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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Jack Johnson's Got Skills; Kings 3, Phoenix 2 (SO)

So I'm starting to get sick and can't focus for long stretches, thus I will keep this short and sweet. We all love bullet points, correct?

• The Los Angeles Kings gain another two points over the Phoenix Coyotes in a 3-2 shootout victory on Thursday night. As of this morning, the Kings are a mere two points shy of the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks. The Kings play the Dallas Stars tonight and another victory will bring the sort of happiness to the hearts of Kings fans that is not very often felt.
• Oscar Moller scored his first goal of the season on the sweetest shot over Ilya Bryzgalov's left shoulder. Just to illustrate how awesome Moller is, he wasn't on the ice for more than 7 minutes the entire game! 6:49 to be exact.
• Jack Johnson's goal from the high slot was almost a heart breaker, but he got the lucky bounce back right to him to get his third of the season (once again) over Bryzgalov's left shoulder.
• In the longest shootout in Kings history, only two Kings scored while Jonathan Quick was the wall on the other side of the rink.
  
• I must admit, Alexander Frolov is making himself noticed on the first line creating his own chances and grinding it out, but I will also say that the first line lacks the spark from the beginning of the season. I think everyone sees that, but there's no mistaking this current first line can notch some points.
• This has to have been the most exciting game against the Coyotes in recent memory. I wasn't bored in the first 10 minutes of the game and it was a nail biter to the end.
  

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Another Rise and Fall

In another back-to-back the Los Angeles Kings win one and drop the other over the American Thanksgiving holiday. On Wednesday they won against the Edmonton Oilers (3-1) but lost to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (4-1).

(LAKings.com)

Since this weekend has altered my schedule a bit, I'm going to go back to the quick bullet-point style that I find so useful on this type of occasion. I hope everyone has had a great 4-day weekend because I definitely have.

• Matt Greene got his first goal of the season, which was also the game-winning goal against the Oilers. It was a pass out to the point and a lob to the goalmouth that beat Jeff Deslauriers over his shoulder.
• The Andrei Loktionov experiment halted to a standstill with a dislocated shoulder at the end of the game against the Oilers, which is completely unfortunate for him and the team.
  
• Thank you, Patrick O'Sullivan.
• The Kings were atrocious in the faceoff circle at 42% and 38%, respectively. A certain number 28 needs to get back in the lineup ASAP.
  
• I've actually liked Teddy Purcell's play in these two games on the top line. He's not the greatest replacement but I think he'll be an adequate stand-in while not adding too much in terms of offensive production. It's a shame Terry Murray is changing it up again by putting Alexander Frolov back on the left wing.
• Michael Handzus took out Ales Hemsky and he is now out for the rest of the season with shoulder surgery.
  
• The other rookie experiment of Brayden Schenn took only one game as well. He was signed to a one-game contract and will not be returning to the lineup for tonight's game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
• The Vancouver Canucks presented a much harder challenge to the Kings than the Oilers on Thursday and they fell 4 to 1. Roberto Loungo was the wall for the Canucks and Jonathan Quick was playing well until the third period with a collapse of three goals against. The last goal was by Kyle Wellwood who is such a great player he hit the post before scoring in the empty net. Great job, guy.
  
• The player of these two games was definitely Wayne Simmonds. He had the most jump of everyone and was the only to get a goal in both games.
  

That's all I got, folks. Thanks for stopping by. I truely appreciate it! Also, please check out the new episode of KingsCast titled Injury Bugged.

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Kings Fizzle At Home; Flames 5, Kings 2

The Los Angeles Kings dropped another game and upped the number in the loss column on Saturday when the Calgary Flames and their fans came to Staples. The ending score of 5-2 basically described the play on the ice especially the first goal of the game by Jarome Iginla just 13 seconds in. Fantastic. The two goals scored by Drew Doughty and Alexander Frolov were the only real highlights of the game. They were scored with less than a minute in between them, but other than that, once again, the scoreboard reflected the play on the ice.

