they're not in Colorado's position. But I can't do an introspective while the Kings are still playing games. That being said, look for one once the post season comes around.

So the game against the Blues; it was looking like the Kings were going to come out the victors. They were dominating the Blues on their power plays; even when they were on the PK, they were forechecking like crazy. It honestly looked like they were going to eventually score to get the go-ahead goal so that I could sit back and relax. But it's just too bad that Chris Mason was a stonewall. He stopped all 22 shots and handed the Kings their pathetic new record. The Blues' Patrik Berglund scored both their goals and that was it. I'm always thinking that the Kings should just crash the net when they need a goal. They'd get more goals and learn to be more aggressive around the front of the net. They were looking for the pretty shots last night while Berglund's second goal was a scramble. Matt Greene played goal for a few seconds while Quick was forced out of position by all the bodies in front of the net. The result? A poke of the stick on a loose puck and the Blues were up by two goals.

That's all I got.

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A Poor Outing: Blackhawks 4, Kings 1

The Kings just can't catch a break. Two empty netters from the Chicago Blackhawks in the last 1:10 of the game doesn't do anything for the Kings' confidence. The game was 2-0 for the longest time with goals from Patrick Sharp and Martin Havlat. The Hawks definitely had more defensive spark compared to the Kings, but it also helped in that the Kings took a total of 8 penalties, which included a 10-minute misconduct by Davis Drewiske. From the looks of the situation, Drew Doughty was taken down in front of the Kings bench and Drewiske was yapping away to draw the penalty.

The poorest stat from this game was that the Kings only had 15 shots in the entire game, which wasn't surprising at all considering the way the first and second period were panning out. They had 5 shots on net in each period, the Blackhawks ended with 32 shots, and I just wasn't impressed with anything in this game. Things finally picked up when Doughty scored on the PP at 16:54, but nothing else happened for my boys.

Good: Kings scoring on the power play.
Bad: Needing a power play in order to score.

The empty netters were soul deflating for me. With a little over a minute remaining, the Kings pull Jonathan Quick and Sharp inadvertently got his second goal of the game when he cleared the puck from his zone, which would have been whistled for an icing. The crappy part was that it actually hit the post of the Kings' net and bounced to the other post and went in. Heartbreak. To make it worse, less than a minute later Havlat got a breakaway on the still empty net and that was all she wrote. The Kings are toast at 70 points and the Blackhawks gained two more points to stay in fourth place in the standings.

In going back to the Evgeni Malkin hit on Wayne Simmonds, as predicted Malkin was not suspended. Instead he received a slap on the wrist and was fined. I just love how people are so caught up in whether the hit was legal or illegal. That's not the fucking point, you nut jobs. To reiterate, the point is that the brunt of the hit was on Simmonds' head. There's no arguing that. But whatever, everyone has a hard-on for Malkin and the fine was clearly just chump change for him. The Penguins played on NBC this morning and both they and the NHL are happy.

On that same note in the Edmonton Oilers game versus the Chicago Blackhawks on the same night (Friday, March 20), Ben Eager shoved some of his body weight into Oilers' Liam Reddox head. Reddox went down and Eager was suspended for 3 games. Thanks for keeping it consistent and fair, NHL.

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Unnecessary Hit; Penguins 4, Kings 1

With just a few seconds left in a game that you're winning, is it really necessary to take a shot to someone's head? Well, Evgeni Malkin thought it was. He gave the cold shoulder to Wayne Simmonds and the whistle blew to end the game. I'm not even upset about the loss. Who gives a shit when someone's head is involved? Who cares if it's the league superstar hitting a rookie's head? In this case, every single Kings fan whereas every Pittsburgh fan probably cheered the hit. But let's talk about questionable acts of unsportsmanlike conduct from the past few days (of which I'm only discussing two because I'm feeling a bit lazy).

(1) Alexander Ovechkin's celebration after he scored his 50th goal of the season. I've read many reactions both for and against. I'm on the fence since he is who he is. He loves to celebrate his teammates' goals as well as his own, but this definitely involved a bit of showboating. He received a talking to by Bruce Boudreau and everyone moves on. Don Cherry's going to have a field day with this one.

(2) Penguins' Malkin laying a hit on Kings' Simmonds with just a few seconds left in a game that the Penguins were going to win. As with Ovechkin, there have been many comments going around about this hit both for and against. Comments like "Get your head up, rookie!" But wait a second, did this person not see that all Simmonds was trying to do was poke the puck away from Malkin? He wasn't going to him to with the intention of hitting him.

