In what looked to be a potential blowout for the Los Angeles Kings playing the bottom-feeder Edmonton Oilers, turned out to be a flat and uninspired effort from a team recently on a 9 game winning streak. Down 2-0 in the 3rd period and hearing the boo-birds at Staples Center, the Kings battled back with goals from Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth and took the game into the 10th Round of a Shootout, only to lose the bonus point to none other than former King Lubomir Visnovsky.

The Los Angeles Kings are back in Oiler town and that means it’s time for KingsCast and The Hockey Zen to drop the gloves and get down to business. Get in on the action as both shows talk about the Kings and Oilers game last night at Rexall Place. Question of the Day: What’s your beverage of choice while watching hockey?

Really? The Los Angeles Kings are still the best team in the Western Conference? Without Ryan Smyth, Wayne Simmonds and Jarret Stoll? Jonathan Quick was awesome tonight and the Kings got some excellent secondary scoring. Hey, even Sean O’Donnell had a goal tonight. Jack Johnson went down with an ankle injury tonight. How soon can our 8-game break come? Exactly!

Read Connie’s post-game blog.

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.

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!

The Kings are currently sitting at the top of the Pacific Division and, more importantly, top of the Western Conference. This is a rare feeling for me that hasn’t really set in. I can’t remember the last time I felt this feeling of bliss. That being said, I will definitely loathe the day when the Kings are no longer at the top, but for now I am happy as a clam about how the Kings are performing game in, game out.

They play tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, tomorrow veresus the Edmonton Oilers, and the Calgary Flames are up on Thursday. Any evening of games could surely alter the standings, and these next three will definitely be a big test for the Kings in all aspects of their physical and mental play since they will not face another team until after Christmas on Saturday, December 26th against the Phoenix Coyotes.

The big question for this week is, how will the Kings hold up with Ryan Smyth still out of the line up along with Wayne Simmonds?

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).

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.

When the Los Angeles Kings take on the Edmonton Oilers, KingsCast drops the gloves with The Hockey Zen to break down the game and give our take on the season-long rivalry. Who wins this bet and by how many games?

Keith takes on Chris from The Hockey Zen in a season long bet. Who will receive more regular season points, the LA Kings or the Edmonton Oilers?

The greatest comeback in Los Angeles Kings history took place on April 10, 1982. Known as the Miracle on Manchester, this event will always be remembered by the hardcore LA Kings fans.