(LAKings.com)

Overall there's not too much to say about this game since there wasn't any improvement in any aspect really. Frolov was put back on the first line and absolutely nothing changed. Surprised? I think not. Ryan Smyth is probably gnashing out his teeth with every game he's sitting out. With Justin Williams still playing solidly and Anze Kopitar's play at a standstill, no one here is questioning the x-factor. C'mon Captain Canada!

(LAKings.com)

I'm sure that was nice.

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Kopitar needs Smytty: Flyers 3, Kings 2

It is very clear that Anze Kopitar needs Ryan Smyth. The Los Angeles Kings hosting the Philadelphia Flyers was one I knew would be a feisty battle to the end. I can retrospectively say this was probably the worst game for Smyth to be out of the lineup because the Flyers came to Staples Center and left with a bashing victory. This game was wide open due to missed passes and subsequent turnovers, and the Flyers were all over the place pouncing on loose pucks and misreads by the Kings.

The first 10 minutes of the game were north-south to the max. The feeling out process for teams in different conferences takes a bit of time, and thankfully the Kings were the first to gain control. Jarret Stoll was able to score off a sharp angle on Brian Boucher for the first goal of the game. (I seem to remember Boucher letting in a similar goal last season when they faced the San Jose Sharks.) The second period went back to neither team dominating causing an overall manic feel and the third was flat out frantic. The 5-on-3 advantage the Kings had should have slowed the game down drastically in their favor, but it was just about the worst man-advantage I have ever seen. The Kings couldn't get the puck past the offensive blueline let alone set anything up. The Flyers were aggressive all around and the 2-man advantage expired with nothing to show for it.

(LAKings.com)

Let me make it clear that Alexander Frolov doesn't belong on the top line. I'm not saying he played terribly; I'm merely saying Frolov is best served on, at most, the second line. He was supposed to up his game and compliment Kopitar and Justin Williams on the first line, but nothing changed for Frolov. He looked the same and I'm not sure what to say other than there will be a different left wing on that line Saturday against the Calgary Flames. Williams, on the other hand, had a strong showing with 8 total shots on net. Kopitar had 6 shots while Frolov had only 1. As a team, the Kings landed 39 shots on the Flyers goaltender with Jonathan Quick seeing just 20.

(LAKings.com)

This was a high hitting game and I was mildly impressed with some players and not with others, as is usually the case. In this particular game, Teddy Purcell stepped up his visibility a touch while Davis Drewiske did not. I'm not going to strategically analyze their play for this one game; rather, I'm just going chock it up to playing in modified lines against a team they are unfamiliar with. (Let me know when that line gets old.)

The incredible high/low light of this game was the rolling puck parallel to the Flyers' blueline that could have led to the Kings tying goal with just seconds left in regulation. The insanity at the end of the game could have tilted just one degree in favor of the Kings, but it predictably didn't and the large "L" loomed upon them on the stats sheet. That, my friends, is the definition of heartbreak.

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Back on Top With Two Shootout Losses

In the third back-to-back of this young season, the Los Angeles Kings lost to the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks in shootouts and yet they find themselves back at the top of the Pacific Division. Odd, I know; but sometimes weird occurrences just happen. Even though the Kings were not the victors in either game, they were both great to watch. There were hit posts, rush plays, and surprise contributions all over the place. In any other year, these are two teams the Kings usually lose to, but this season is, once again, proving they are on a constant uptick.

(LAKings.com)

While viewing the game on Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks, I did not realize how much their roster had changed until I saw the lineup. Gone are Christian Ehrhoff and Jonathan Cheechoo; in are Dany Heatley and Manny Malhotra. The make up of their team seems to have remained the same but the difference in this equation is a better Kings roster. That being said, the Kings dominated the first period while the Sharks came back in the second, and the teams battled it out all the way to the shootout. My question here is, "Why was Alexander Frolov left out of the top three shooters?" He had the only Kings goal of the game and was grinding it out as much as the other players, so your guess is as good as mine. It also must be noted that he was left out of the top three shooters against the Canucks as well.