Earlier in the game he and Jack Johnson toughed it out in front of the Kings net for a good chunk of time where both players received 2-minutes for roughing. This altercation is a part of the game, but anyone who says that hitting someone else in the head is "a part of hockey" has never had someone on their own team taken a hit to the head. It's not about being an objective observer of every team when you have your specific team that you love; it's about the passion that every single fan brings to the NHL, which is why there will always be cheers and jeers in every situation.

(AP/Joe Sargent)

With Jack severely outweighing Malkin (225 to 195).

In the end, there are going to be comments all over the place with a questionable play such as this one from fans from every region across the US and Canada. But the plain facts are that (1) Simmonds' head was down in going for the poke check while (2) Malkin was defending himself by bracing for some kind of hit that was never going to come. In the end his shoulder goes straight into Simmonds' head. I think the argument of whether he was hit with the shoulder or elbow (legal or illegal) is not the point. The point is that the brunt of the hit was into Simmonds' head.

Malkin is subject to a disciplinary phone call where the resulting decision is to be announced tomorrow. Am I excepting a suspension? Hell no, who has the guts to suspend Malkin? Every situation is unique but I'm not expecting a fair trial here. Everyone has a hard-on for Malkin and the Penguins, so why should anyone care about Simmonds? I'm not saying I don't think the guy deserves punishment; I definitely think he deserves some sort of supplemental discipline. I just don't think the NHL is going to do anything about it considering who both players are.

(AP/Joe Sargent)

Oh yeah, the game. Just some quick notes on an unimpressive outing:

• It was Justin Williams' first game in a Kings sweater so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for this game since the entire team wasn't looking too hot. He had 13:36 minutes on the ice and one shot on net. He also had one recorded giveaway, but it definitely seemed to have happened more than just once.
  
• Alexander Frolov was allowed out of the doghouse, but is still chained to it. He had 17 minutes with one shot and one hit.
  
• They're definitely not ready for post-season play. The fact that it took a 5-on-3 to get a goal through all the traffic wasn't impressive. Impressive was the Penguins' penalty kill units. Aggressive and quick. They took 11 total penalties (with one as a 10-minute misconduct and others resulting in 4-on-4 play) but they were successful killing virtually all of them.
  
• The Kings finally got themselves over 50% in the faceoff circle. They won 60% while the Penguins went just 40%.
• Dustin Brown made a good showing with 7 hits and 6 shots on net.

(x-posted to HLOG)

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Never Would Have Guessed: Kings 3, Bruins 2 (OT)

Let's just hypothetically say the Kings somehow make the playoffs. You know how they'd do? Bounced in the first round, no doubt. Maybe they'd win a game or two, but it's clear they're not ready to be in the playoffs this season. Saying that, I'm still not completely counting them out. For some reason, I just can't for probably another week. This road trip that sees the Kings in Pittsburgh tonight, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and Nashville is the make or break point. The reason I say they'd be out in the first round is that the past two games made it perfectly clear they're not ready. Two games ago, they played the Nashville Predators (a bubble team in the West) and they couldn't pull out the win. Last night they played the Boston Bruins where they were up and down and all over the place in terms of passing, shooting, and teamwork in general. They managed to get the win in overtime (3-2), but wow, it was a shaky game for the Kings.

Amazingly enough the Kings had 38 shots on net while the Bruins only had 26. I don't know how; I watched the entire game and the flow felt like the Bruins had control of the first period and almost entire second period. Both of their goals happened in the blink of an eye. Combine the Kings being out of position and the Bruins landing passes and you get two goals against. I was also surprised that the Kings were able to keep up with the Bruins in the hits column getting 28 and 27, respectively. Also surprisingly, Dustin Brown only had one hit, but he had the game winner in over time, which had me jumping out of my chair, as per usual. Another seat-jumping goal was from Drew Doughty. He made an aggressive move toward the front of the net after leading the charge into the Bruins' zone and the puck found the back of the net off of his stick. It was a great effort and finish to regulation. I honestly thought the game was over with 5 minutes left, but with less than two minutes to go was when Doughty scored (and where my faith was renewed).

(AP/Michael Dwyer)

What's going on here?

Going back to the bottom of the roster, I thought Raitis Ivanans got an unusual amount of minutes (9:26) but then the guy takes two penalties back-to-back! What's up with that? Once again Kevin Westgarth isn't doing anything. And I realized that there's someone on the team who is a worse skater than Westgarth! Denis Gauthier! He's a horrible skater. He looks like he has lead in his skates with each stride; I'm not sure why it was so apparent last night as opposed to every other game this season, but he's slow and lumbering. Waive him and get him to Manchester.

