If you were at Staples Center last night, I’m sorry. The Los Angeles Kings didn’t come out to play. Instead the San Jose Sharks steamrolled the Midget Kings to take control of the NHL lead. Because Detroit also lost, the Kings remain 8th in the Western Conference. “Enjoy” the highlights.
You read the score correctly. The Los Angeles Kings came into the Shark Tank last night and were on the winning side of a bloodbath. The Sharks were coming off of an astounding 9-game win streak but the Kings were there to make sure it didn’t go into double-digits. The Kings got scoring from six different players. Drew Doughty had 4 assists and Jonathan Quick had over 40 save. Wow. Your thoughts?
Guest blogger Alex Kinkopf joins us again to give us his take on this very important week of Los Angeles Kings Hockey. You can friend Alex up on Facebook
On Attendance:
I’ve just about accepted the fact that section 325 will no longer be completely vacant for my pleasure for the remainder of the season. The days of scalping any ‘ol 300 level seat without care or concern about the 14th row corner section I just shelled out 10 bones for, an automatic ass-cushion in the three-two-five…are over. I noticed the sudden boost in attendance after the holidays last year, and likewise this year on the 28th against Minnesota. It’s gotta be the holiday ticket packages. It’s gotta be!
On Stolly’s Return:
Hammy said it, Jarret Stoll will be back in the lineup tomorrow night at the Pavilion. Good to hear, but don’t expect a full serving of Stoll right away. If there’s one player to feel comfortable with taking draws, its #28. I’d like to see him work his way back on the PP as well. There’s nothing like a Stoll-Doughty or Stoll-JMFJ tandem feeding each other juicy D to D passes across the blue-line resulting in absolute bombs from the point.
On Scuds:
Rob Scuderi has proven to be a great off-season acquisition for Los Angeles. Not a player that gets a whole lot of love from fans because of his style of play. He gets the job done in the defensive zone. Not a flashy player, and sticks to his priority of playing a defensive-minded game. This gives his defensive partner, whomever it may be, Doughty or Johnson, to step up in the offensive zone and take a couple of chances. Great example here from back in September.
Scuderi’s play is underrated, and I love it. When you can sign a veteran defenseman who can not only teach the youngsters in Doughty and Johnson, but give them the support to allow them to make an offensive presence, you have yourself a key player. One with a lot of playoff experience and a ring on his finger. Expect Scuds to be a gamebreaker later on this year.
On Tonight @ San Jose:
Huge game, no question about it. Like I said previously, the Kings need victories in at least two of the three meetings with San Jose this month in regulation to have any hopes of a shot for the Pacific Division Title. Jarret Stoll will be back with the 4th line centering Ivanans and Moller. Randy Jones is still out recovering from his concussion symptoms. Brown – Kopitar – Smyth leading the top line again. What do you expect to see from this game? Predictions? The win against Washington was huge, and following it with a victory against San Jose would be a shot in the arm for the Kings.
The Los Angeles Kings, enter the new decade with a 2 game winning streak and an Olympic sized boost of confidence. KingsCast, attends the game, has a run-in with Alexander Ovechkin and wreaks havoc at the Celebrities vs Alumni Game. So far 2010, so good! Question of the Day: Who is your favorite hockey player?
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!
With the holiday season upon us, the Kings have given fans the gift of consistent winning…and bonus hockey. Even while battling the injury bug, the team continues to climb the standings into uncharted waters. If you could give a gift to your favorite Kings player, what would it be?
When the Kings decide to start Erik Ersberg against the San Jose Sharks, we never expect to compete, much less win. However, the Los Angeles Kings exceeded expectations last night as they delivered a win in overtime at the Shark Tank. Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Teddy Purcell all broke their goal-less streaks last night. Did any of you expect this?
While the offense tapered off in the last two games, the Los Angeles Kings squeezed out a couple of points in overtime to remain at the top of the Pacific Division. Here we take you through “Canada Night” at Staples Center and give some in-game Kings analysis.
In the third back-to-back of this young season, the Los Angeles Kings lost to the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks in shootouts and yet they find themselves back at the top of the Pacific Division. Odd, I know; but sometimes weird occurrences just happen. Even though the Kings were not the victors in either game, they were both great to watch. There were hit posts, rush plays, and surprise contributions all over the place. In any other year, these are two teams the Kings usually lose to, but this season is, once again, proving they are on a constant uptick.
While viewing the game on Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks, I did not realize how much their roster had changed until I saw the lineup. Gone are Christian Ehrhoff and Jonathan Cheechoo; in are Dany Heatley and Manny Malhotra. The make up of their team seems to have remained the same but the difference in this equation is a better Kings roster. That being said, the Kings dominated the first period while the Sharks came back in the second, and the teams battled it out all the way to the shootout. My question here is, “Why was Alexander Frolov left out of the top three shooters?” He had the only Kings goal of the game and was grinding it out as much as the other players, so your guess is as good as mine. It also must be noted that he was left out of the top three shooters against the Canucks as well.
Jonathan Quick played both games and looked solid while Sharks’ Evgeni Nabokov and Canucks’ Andrew Raycroft looked just as steady. First off, who knew Raycroft could still play! He was hit with 31 shots while Quick had just 15 sail his way. Second, did the Kings not realize that Nabokov was going to stop every shootout shot that went directly towards his chest? I don’t get the logic used by the players; subsequently, the Sharks left the arena with two points.
This picture’s purpose is solely to show how ridiculous/awesome Bailey is.
The penalty kill might need work but these Los Angeles Kings have found a way to score in bunches. In this episode we walk you through the game against the Wild and talk about where the Kings need to improve.
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