Jonathan Quick played both games and looked solid while Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov and Canucks' Andrew Raycroft looked just as steady. First off, who knew Raycroft could still play! He was hit with 31 shots while Quick had just 15 sail his way. Second, did the Kings not realize that Nabokov was going to stop every shootout shot that went directly towards his chest? I don't get the logic used by the players; subsequently, the Sharks left the arena with two points.

(LAKings.com)

This picture's purpose is solely to show how ridiculous/awesome Bailey is.

Points of interest:

• Scott Parse notched his first NHL goal of his career and has made quite the statement.
• Anze Kopitar is still among the league leaders in point production.
• Hockeywood, L.A. is growing nicely and every Kings fan should check it out!

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4 In a Row via Kopitar: Kings Over Coyotes and Blue Jackets

This weekend saw the Los Angeles Kings on their second back-to-back in this young season and I can't decide who has been the star of these past two games; wait, I can, but Jarret Stoll needs props. Stoll has scored his 3 goals in the last two games and has been effective in the faceoff circle and on the forecheck. On the other hand, Anze Kopitar now leads the league in both goals and points, 10 and 21, respectively. Obviously Kopitar is the player of the weekend, week, and month! He's been an absolute stud for the Kings and I couldn't be happier.

Last night the Kings faced the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second time this season where they fared quite a bit better winning 6-2. The story of the game was Jason Chimera getting up ended by Rob Scuderi. Scuderi went to deliver what looked like was going to be a hip check but ended up actually clipping Chimera right in the knees. It was definitely low but it wasn't an intentionally dirty hit. Unfortunately, Chimera looked like he got his head throttled back as he flipped over, but I honestly can say Scuderi wasn't intending for that to happen, which I'm sure is something we all can agree on. Many people will have an opinion, so have at it. Or not.

By the way, the punch to the back of Alexander Frolov's head was REALLY not needed. You can be frustrated, Chimera, but let's leave the punching off the ice. Speaking of Frolov, this weekend he notched two goals and two assists, and I can only hope that he has officially been let out of the doghouse with his production. You really couldn't have asked for more from Frolov in last night's game; perhaps he could have stayed on his feet more against Phoenix, but Fro isn't perfect so I can't hate.

(LAKings.com)

Ryan Smyth continues to be his beastly self logging big ice time and making sure his presence is felt by the opposition. He was on the Fan590 on Friday and was asked about the upcoming Olympics. I don't think anyone is surprised that he was honored by the invite and would love to be a part of Team Canada.

(LAKings.com)

The difference between this game and Saturday's game against the Phoenix Coyotes is that the Kings beat the Jackets handedly while they were on the verge of another collapse against the Coyotes. This was a 5-3 win for the Kings but, let's be honest, it could have resulted in another OT stint or just a straight up loss. Instead the Kings readjusted themselves and finished the game with two more points.

Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll were the highlights of this game. Brownie had over 21 minutes of TOI and had two goals. One was an empty netter, which neither the team nor he really needed. It appeared that he was just skating toward the Coyotes' empty net with no real intention to finish the game off with a pompous gesture. I'm not even sure the puck slid past the goal line before time ran out, but I would have still been happy if it wasn't counted. Stoll had two goals, 18 minutes of TOI, and a respectable 50% win in the faceoff circle.

(LAKings.com)

Some more tidbits to chew on:

• Jonathan Quick is currently tied for first in the NHL in wins. He has 8 wins, as do Craig Anderson and Marc-Andre Fleury.
• Drew Doughty lead the team in ice time for both games: 27:38 against the Coyotes and 23:34 against the Blue Jackets.
• The most invisible player on the ice has been Teddy Purcell. What is the issue there?
  

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Saved In Overtime: Kings 5, Stars 4

Last night the Dallas Stars stepped into Staples Center for the first time this season and I was pretty confident the Los Angeles Kings were going to finish the game with the W. All signs pointed to the victory but having to get the win in overtime rendered me speechless. I'm actually unsure of what to say about this game, but I'll try to get something out.