Alexander Frolov was in the doghouse for this game getting only 12:01 of ice time and ending the night at a -2. Definitely a bit harsh and it's hard to do well when you're on the 4th line, but you can't question the coach. Perhaps Fro will be back in the low 20 minutes for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In either case, I'm not worried about him. He's got the most goals on the team and the expectations are pretty high for him. Go Fro!

I used to go into games having a feeling in my gut of whether the Kings were going to win or lose, but I've been unsure for the past two weeks or so, which is how I'm going to be for the rest of the season. I'm not shutting the season down just yet, give me a week... or so... and I'll let you know where I stand...

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Are We Done?: Predators 4, Kings 3

As with any game against the Nashville Predators, it’s always an unpredictable outcome. I can hardly even venture a guess, and this game proved that (1) the Preds are better than the Kings at finishing games, and (2) the Kings are probably done for the season. I think I’ve been the last blogger to hold on to the silly notion that the Kings COULD pull something miraculous in order to get into the playoffs. I mean, it’s not completely unfeasible; there are 13 games left and they’re 5 or so points out. But in reality they’d have to also jump over the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, and/or Nashville Predators. By the math, it’s possible, but in reality, it’s probably not going to happen.

Once again the Kings didn’t play horribly last night against the Preds; rather, the trend continued and they couldn’t finish, which has now caused them to drop three straight games. I don’t have too much to say on last night’s game because it looked like their previous games where they’ve come out with fight and grit but haven’t been able to close it out with a win. Erik Ersberg definitely let in a soft goal to tie it up 3-3 with the Preds' go-ahead goal then going in with less than three minutes to go in regulation. Those goals at the very end of games are the killers. There's no other way to look at them. Even though the Kings had a power play opportunity for the last two minutes, they weren't able to convert and the Preds snagged the two points, which allowed them to hop over the Oilers. Sorry Moose!

Thursday begins the road to the end of the season with a six-game road trip that starts with a back-to-back in Boston and Pittsburgh. At this point every game is a toss up, but I’m going to give this next game to Boston.

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Fantastic Goaltending: Sharks 2, Kings 1 (SO)

After 65 minutes of battling and 7 rounds in the shootout, the Kings were only able to scrap one point from last night's game against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings definitely played better last night than they did against the Vancouver Canucks two nights ago, and Erik Ersberg did not disappoint as he faced 39 shots in all four frames. I was happy to see them working hard to try and get every opportunity going their way.

One particular play that had me spewing profanities at the TV was when Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar had a 2-0 break after Joe Thornton broke his stick. The two had no one near them and neither took charge to get the shot off. Brownie overskated it and passed to Kopi who ALSO overskated. Unbelievable. To flounder a chance in a game where every single one matters absolutely kills the momentum that you're trying to create. The camera shot of the two players on the bench showed frustration and more frustration. Let's prevent that from happening next time, mmkay? I know it's a split second decision, but one of you just take the freaking shot.

With just 41 seconds into the second period, Wayne Simmonds scored off a rebound on Evgeni Nabokov after some solid passing by all Kings players with Alexander Frolov and Michael Handzus digging in. But the amount of overall penalties taken by the Kings was a bit shocking and I'm wondering if it was sheer desperation in the particular shifts to try and keep up with the Sharks. The Kings took 9 total penalties with one being a fighting major to Raitis Ivanans going against Brad Staubitz (whose name rings no bells for me). In the end, give it to Ivanans. Also golf clap to the entire Kings bench for killing all 8 penalties that saw them a man down.

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

After 60 minutes of uptempo play and 5 minutes of overtime, the teams went to the shootout. I know I shouldn't have been happy with the fact that the Kings were only able to get one point, but hey, it's better than nothing. The seven rounds of the shootout were the crowning moment to this feisty game. The longest the Kings have gone before was 6 rounds in the 07-08 season against the Anaheim Ducks. So the Kings put out Kopitar, Jack Johnson, and Brown as the shooters with only Jack scoring, but they weren't lacking any shooters for all the rounds, but I did question Handzus' presence at the line over Teddy Purcell. I mean, AHL Rookie of the Year versus a solid shutdown centerman? I'm not bagging on anyone here, especially since neither player scored. In the end Jonathan Cheechoo scored the game winner and the Sharks got their points.

It appears that the Kings just can't budge from the 13th spot in the West. The St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks both sit at 70 points and the Minnesota Wild are right ahead at 72. The Kings could feasibly get back up there. If they keep playing the way they did last night, this season will definitely end 100 times better than a year ago.

