With tonight’s loss to the Dallas Stars, the Kings have now fallen to the 7th seed in the Western Conference. With 90 points, the Kings are one point ahead of the 8th place Colorado Avalanche and one point behind of the 6th place Detroit Red Wings. There isn’t a whole lot of pressure coming from the 9th seed Calgary Flames, as the Kings are simply fighting for playoff stature. But what came from tonight’s loss? Nothing positive. A reassurance of LA’s cold offense and their struggling defense. Goals have been hard to come by lately for the Kings, and struggles in the net have begun to show. Do I dare blame Terry Murray? Yes. He’s absolutely butchered any of Ersberg’s confidence, and has over-played Jonathan Quick. Folks, it’s starting to show, and I knew it all along. If Erik Ersberg doesn’t get the call a couple of times before the post-season, it’s going to be a short playoff-outing for the Kings. How many times do I have to say it? A backup goalie in the playoffs is a huge factor. Terry Murray has killed any chance of this being a helper to the Kings come the playoffs. Enough with this, I could go on forever, and get quite angry. Here are my notes on tonight’s game.

Notes on the game:
– Let’s start this out on a positive note. As for the Kings only goal tonight, how many times have we seen this sequence? Drew Doughty to Anze Kopitar on the sideboards, a hard wrister on net for a Michal Handzus rebound goal? Music to my ears, eye candy. Beautiful goal, an unfortunate high-point to tonight’s game.
– The Stars came out with a vengeance in the 2nd period. Dallas was able to capitalize on 3 of their 9 shots in the period, setting their tone to the game. The carousel that was the Stars power-play began to run in full-force. With three second period power-play goals, and four overall, the Stars keyed in on a struggling Kings penalty-kill.
– Former King Brandon Segal had a couple of solid scoring chances tonight.
– The Dallas Stars earned their first victory in tonight’s Pacific Division season-series finale.
– Every goal was recorded on the power-play. Tough outing for the Kings, as they only capitalized on 1 of 7 power-play opportunites, and allowed 4 goals when a man-down.

When you talk of the Los Angeles Kings, you no longer have to utter the words “Wayne Gretzky” in the same sentence. Despite a horrendous first period, the Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings at another 1PM’er to break the franchise record of consecutive wins with 9 in a row. Jonathan Quick is one win away from breaking Mario Lessard’s all-time wins in a season by a Kings goaltender. The Kings now sit alone as fourth in the Western Conference with 75 points.

The game happened a few days ago but the video highlights are still fresh. It’s rare that we get a come-from-behind victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. But that’s just what happened to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. What a night by Anze Kopitar and, wait for it, Peter Harrold!

Desperately clinging onto a playoff spot, the Los Angeles Kings battle the surging and usually dominant Detroit Red Wings at Staples Center. A sellout crowd of Red vs. Black provides the suspense and timing…is everything. Question of the Day: Who has the worst fans in the NHL?

It was a frustrating night at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Kings had over 50 shots on goal against Jimmy Howard and the Detroit Red Wings but only Ryan Smyth could put the biscuit in the basket. The Kings played well but they just couldn’t get it done. They now sit 8th in the Western Conference and only 3 points out of ninth. The next games are important!

Guest blogger Alex Kinkopf joins us again to break down the upcoming month of Kings Hockey.

January presents the Los Angeles Kings with 14 games; and, with a look at the schedule, the results will play a large factor in the outcome of the season as 9 games feature Western Conference opponents. Staples Center will play host to eight of the fourteen contests, a great opportunity for the Kings to take advantage of home ice. The Kings currently stand at 3rd in the Pacific and 8th in the Western Conference with 49 points.

Ovie and the Washington Capitals welcome 2010:
Los Angeles will kick off the new year as host to a team that sits in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. A tough opponent indeed, but all of the pieces are in place for a victory to inject a boost of momentum into this young, injury bugged club. Washington, led by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are coming off of losses to Carolina and San Jose. Expect the guys to come out hard in front of a home crowd in an effort to shut down the poster-boy of the NHL and start 2010, and more importantly, this month right.

Seven Game Home-stand:
Starting on the 7th against Detroit and ending on the 21st against Buffalo, the Kings have their longest home-stand of the season. A wonderful opportunity for the team to get back on their feet in the comfort of their home building. However, the opponents don’t provide Kings fans much comfort. We see the Western Conference leading Sharks twice, a Red Wings team that is close in the rear-view mirror standings-wise, and a team in Buffalo who is holding their own with a 3rd spot in the Eastern.

Five Game Road Trip:
This month ends with five consecutive matchups on the road. Tough opponents yet again including Detroit, Boston, and the Eastern leading New Jersey Devils with a couple of no-excuses stops in Toronto and Columbus against a couple of struggling teams.

Saturated with San Jose (left):
Arguably the most important three games the month of January has to offer for Los Angeles. Twice at home, once at the Pavilion, the Kings will be meeting a surging division-foe that is suddenly 10 points ahead of the Kings in the standings as well as current leaders of the Pacific Division and Western Conference. If Los Angeles wants to pose any threat as Pacific Division champs, two of these games must be regulation victories.