If games were only 40 minutes long, I'd say with 100% confidence that the Kings played their best hockey. Alas, they are 60-minute contests and, for this game, the Kings played their usual up and down, inconsistent hockey. The modified lines looked decent and actually performed wonderfully... but only for 40 minutes. It's a bit difficult to compliment the team on how they made the Stars looks like fools when they themselves didn't hold on to their level of play. This is definitely a bittersweet reflection.

The good: Anze Kopitar owning this game... well, the first two periods of the game by getting his first career hat trick. He is turning into the player management knew he could and has definitely been earning his paycheck. He completely controlled the game as he scored like a madman. As of today, he's tied with a certain Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in points (8G, 8A and 9G, 7A, respectively).

(LAKings.com)

The Kings were looking fantastic going into the third period, but their hopes were fading as they watched the Stars tie up the game 4-4 forcing the game into OT. Heart breaker. I hardly have the stomach to comment on the third period, but I was happy when Michal Handzus killed the Stars just 55 seconds into OT. His slapshot blasted past Alex Auld and the game was done. I'm very happy that overtime ended in the Kings' favor but the two points don't make up for the poor third period performance. I honestly wondered why Terry Murray pulled Quick at the end of the second period with just 2.7 seconds left in the game when they were up 4-1, but I definitely understood the reasoning 20 minutes later.

The Bad: First off, one thing I can't understand is why Brad Richardson is on the ice during important times in the games. Last night, he was on the ice with just a few minutes in regulation, which is exactly the opposite of what I'd expect! Secondly, Jonathan Quick letting in the goals he did; I'm just in a little bit of shock.

The Needs to Improve: Teddy Purcell received 12:31 of ice time and ended at a minus 1. I'm sure the improvement will explode sometime this season, so I'll continue to wait. To address Alexander Frolov; his play was fine. I honestly didn't think he was any better or worse than before he was benched. I have zero words of wisdom for these two players. Just... focus?

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A Little More Up And Down Action

Firstly, my apologies for the delayed post. My only excuse: Life is getting in the way.

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Currently the Los Angeles Kings are sitting 8th in the Western Conference with 10 points and are 3rd in the Pacific Division. With 9 games in I'm neither ecstatic nor depressed with the results; the Kings are showing that they can compete and that they can take a nosedive at any moment. This was the end of their longest road trip of the year and it just may be the start of something great.

On Saturday evening, I had the unfortunate occurrence of accidentally seeing the score of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets while watching another game. Too bad Leafs TV is really good about keeping you updated around the league. The Toronto Maple Leafs started their game at 4:00 pm PST; I saw the Kings were down 4-1 around the middle of the 3rd period of the Leafs game, and (since the games began at the same time) I knew the Kings were going to lose the game. How utterly deflating. There is absolutely nothing that can salvage the feeling of already knowing the outcome of a game, especially when it's in favor of the other team.

At first I was upset that I saw the score, and then I was irritated that the Blue Jackets got 4 pucks past Jonathan Quick. Needless to say, I was not very enthusiastic watching the game later. There's something about watching a game knowing your team is going to lose that is very unappetizing. It might have led to my falling asleep at times. That being said, the Kings didn't look THAT bad. In my zombie-like state, I didn't think they played worse than some of their other losses. With that, I'm done with this recap.

*~*~*~*~*

For the game I was actually awake and excited for, the Kings decided to bounce back and play like a coherent team yesterday against the Dallas Stars. They won 4-1 to the relief of everyone and proved they can play hockey like professionals. Everything about this game was better than their previous game and capped off this road trip very nicely. They were over .500 in the faceoff circle (thank you Jarret Stoll), ceased taking sloppy penalties for 60 minutes, and collapsed around their own net protecting the goalie.

