Dancing in the Reign: Nashville’s Prey; Kings fall 4-2

The woes against the Nashville Predators continue as the Kings fall in a rough outing in a 4-2 loss. The Kings, who are 0-5-1 against Nashville the past two seasons, have had two ugly performances against the Predators this year. The game started on a positive note with an Alexander Frolov tally just 56 seconds in, but the 59 minutes to follow brought lackluster, mistake-prone play from the Kings. Nashville, who now only trail the Kings by 5 points and sit 7th in the Western Conference, have been a surprise much like the Colorado Avalanche. Solid teams capitalize on opponents’ mistakes, and Nashville has done so to the Kings twice this year. Jonathan Quick, who’s weakest aspect is playing the puck, got burned tonight. Too many Kings turnovers as well, especially deep inside our own zone. Nashville was winning the battles to the puck, and completely owned the 2nd period; They were the better team tonight. Not to worry, though. The Kings trade-deadline acquisitions Fredrik Modin and Jeff Halpern played their first games as a King, so the chemistry may have been off a bit. Other than that, Nashville simply played hard tonight, and had the extra step on loose pucks. Here are my notes on the game:

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– I’m going to blame Nashville’s scoring on two things tonight: Jonathan Quick‘s play with the puck, and a flat-footed defense.
– Jonathan Quick is to fault for Nashville’s first goal, and their third goal. Two bad plays with the puck led to golden opportunities for the Predators. As for the first goal, it looks like he may have taken his eye off of the puck caused by J.P. Dumont‘s pressure. The puck hit his stick on a bad angle and was redirected to an open Dumont who buried the puck into an empty net. As for the second goal, Quick hesitated again and fed a no-look backhander to Martin Erat who easily fed an open Marcel Goc for a goal.
– Sean O’Donnell had a rough game as well. The fault is on him as well for Nashville’s first goal. He found himself standing still as Quick misplayed the puck, and had no chance to stop J.P. Dumont from scoring. Another careless turnover from O’Donnell deep in the defensive zone in the 2nd period almost turned into another Nashville goal.
– At times, it looked as though the Kings were in skates made out of concrete. Jason Arnott‘s PP goal, are you kidding me? Three guys staring at the puck down low, clumped together closer than canned sardines, leave a wide open Arnott who absolutely unloaded a beautiful shot to beat Quick. Bad. Defense. Period.
– Keep up the good work, Alexander Frolov.
– Another PP goal was nice to see. Great play by Drew Doughty, who made a V-line to the back-door after passing from the point. Great play, keep up the success on the PP.
– Ryan Smyth records his 700th career NHL point on his 3rd period assist.