Dancing in the Reign: Lack of O-Zone presence; Still time to salvage homestand

In the middle of their longest home-stand of the season, Los Angeles finds themselves amidst a three game losing streak to three Western Conference opponents. The Kings, who applied heavy pressure last week to Detroit with unsatisfactory results, have shown very little offensive presence in the past two games.

Wayne Simmonds and the Kings have failed to establish control in their offensive zone the previous two games.

When I say presence, I’m not talking shots. There is no chemistry in our opponents’ zone.  I watched St. Louis and San Jose break the puck out with ease. I am not seeing any possession down low, no control on the sideboards, and there is little – if any communication between our forwards and d-men utilizing the point positions. Sure the shots are coming, but the players haven’t been in position to react in time to rebounds, resulting in open lanes for opponents to clear the puck, with very little pressure coming from the forecheck.
Is this possibly a result from the constant line-up changes we’re seeing from Terry Murray lately? This is the third consecutive game Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth will skate alongside a different line-mate. That of course, creates changes to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines. Has Murray over-reacted to the absence of Justin Williams by not giving lines the appropriate time to mesh?
I’ll see you at Staples Center Thursday night. Look out for a post-game blurb including personal photos from the game.