(LAKings.com)

Going into this game, Bob Miller and Jim Fox mentioned that the top line of Ryan Smyth, Anze Kopitar, and Justin Williams had a combined 29 points in the first 8 games. After they picked up another 6 points against the Stars, the top line is sitting pretty with 35. Okay people, I'm fully on board with the Smyth Train. Williams? I'm getting there. Also I'm over Marty Turco. I don't quite understand the love affair people have with him. I've witnessed far too many meltdowns to have any confidence he's going to stop enough pucks to win games for his team. Am I being too critical? I think not, but let me know what you think!

(LAKings.com)

Also Alexander Frolov is on the hot seat. After the poor performance against the Blue Jackets, Frolov was benched for being a turnover machine while also falling down at inopportune times causing goals against, among other things. Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider posted a transcript of his conversation with Frolov about what happened between him and the coaching staff. Per Hammond: here's what Terry Murray had to say and here's what Dean Lombardi said.

Decide for yourself what really is going on. I personally believe if he doesn't shape up and sign a contract Lombardi-esque, he's going to be sent off to wear a stranger's crest. I will subsequently be heart-broken, but that's only if nothing else negative comes out of this situation.

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A Regular Occurrence?; Kings 6, Wild 4

I was only able to watch the second half of this game last night and from what I saw it looked like the game against San Jose on Tuesday night. The Kings had a substantial lead, took some penalties, allowed the opposition to score PP goals, and then finished off the game by scoring a few more to seal the deal.

(LAKings.com)

A sick slap into the net

Don't have the time to do a better recap, but you can find your way over to these other guys and get your fill:

For a good time, call Rudy Kelly.

For a very in depth overall to the game at Frozen Royalty.

Also don't forget to check out Hockeywood, L.A., which will open for viewing tomorrow!

(LAKings.com)

By the way, did you ever think you'd see this?

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Frozen Fury XII: Good Times Galore

Here is my short-and-sweet and late recap of Frozen Fury from last Saturday, September 26th where the Los Angeles Kings dueled the Colorado Avalanche. Frozen Fury X and Frozen Fury XI both ended in shootouts with the teams splitting wins, but this year the Kings managed to get the win in regulation. The game ended 5-3 with an empty netter by Wayne Simmonds with about one second left in the game.

But before I get to the game, I wanted to mention the players at Luc Robitaille's Charity Poker Tournament held the Friday night before the game. A few observations:

• Matt Duchene was born in 1991 and is no where CLOSE to being allowed at the poker tables, but that didn't stop him from joining the players at the tournament. If you don't believe me, check out the picture I took with him up on facebook.
• It appeared that Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi are okay with wearing pleated pants in public.
• Anze Kopitar wasn't looking too raccoon-eyed, so that was a nice change.
• Alexander Frolov had the girls lined up behind him. I noticed he was sans wedding ring and so did Marie!
• Jack Johnson was in a full pin strip suit and is so thick that he was like a mack truck walking around the tables.
  

Back to the game: overall the experience and game were up and down. The crowd walking into the Grand Garden Arena seemed more aggressively drunk than usual and the first period was worry inducing in that the Kings looked disorganized while the Aves skated with spunk. This poor showing took the life out of the not-exactly packed arena, but the noise returned when the Kings started getting the pucks past brand new Aves goalie, Craig Anderson. At the other end of the ice, Jonathan Quick wasn't looking spectacular by any means, but this didn't have me completely worried because of the predictability of an inevitable slow Kings start. There also was a definite lack of fights and more emphasis on actually playing like cohesive units, which caused the entire vibe of the game to be somewhat different than last year.

Standouts were definitely Jack Johnson, Simmonds, and Smyth. They were noticeable on the ice by actually being in the right spots and helping to create plays. One standout for not doing much of anything was Teddy Purcell. Talk about disappointing! Oscar Moller gets sent to Manchester and you don't show up? Yikes. Also I didn't EXACTLY agree with Kopitar getting first star of the entire game. Yeah, he scored on his penalty shot but didn't stand out more than any other player. In sum, it was still good times; loved to see the excitement coming from the players and fans.