Go Kings!

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Sweetness; Kings 3, Vancouver 2

The Kings faced the Vancouver Canucks last night in a pretty damned important game. The Canucks are sitting in 5th place in the Western Conference while the Kings are in 13th and still out by just a bit. This game brought them up two points and (as of today) are sitting just three points out of the 8th spot.

This game started out and continued to be a solid game for the Kings, not to mention exciting; that is, until the Canucks scored their first goal, which was just about the time Denis Gauthier thought it convenient to take a penalty on the next shift. Someone get that guy some glasses or something. So Matt Greene. He's pretty studly, I must say. But not in the "I think he's smoking hot" type of way; I mean more of the "you just blocked that puck with your goddamned face!!!!" And Jarret Stoll. What a game! He was in all the right places. For instance, his first goal was on the PP and Teddy Purcell found the open seam and Stolli snuck right up to slam home the perfect pass. After another goal, Stolli was named First Star of the game. AND RIGHTLY SO.

Jason LaBarbera was sitting on the bench for this game but Roberto Luongo wasn't looking that great. The first two Kings goals came within the first 10 shots of the game and, actually, both teams only had 22 shots on net. For being an exciting game with a lot of fast-moving flow, the shots on and against were definitely lower than usual. Anyway, just a short game recap for your reading pleasure.

(AP/Noah Graham)

Hey, buddy. We miss you.. I mean, ... I miss you...

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Not Terrible: Sharks 4, Kings 2

On the back half of this quick road trip the Kings went into the Shark Tank where the Sharks have been non-stop road-team killers. Obviously I’m not surprised that the Kings didn’t win, but they weren’t completely outworked either. They put 32 shots on Evgeni Nabokov and thankfully held the Sharks to 40. Yes, that is a lot compared to what the Kings had been letting on their own goaltender, but given the circumstances, it wasn’t too shabby. The game ended with the Sharks winning 4-2 and I’m kinda glad it wasn’t a blowout even though I was expecting a dog fight til the end.

This game was televised on Center Ice since FSN decided it wasn’t important enough to carry, you know, they're just a divisional rival that is in the top tier of the league. So I got to watch the San Jose feed with Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda who I actually really like. After living in northern California for a number of years, I got used to their banter and chemistry and they’re definitely not homers when it comes to the Sharks. My favorite line from Randy Hahn was, “…and the puck hit Derek Armstrong on the butt,” but the snickering from Drew Remenda after a three-second pause made it that much funnier.

The majority of the game was pretty even and I’m happy that the Kings were able to hang on as long as they were able to, but they’re gonna have to start bearing down a bit more to make sure they’re getting to the end of games without scrambling for a goal or two. If they could just start games with the same energy they have at the end of games, fans could most likely watch these contests without fear of the inevitable semi-meltdown that arrives in the third period.

Once again Denis Gauthier displays his penchant for playing the opposing player’s head instead of his body. Dude, you’re not supposed to ram a guy’s head into the glass! Okay, that’s “the type of game” you play, but can you just open your eyes a bit and think about what might happen if you smash that guy’s nose into the boards? Anyway, he received a double minor for boarding and roughing, which I was fine with. But two penalties I was not okay with were the high-sticking call on Jarret Stoll (because it wasn’t even his stick that hit Mike Grier in the face) and the interference call on Erik Ersberg. Example of why Drew Remenda isn’t a homer like Gayward is: he called this penalty “a gutsy move” on the ref’s part. Retrospectively, I guess it could have gone either way, but it wasn’t like Ersberg purposefully went after the Sharks player.

Rob Blake love: So it turns out Blake isn’t a fuddy duddy. His contributions on the blueline are pretty substantial with the Sharks and is getting ample time on the power play. His cannon of a shot hasn’t diminished at all and I’m pretty happy that he’s earning his paycheck up in San Jose.

Ending note: For your listening pleasure, James Gralin of Jerseys and Hockey Love interviewed me on his west coast swing along with Jibblescribbits and PJ Swenson on the Rink Podcast. I’m the first of three interviewees so I hope you enjoy!

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Back At It: Flames 2, Kings 0

I think the Kings should move to the Eastern Conference because it's clear that they'd make the playoffs every single year if they were in the east. The Kings returned to Staples Center after a very successful roadtrip only to find that (surprise, surprise) the West smashes the East in terms of competition and quality of life (I like being warm). Not only did the Calgary Flames shut out my team, Michael Cammalleri got the first goal of the game and his 29th of the season. I won't lie; I booed. How in the hell did he only score 19 all last season. Yeah, he was out with that stupid rib injury; excuses excuses, Cammy.

