Lasso’ed at the Saddledome Again

Guest blogger Alex Kinkopf chimes in with his thoughts on last night’s game in Alberta. Your thoughts on the game?

The Kings entered tonight with 8 consecutive losses to Calgary in Alberta. As many of you know, Canada named their official roster for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver this morning. What made me somewhat optimistic for a victory tonight? The last time Los Angeles pulled off a victory in the Saddledome was December 21st, 2005; the day Canada named their official roster for the 2006 Olympics. Let’s put that aside, just a fun fact, if you want to call it that.
This was the final time these two teams met in the regular season with Calgary taking the 4 game affair as Los Angeles could only earn a victory in one of the four contests. However, I’ve had a feeling for a while now these two clubs will be seeing each other again this season. More on that later..

Thoughts on the game:

What I Liked:

* Playoff Atmosphere: Immediately after Phaneuf’s hit on Kopitar, you could feel the electricity from the building through the broadcast. (Yes, even if you were struggling through an internet stream as I did. C’mon now FSW!!) The intensity was heightened above any level we’ve seen this year in a Kings game.
* Murray’s Intensity: I love the guy. All year we’ve seen him send the message to his players that it’s his way or you’re taking a seat. We’ve seen Fro and Randy as prime examples. From what I’ve seen, he’s not too fond of stupid retaliation, but knows there is a time and a place to stick up for your players. As Brent Sutter threw a tantrum after Phaneuf’s game misconduct, Murray let him hear about it. I felt this was similar to an MLB manager arguing until ejection, ultimately firing up the ballclub. Unfortunately, the Kings reacted with less passion than I had originally expected.
* Brad Richardson: Good performance all around. If you can back-track to the play when Dusty was awarded a penalty shot (god knows why) take a look at the hustle Richy utilized to clear that puck out of the zone. Beautiful. They guy backs it up with pure effort and intensity.
* Knee-jerk line to start the 2nd frame. Simmonds – Moller – Parse. Great hustle all around for that goal.
* Scotty Parse: GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU SHOOT THE PUCK. Second consecutive game Scotty wastes no time playing with the biscuit and buries it for a goal. Atta Boy!
* Parse – Simmonds – Richy: Liked the line in general. However, why did Moller get the call to start the 2nd with Scotty and Brad?
* Brandon Segal makes return: Boy, the adrenaline must’ve been pumping for Segal tonight. He made his first return to the arena that hosted him for four years as a member of the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. Solid performance as well, great scoring chance.
* Smyth’s effort: The results haven’t been there since his return, but the effort has. Note the continuous foot movement and puck control in the offensive zone to draw a 2nd period hooking penalty on Robyn Regehr.

What made me swear:

* Teddy Purcell: Move your feet, terrible tripping penalty at the end of the 2nd.
* Lack of Poise: C’mon Drew, Calgary’s announcers associated your play with “great poise” multiple times tonight. Sorry, but throwing a punch in mid-play doesn’t show that.
* Stupid Retaliation: Haven’t I mentioned this already?
* Erik Ersberg: I take it back, unfair to judge this play. Disagree, as I feel many of you will. Give him a home start! Please! To have a confident backup goalie, you must present him with the opportunity to build it, Terry.
* Nystrom: Am I crazy? Was he not pulling on the back of Ersy’s Jersey/Pants during Calgary’s 2nd goal?
* Lack of puck possession in the final 3 minutes: Enough Said.

Final Thoughts:

For the past few months, I’ve had a weird feeling about these two clubs meeting in the 1st round of the playoffs. Both teams are playoff bound, but are both capable of ending up in the top, middle, or bottom of the 8 seeds in the Western. We’ll see, just a feeling. Off to Minny.