Check out KingsCast for their three-part video series at the event! Here's the first!

*~*~*~*~*

How was Vegas you ask? Ummm, it was Vegas in that nothing really has changed except more construction has occurred since I had been there one year prior. The most notable part of the weekend was the drive back to Los Angeles. There were a grand total of 4 flipped cars on the road, 3-5 randomly stopped cars along the way, 3 Deloreans on the side of the road as well, traffic up the ying yang, and 100+ degree temperatures almost the entire way back. We are flying next year, no question!

*~*~*~*~*

Last update: Rich Hammond has officially started writing for the Kings at LA Kings Insider. Same content, different house.

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The Nonsense Is Through

Fears abound on Thursday evening were killed about 30 minutes ago by the completion of the Dany Heatley saga. TSN reports that he will be a San Jose Shark along with a 5th round pick and that Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and a 2nd round pick are going back to the Ottawa Senators.

I can fully breathe a sigh of relief at this outcome now that Alexander Frolov and Jarret Stoll are safe (for now). I'm not sure what the rest of the day will hold as training camp starts tomorrow! I'm hoping to be there checking out the potentials for the remaining roster spots.

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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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Back And Forth: Canucks 4, Kings 2

The Kings played the Vancouver Canucks again up in western Canada where the latter came out the victors in this weird game. All six goals came in pairs with the last four occurring in less than five total minutes. Unfortunately the Kings received zero points from the contest but they remain in 13th place with 67 points in the Western Conference.

Special thanks to FSN for not airing the game with Bob Miller and Jim Fox. Listening to the Vancouver commentators was really "awesome." And by "awesome" I mean "painful." It's a good thing I possess the power of filtering out noise. Something else I found (and still find) annoying was that Denis Gauthier had the puck in the defensive zone at one point and started to pass it out when he fell over. That's right, he. Just. Fell. Over. Unbelievable. By the way, do the Kings really need two players on the roster who are only gonna be playing 5 or 6 minutes a night? Raitis Ivanans played 5:38 and Kevin Westgarth played 4:31. Westgarth needs to learn how to skate better and have more offensive upside or else he's probably gonna be in Manchester for a long time. I'm not sure why he's with the Kings right now, but it's not like he's moving from the 4th line anytime soon.

This game might have had the lowest number of hits the Kings have ever had with 11; the Canucks ended with only 9 too. Quite odd and a bit boring too, but I guess it doesn't help when you're being outshot 20-3 in the first period. The Kings spent the entire first period running around trying to get control of the puck, and the second period wasn't any better but at least the Canucks only had 7 shots then. The Kings best period was the 3rd in terms of shots where they got 14 but they were only able to get two goals!

(AP/Jeff Vinnick)

The first goal was the one part I enjoyed about this game; Alexander Frolov absolutely schooled Mats Sundin to score on the backhand. Talk about slick. But the whole game was a bit odd with Vancouver scoring twice in the first and entering the third period with the same score and then having the next two goals belonged to the Kings with Anze Kopitar scoring immediately after Fro scored. With some hope building for the Kings, the Canucks shut it down with two quick ones from Henrik Sedin. Out of the four against Jonathan Quick, two of them were definitely fluky ones. One bounced weirdly behind the net against the boards and Quick was caught out of position; the other was Henrik Sedin killing some time by taking the puck toward Quick on his own. He ended up dipsy doodling in front of Sean O'Donnell and getting the shot off pretty easily.

The end of the game got a bit exciting with Alexander Burrows taking a penalty with just under two minutes to go; the Kings pulled Quick and it was 6-on-4 for the rest of the game. Unfortuately, it was a no-go for the Kings and the Canucks are sitting in the 5th seed. The Kings face the San Jose Sharks tonight where, if they win, they'll STILL be in 13th place. In looking at the standings, I can be happy about one thing: the Ducks are in 12th place. Haha.