The Kings threw the normal number of shots on with a bunch of ridiculous chances, but nothing happened on the scoreboard. It was definitely frustrating to watch especially because the puck spent the majority of the game in the offensive zone. One thing I liked was that Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty got more than a minute to play with each other 5-on-5. Those two are so skilled that I'm hoping they don't create a top-heavy defensive core, and I only say that because Kyle Quincey's play has been dropping as of late in that he's taking more penalties because his temper seems to get the better of him more often than not.

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions because this was their first game back from being on the east coast for a week and a half. We'll let the next two home games just play themselves out.

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What a Road Trip: Kings 3, Devils 1

This Kings continued their east coast swing today and played their fourth game of a five-game road trip. They hadn't played well the last two meetings against the New Jersey Devils, but tonight turned out to be quite different. I think the biggest shock was when the Kings started out the first two shifts hustling their tails off in the offensive zone. I can't remember the last time where the Kings were in the opposition's zone to start off a game. They weren't in there for just one shift, but two! I had a feeling that the game would turn out to be a good one and they didn't disappoint. Jarret Stoll and Anze Kopitar got on the scoreboard and Patrick O'Sullivan followed through on his penalty shot. Overall, I didn't really have any complaints with this game (and I can't say that often). The forwards have really been stepping it up and getting pucks past goalies. They were a lot more controlled in that department tonight than they were in the last game against the Washington Capitals. The Devils only got 26 shots on Quick and the Kings put 32 on Scott Clemmensen.

Once again, Jonathan Quick has been quietly impressive in net. He's been making solid saves and, at the same time, been making the big impressive saves. He's stopping pucks that Jason LaBarbera just couldn't seem to ever stop, which automatically means that Quick isn't on anyone's hit list in the Los Angeles area. He's smart and shifty and I like it.

(Getty Images/Jim McIssac)

Yeah Quick!

This game gives the Kings 53 points and places them in 11th place in the Western Conference. The crazy thing is that they're two points out of the 8th seed since the 6th seed all the way to the 13th seed are separated by just five points! I'm not ringing any playoff bells just yet. I don't want that to be focus right now; the Kings need to work on their consistency within individual games. BUT if they come out and play the way they did tonight against the Devils on a more consistent basis, I wouldn't be surprised if they made a solid run at a playoff spot. It's not entirely out of the question, but they could easily crumble, which wouldn't be surprising. I'd definitely be pissed if they started going downhill, but I wouldn't be surprised.

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Hot Damn: Kings 5, Capitals 4

Breakneck speed with aggressive forecheck. That's the type of game the Washington Capitals came out and played last night. And man, talk about exciting. The Caps and Kings battled it out at the Verizon Center with the latter as the victors with all the spoils in the end. I can't really say that the Kings couldn't keep up with the Caps, because they clearly could; rather, the Kings were playing another style of game to where they couldn't get the last 20 minutes to look like the first 40. After Alexander Semin scored only 15 seconds in, the Kings played like gangbusters and scored the next three goals.


I'm not exactly sure what the style-of-play identity is for the Kings. Are they a team that is slow and methodical or are they a group that adapts to whatever style of play the other team brings? I'm not 100% sold either way; I've seen the Kings play well both ways but also play horribly as well. Sometimes they play well and shittily at the same time, but that's beside the point. I'd like to have a solid identity instead of having to think every other week, "Hey guys, can you stop playing like you're in a mini-mite league?" Maybe the team's identity is being consistently inconsistent. I remember thinking that a lot last season.

I know I'm talking like the Kings did poorly last night; the true is, they didn't. The forwards were grinding it out, the defensemen were (at times) chasing the Caps forwards around, and Jonathan Quick was a stud. Absolute stud once again. The Kings let an uncharacteristic 45 shots against, but that wasn't due to them leaving their goalie out to dry. I mean, c'mon, it's the Caps. When that much firepower is looking straight at you with some pretty solid passing, I'm just glad that only four pucks got past Quick. On the other end, Jose Theodore looked terrible. What was the deal? He looked unprepared to play any team last night and completely out of position. After Anze Kopitar's second goal, he kind of stumbled backward and had to hold on to the crossbar to keep his balance. I have no idea what was going on, but I'm not going to fret over it.