Erik Ersberg:
I’d like to see Erik Ersberg get a couple of starts in January, and expect him to get the call. As I mentioned in my last post, I think a key part to building his comfort and confidence is to put him in goal in front of the home crowd. Terry Murray was quoted as saying “Quick gives us the best chance to win at home” earlier in the year. That may be true, but I’m not completely on board with his statement. I could harp on this forever but here’s how I see it: Quick is a 2nd year goalie tied for the league lead in starts. Fatigue is bound to set in at some point, he’s tabbed to play in the Olympics (as a backup), and it’s vital to keep your starting goalie fresh. This may not be an issue to some, but developing your backup goaltender, and keeping your 1st stringer fresh throughout the season can eventually.. well, save your season.

Final Thoughts:
Jarret Stoll’s return from a groin injury is much anticipated, especially in the face-off circle. Will this be the month we find a winger who can mesh nicely with Kopitar and Smyth? I expect the Brown experiment to last a few more games to see how things work out. Purcell as their line-mate looks all but finished. I don’t expect Lombardi to make a trade in the near future to replace Williams’ absence, rather as a trade-deadline deal if the transaction is plausible. There’s no question we’re struggling to find a working option, but more time is needed to find the guy who can step up, and Dustin Brown may be that guy.

How do you Kings fans feel about the possibility of a trade to fill Williams’ hole? Sooner or later? Any possible transactions floating through your heads? Let’s hear it!

Luc Robitaille was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this week. If you’re looking for a true Los Angeles Kings, Luc Robitaille is it. Enjoy his speech!

Check out the KingsCast Tribute to Luc Robitaille

It was a rough game for the Los Angeles Kings at the Joe Louis Arena last night. The Kings just couldn’t get it going and the constant penalties weren’t helping the cause. Dustin Brown did finally grab his first goals of the season and, for the first time, Ryan Smyth didn’t have a point. It’s time to set our sights on the Blue Jackets and finish this road trip out at, at least, .500.

I’m not going to say the Los Angeles Kings deserved the two points against the New York Rangers nor the Detroit Red Wings. In the first game of the back-to-back, the Kings played well but the Rangers were able to get their heads together and finish the game in their favor. In the second game, the Red Wings took advantage of the Kings’ frustrations with their own play and subsequent penalties. Since life has me a bit busy, here is a bullet-point list, short and sweet.

• The Kings’ best period from these two games was the 2nd against the Rangers. The question of “Can the Kings sustain that kind of offensive pressure through the entire game?” is something they’re still addressing.
• The Kings were better in the faceoff circle against the Rangers (54%) and sustained the percentage in Detroit (52%). Jarret Stoll rocked it getting a 91% win in the 2nd game.

• Marian Gaborik got the goal that sealed the deal for the Rangers by cherry-picking the play. That was a goal Eric Ersberg should have had but he was beaten plain and simple, which he was well aware according to his post-game quotes. Jonathan Quick returned for the Detroit game and didn’t fare as badly considering he was helping to kill penalties for almost 10 minutes.
• Nicklas Lidstrom notched his 1,000th career point on just about the sickest pass slash goal to Henrick Zetterberg. That was just pure eff-ing skill.

• By the way, FSN West. The “technical difficulties” was not appreciated. I don’t want to listen to the radio if I have the option to watch the game on TV. Bad form.
• David Drewiske was on the ice causing more mistakes than he needed to. His 14:08 in New York was too long and he played more in Detroit (18:25)! Granted his play was better in Detroit, 18 minutes is still too much ice time to give to him.
• For a positive, Dustin Brown scored his first goal of the season against the Red Wings! He definitely needed this spark and his game is on track getting back to where it needs to be.

These two losses do not mean the Kings are deteriorating and that the winning streak was a fluke. This is a better team compared to last year and they will go through the season as such. They are in Columbus tomorrow playing a team that is on a 2-game winning streak. Catch it; 4:00 pm PST on FSW.

Well, it took the Los Angeles Kings long enough but at approximately 12:45PM Pacific, the Kings signed defenseman Rob Scuderi. In typical Dean Lombardi fashion, he went with a winner who’s great in the locker room. Scuderi, a former Pittsburgh Penguin is fresh off of winning his first Stanley Cup has also been invited to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Orientation Camp.

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round (134th overall) in the 1998 Entry Draft, this 30 year old, 6’0″, 218 pound defenseman made an impressive show in this year’s Stanley Cup victory. He was born in Syosset, NY.

Says Kevin Allen of USA Today:

“On a 5-on-3 situation, he’s the best defender in the front of the net in the National Hockey League, and I’ve been saying that for two years,” said former Penguins player Bob Errey, now a television analyst for the team.”

Scuderi attended St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington, NY and played NCAA hockey at Boston College. He became a mainstay on the Penguins blue line in the 2005-2006 season.

While it was no secret that Dean Lombardi was looking for one veteran defenseman to help solidify our line up, Los Angeles Kings fans must feel a little underwhelmed. That said, most Penguins fans on Twitter let out a collective groan when Scuderi signed with LA. And, if you watched the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals, you know why. Scuderi made a huge play in Game 6, stopping a shot by Johan Franzen at a wide open net – twice. This is the kind of guy you want on your team, sticking his neck out for the win.

In 81 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-2009, Rob Scuderi had 1 goal and 15 assists for 16 points and was a plus-13 with 112 penalty minutes. He won’t chip in much offensively but could be a good partner for Drew Doughty or Jack Johnson (if the LA Kings finally start to make use of his offensive capabilities).

So, are you going to welcome Rob Scuderi to the Los Angeles Kings or do you think Dean Lombardi could have done better?

Resources:
Kevin Allen, USA Today
Dve Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
NHL Yahoo Sports

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