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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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JMFJ: Kings 4, Islanders 3 (SO)

I don't have enough energy to write a full post, but I will say that out of these last five road games, this one against the New York Islanders has been the weakest one for the Kings. Well... you could argue that the one against the Ottawa Senators sucked too, but at least that was won without too much trouble. This game, on the other hand, was a different beast. The Islanders were forechecking the crap out of the Kings and I wasactually pretty surprised to learn that they're dead last in the league. Then again, one game does not a team make; I should know, I root for the Kings.

(Getty Images/McIssac)

Way. To. Go. You. Beast.

So this has been the second game where Jack Johnson has taken the 3rd attempt in the shootout. The first time was in his first game back from his injury a couple of weeks ago. I wondered what the hell Terry Murray was doing then, and tonight I threw my hands in the air when I saw the lineup flash on the TV screen whilst wondering where in the heck Anze Kopitar has been in the shootout. But Jonathan Quick (who was looking quite mortal tonight) made all three saves and Jack MF Johnson sealed the game with a nifty deck to the right and swinging the puck the other way. I will admit, if Kyle Okposo had made his attempt, I'd give him the sweetest shot of the night with that weird backhanded drag.

The Kings leave the east coast with another two points and come back to Staples Center for a three-game homestand before hitting the road again. It's been a pretty damn good road trip and I can't wait to see the boys in LA!

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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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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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Ahead of Dallas! Kings 4, Ducks 3

The Anaheim Ducks were in Staples Center, the arena was "sold out," and the hecklers were heckling. These games against the Ducks are always questionable; usually one team has a bad game and the other pounces on all the loose pucks and blatant opportunities. Other times the teams actually seesaw in terms of their momentum from period to period, which was the makeup of this game. The Kings scored the first three goals of the game on five shots (I think it was). Bobby Ryan stepped up and scored a hat trick, but Alexander Frolov shut them down by scoring the game winner off a rebound in front of the net. The Kings are two points richer by beating the Ducks 4-3 and I was satisfied with their efforts.

Anze Kopitar was back on his game notching the third goal of the game and looking so much better than he did in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. In that game, Greener put it best when he said that Kopi looked hungover. He had nothing in the tank last week, but tonight he looked like his usual self and scored his much-needed 11th goal of the season. Before that goal, Wayne Simmonds started off the second period with a goal only 37 seconds in! Needless to say, we were all shocked and I was feeling pretty good about this new line of Kopi, Simmonds, and Frolov. I'm not sure if any of the lines tonight will remain for the next game, but perhaps this line will see more shifts in the future.

The penalty box was kept annoyingly warm by the bodies coming and going through the game. The Kings took seven penalties and Ryan scored one of his three right after the Kings had killed a 5-on-3. Not only was that frustrating, but it was compounded by the fact the Ducks had only taken three penalties of their own! The roles were reversed here and I did not like that feeling of constantly having to kill off penalties when the Kings REALLY needed to come out with a win. Halfway through the game, it was announced that the Dallas Stars had lost to the Detroit Red Wings and that the Phoenix Coyotes had won their game against the Tampa Bay Lightening. So this meant that if the Kings lost, they'd stay 5th in the Pacific Division. But they were able to pull out the win, thanks to my favorite Russian who got assists from two of my favorites, Teddy Purcell and Kyle Quincey.

Speaking of Purcell, I mentioned before that I was glad he was now getting consistent time on the second unit of the PP. He seemed to have a bit of spark when he actually had the room to operate and get plays going. Because of this, I guess I just assumed that the number of minutes he would log would rise, but it appears that I was a bit preemptive in my thinking because he only had 13:51 of TOI tonight. Bah.

The goaltending was interesting as well. Jean-Sebastian Giguere let in two goals on three shots and was promptly replaced by Jonas Hiller who was basically just plain better than Giguere. I guess I'm not too surprised; the young almost always replace the old and feeble, right? Jonathan Quick did pretty well this game but made some egregious errors at times. Some were rookie mistakes, yes, but he didn't seem as aware as he has been. Hopefully he'll get his head in the right place soon. The Kings faceoff against the New Jersey Devils next and I'm pretty happy knowing that if Quick isn't back on it by Saturday, that the Kings have a reliable goalie on the bench who is patiently waiting his turn.