One last thing: the fact that Alexander Ovechkin plays nearly all two minutes of a Caps PP is insane to me. Yeah, he's then potentially potent for a full two minutes, but at the same time he looks lacksidasical when the puck isn't near him and only springs alive when he knows the puck is going to come his way. Is that really the best way to go about it or should I just let it go because it's Ovechkin? Oh well, the only thing that matters is that the Kings came out with the two points. They've been doing well on the road, so I'm hoping that the "consistently inconsistent" thing doesn't come back on Saturday against the Devils.

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Bored To Tears: Kings 1, Senators 0

The Kings played the Ottawa Senators where they won 1-0 in a shutout victory. Seriously, thank god the Kings won because I would have been pissed if I was subjected to watching this game end up in a loss to the Senators. I'm not exactly sure if I'm shocked or not over how the Kings played tonight. Yeah, they came out with the win, but their team effort was seriously unimpressive. The Kings and the Sens spent much of the game missing passes and stealing pucks and creating turnovers and being plain sloppy. I'm definitely glad the Kings got the two points because the Kings needed them and the Senators really just need to realize that it's not the coach that's the problem. You fire the guy and lose the next game, THAT'S something that doesn't surprise me.

What was a bit interesting was the fact that either team got as many shots as they did on the respective goalies. 26 for the Kings and 29 for the Senators. My god, even as I write this recap, I am bored. To. Tears.

But I AM thankful that I was able to watch this on my lovely Center Ice. Seeing the Kings on the ice with the Senators was a very different image but their styles of play were melting into each other in that it looked pretty awful. One good thing was that Jonathan Quick got a shutout by making save after save on weak shots and feeble attempts at the goal. I don't think I've seen a team have as many close calls like the Senators did with nothing to show for it. They got pucks so close to Quick with no defenders to help that, of course, I was expecting them to score. Alas, the Sens can't even score with nothing but Quick and air between them and the mesh backing of the goal. Consequently, when they failed to score, I laughed. The game was a bit ridiculous overall.

Hands down, the worst call was a tripping penalty against Drew Doughty in the second half of the second period. He had to chase down a Sen and as he was going stride-for-stride, Doughty took the inside lane to the goal mouth, did his usual splay in front of the net, and swung his stick around to hit the puck off the Sens' stick. He was successful but apparently his elbow caught the guy's foot a split second before his stick made contact with the puck. Maybe it's because I've seen Doughty do this move successfully many times that I got pissed when he was assessed a penalty! It looked clean! Wait a second, that's right, I'm biased.

Denis Gauthier was assessed a five-game suspension by the NHL for his hit on Josh Gorges of the Montreal Canadiens during Saturday's game. As a result, the Kings called up Davis Drewiske from the Manchester Monarchs. C'mon guys, was it too expensive to get Tom Preissing on a plane and out to the east coast? Really? You're gonna do that to him? Drewiske was nothing to write home about, but, then again, neither is Gauthier, so I guess it basically evened out in the end.

So Michael Handzus got the lone goal of the game by getting the puck and sending it five-hole on their goalie at close range. It was a very unassuming move and I was pretty satisfied with the win even though there were still about three minutes left in the game. Like the commentators said, you got the feeling that whoever scored first would come out the winner. Done and done.

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Oh The Pain! Canadians 4, Kings 3

The start of this 5-game road trip looked to be a fantastic outing. The Kings were looking solid in their passing, skating, and defensive play. Last season when the Montreal Canadiens came to LA, they outworked and outskated the Kings; this game proved to be quite different. The Kings set the tone right from the start; they dictated the speed and flow of the puck and the Canadiens were the ones that had to do the adapting. The first period saw the Kings leading the way but little did I know that by the end of the game, I'd be in for shock and disappointment... and with no points to show for it.

Let's get the whole Denis Gauthier incident out of the way. I'm not going to go into whether I think he needs to get suspended for his hit on Josh Georges or not. The fact that I don't think he's a great player overrides his action yesterday. I was irritated that he was in the lineup to begin with, and watching him leave his feet to land an elbow on Gorges' head proved my point. If you want to vote on how many games he should be suspended, go to James Mirtle's post and then head over to Puck Daddy for some thoughts on it. I really couldn't care less.

Something that annoyed me: The announcer for the Canadiens. What a homer, seriously. And when Wayne Simmonds fought Max Pacioretty, it seemed like it ended almost with a tie, but I gave it to Simmonds because he landed more fists. This announcer said something like, "Both benches are cheering and I don't know why." What do you mean you don't know why? Are you a person who thinks the game should be without fighting? That comment and others put a sour taste in my mouth and I was irriated with his play-by-play for the rest of the game.

Once again the Kings held their opponents to shots-on in the mid-20s at 26 and they got 32 shots to Carey Price. But things fell apart in the third period when the Canadiens came back to tie it and got the go-ahead with less than a minute to go. The first half of the game had the Habs getting penalties here and there, but in the third, the Kings took five total penalties. I didn't even realize this until I just looked at the stats sheet, but Jarret Stoll received a 10-minute misconduct with less than a minute to go in the game. Maybe I was too upset to even realize this happened, but I still have no idea what it was for.

At this point I'm just upset that the Kings lost. The end of the game was just ridiculous and I don't believe the Habs deserved the win. Yes, I can be a homer because this is my team and they were robbed, but I'm not boohoo-ing over this loss. There is no singular player that I can hang this loss on. I'm not even sure what the problem was on the Kings' side; the Habs just seemed to get their legs back under them and finish out the game. Anyway, the only thing the Kings should do from this loss is to learn from it and move on to their next game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday evening.

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68% In The Faceoff Circle: Kings 5, Blackhawks 2

Watching Chicago play on TV and in looking at their place in the standings, you get the sense that they're this "team on the rise" (thanks MSM); but when they get to Staples Center, something happens and they forget what it's like to play hockey. For this reason, I went to Staples with a bit of confidence that the Kings could come out with a win. Not too surprisingly, they dominated the Hawks in a 5 to 2 victory last night and now the Kings are on a modest three-game winning streak, but this could completely fall apart on this upcoming road trip that begins in Montreal on Saturday.

Jarret Stoll continues to impress by winning 15 faceoffs and only losing two (88%). Derek Armstrong has also been strong here and in this game he won 5 and lost one. I've been pretty happy with Army with every game he's played in this season, and he didn't disappoint in this game either. Actually, come to think of it, I wasn't really disappointed with anyone's play; although, there was one player who made very noticable errors, but I let them slide due to the rest of the team's play. The kid I'm talking about was Jack Johnson; basically, he is totally awesome but (at the same time) really rusty right now. Granted, this was his third or fourth game back and you can tell he'll need a couple more games to get back into it. The errors he made were pretty painful in that he just couldn't connect the blade to the puck in key situations and subsequently lost the momentum of the shift. The whifs and missed passes were hilariously bad, but it's not like I'm chastising him or anything. His spin-o-rama move at the beginning of the game was momentous, and I'm not mad in any way. Side note: it was a bit odd when we didn't see Drew Doughty out for every other shift; Jack had 22:49 of TOI but Doughty still had 22:04. I definitely appreciated the sheer potential this D core will get to.

One gripe that I had was concerning the three stars at the end of the game. I would like to know how in the world the media thought Brian Campbell deserved the 3rd star of the game. The only thing I remember him doing all game was making error after error after error. At one point, he slipped on the wet ice and I looked at Marie and asked her how much the Blackhawks just paid him to fall right there. I don't think he deserved the third star and that's that.

I don't have anymore time to write more. This'll have to do until Saturday's game! Hasta!

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Aaaand We're Back: Kings 5, Wild 2

The Kings break their 4-game losing streak with a win over the Minnesota Wild. The Wild were on the back end of playing three games in four nights and the Kings were rested up. You could say the latter had the advantage, but at this point, I'll take it without any misgivings. In looking back at the last game against the Dallas Stars, the Kings actually played better in regulation compared to the previous three contests. They fought all the way to the end and ended with a loss in the shootout, but this mindset was carried over to tonight's game where they won decisively over a tired Wild squad.

I basically thought everything looked good in this game:

• Jack Johnson played 17:44 and is slowly getting back into the groove of things. He looks strong and is making the simple plays, which is completely fine. After being out for so long, I don't want him trying anything fancy this early into his return. I'm still unsure who he could be paired with, and am really not interested in trying to guess. I'll let Terry Murray make that decision for me.
  
• All the other defensemen played a substantial number of minutes with the least being logged by Peter Harrold at 15:30. With JJ back in the lineup, Denis Gauthier and Tom Preissing look to be the healthy scratches with Harrold getting reduced minutes. I'm fine with this except that I'd want Tommy P back in the lineup before Gauts has another shot. With JJ being a physical presense, do we really need Gauts? We're lacking offense! Get Tommy P back; that is, when one of the top 6 can't play.
  