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Solid Job: Kings 4, Coyotes 0

The Kings don't disappoint as they route the Phoenix Coyotes in the second game of this back-to-back. I was a bit wary that they wouldn't be able to pull out the win purely due to the fact the game was in Phoenix and the Kings didn't have the home crowd behind them. But as Jim Fox said after the game, the Kings have usually won the game following a messy loss and this was no exception as they shut out the Coyotes four to nothing.

To start, the first goal of the game was pretty spectacular; Raitis Ivanans took a slapshot coming across the blueline and it went in beautifully over Ilja Bryzgalov's shoulder. I think everyone was surprised by that one, especially Ivanans! He leaped into the air in sheer joy and the look on Jarret Stoll's face was priceless. I'm pretty sure he took the shot just to get a shot on net, nothing more. But it was a great and surprising goal to start off the game. Go Raitis!

An interesting thing to note about this win was the ridiculous number of penalties the Kings took. Their play didn't look particularly undisciplined, but they were getting called every other minute it seemed. They had 10 total penalties against them with one being a fighting major, which was John Zeiler squaring off against Daniel Carcillo. I wasn't too impressed with the encounter in general and was definitely expecting Carcillo to win because, well, it's Zeiler. The Kings penalty killing units stepped up and did a fantastic job on all nine infractions. Their control of those minutes was the complete opposite of the previous night's game, which made it that much more satisfying.

(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

The only exciting part about this "fight"

Alexander Frolov was a standout in this game, not because of his stellar skating abilities (which appear to have gone straight down the toilet), but for his two goals. He was just in the right places and he's still the top goal scorer on the team as of this moment, which is a fact that I'm sure many people don't know, but he's knocking in the pucks and racking up the points. I'm still pretty baffled at how poor his skating has become and how easily he gets pushed off the puck. I don't understand what's going on with that, but it doesn't appear to hurt his point production considering he's not technically on either of the top two lines. Go Fro!

I was especially proud of Teddy Purcell in this game mostly because I had been so disappointed with his showing this season so I was extremely happy to see that he was digging in his heels and earning his ice time. Players have been getting lost on the fourth line with Ivanans and Zeiler with the latter being the main problem. In this game Purcell finally showed his potential and for one of the PP goals he set up Stoll beautifully with a cross-ice pass. I think he stood out as much as he did because of the time he got on the power play that totaled 6:02 and he looked pretty great; he was moving his feet, landing passes, and being an effective player. I think if he continues getting ice time on the PP, his upside will start to come out more on a game-by-game basis. Go Teddy!

(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

So proud of you, Teddy!

The stud of the evening was, hands down, Jonathan Quick. This boy was a wall in net and didn't have me nervously looking on at any point in the game. He did his job and did it well; he stopped all 26 shots sent his way with the post stopping two of their own. One thing about Quick is that when I was watching him play at Staples two nights ago, he looked kind of smallish side in the net; I didn't think he was more than six feet tall. But in last night's game where I was watching on the boob tube, he looked much bigger and Foxy even said that he was 6'1" and was over 210 pounds! Maybe I didn't think he was that big because of how well he was moving and his general athleticism when the Coyotes were making rushes to the net, but he was positionally sound and they were getting shut down every which way. Go Quick!

(Holla to Greener for saying Quick was going to be good. Two shutouts so far with excellent(ent) rebound control.

Erik Ersberg is supposed to be coming back any day now and this could potentially hurt the Kings because then Quick will get sent back to Manchester with Jason LaBarbera being backup on the bench. The idea of this is... not promising. I don't want to think about that point in time before it actually comes up; I'd rather just keep moving one game at a time and hoping the basement isn't where the Kings will be in a few week's time.

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