• All the top flight forwards picked up goals for themselves and I was very happy with the effort by these guys. Side note: Kyle Calder is not considered a "top flight forward" in my previous sentence.
• Role player and in the lineup until Oscar Moller returns, Derek Armstrong, always seems to contribute a great deal whenever he IS in the lineup. He notched another goal tonight and I've been very satisfied with his play. When he played in nearly every game last season, I thought he was just another mediocre player, but now that he's playing reduced minutes, he's making each one count and, thus, standing out much more. Whoda thunk??

The scariest part of the game was when Raitis Ivanans and Derek Boogaard dropped their gloves in the third period. This just showed me how incredibly large Boogaard really is. When someone can make Ivanans looks small, I'd make sure to keep my distance. Jim Fox basically said he wasn't sure who won the fight. C'mon, Jim, you really don't know? It's not everyday when you see Ivanans have fists land on his dome that many times. Sad face.

Speaking of sad face, I'm patiently waiting for little Moller to get his butt back in the lineup. Seeing Kevin Westgarth out there for less than five total minutes, was... interesting. He's basically a miniature-Ivanans, only figuratively of course. I was unimpressed with Westgarth's numbers last season and his play during summer training, so I'm not holding my breath for him to start racking up any sort of numbers. In the mean time, he'll be a mini-Bam Bam.

The Kings get a respectable 32 shots on the Wild netminders while only letting 27 get on Jonathan Quick. (By the way, Jonathan Bernier was looking mighty fine on the bench.) Quick looked solid positionally and had a fast glove-hand tonight. He's penciled in to start against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow, and after this game, I'd be surprised to see Bernier in net. The next Kings game after tomorrow is on the 29th against the Chicago Blackhawks, and if Erik Ersberg isn't back by then, maybe (just maybe), we'll see Bernier. Personally, I'd rather have Ersberg back before that game and have Bernier return to Manchester so he can get as many games as he can under his belt at the AHL level. If he's gonna be the Number 1 for years to come, he needs to be great at all other levels of play. Nothing new here, just the simple truth.

So the Kings start a quick back-to-back on the road with a solid win and I can end the day on a happy note. FINALLY.

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JMFJ In The Shootout?: Stars, 3, Kings 2 (SO)

Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.

Jack Johnson in the shootout? Yes, your eyes did not decieve you. After Alexander Frolov and Dustin Brown both failed to score on their chances, I half expected to see Drew Doughty standing at center ice for the last opportunity after logging 27:06 of TOI and making offensive rushes all over the place. But Jack Johnson? After Raitis Ivanans, he's the last guy I would have given the shot to. That seemed like a Marc Crawford move and I figured the Kings weren't going to get more than a point. I mean Jack's good, obviously, but up against Marty Turco with the game on the line? Apparently Turco has the second worst save percentage in the entire NHL, but still... I definitely would have chosen someone else.

Overall, I wasn't too disappointed with this showing because it was 10 times better than the game against the Red Wings a couple of nights ago. That game was a certified nightmare. The Kings got shut out in ugly fashion on home ice and I couldn't wait to just get home. After a long day of work and then not really being excited to go to Staples Center, I was done with the day as a whole. The Kings were toast at the first puck drop, and I'm so glad today's game was a complete turnaround. At the same time, I really thought they were going to be able to grab up two more points. The Stars haven't exactly been gang busters and the Kings have been needing that bounce back win.

The best part about this game was the goal scored by Frolov in the last 30 seconds of regulation to take it into overtime. The Stars came out in the third period and stood up to the Kings, tied the game, and then got the go-ahead. They could have easily gotten discouraged and started sinking, but effort and drive got the Kings back on the board. Overtime wasn't too thrilling and Erik Ersberg was being his solid, usual self. The shootout was a bit ...err, wasn't too thrilling either actually, and when Jack picked up the puck at the blueline, I basically wasn't expecting anything. I think of the goal actually went in, I'd be in utter shock.

Even with this current string of losses, I don't feel like the Kings are out of the playoff picture just yet and the season is in the latter half of January! Comical, I know, but I gotta look on the positive side of everything for this season. At this point last year, the Kings were horrendous and it was everything they could do to just keep their heads above the water. This season doesn't have them looking like a high school hockey team right at the start of games. Granted the last three contests have been a little... poor, they carry that mentality like they could actually take back control from any team and get a win. Because of this turnaround, I'm not pulling out my hair at every loss, shitty pass, and missed shot. I'm watching the team grow together and am just trying to figure out the line combos in every game. Speaking of line combinations, the defensive pairings were crazy with Jack back in the lineup. It looked like everyone was paired with everyone else at least once, so it'll be interesting to see how this pans out in the next couple of games.

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