alt="LA Kings Insider with Rich Hammond" />(on whether, in defeat, he measures the Kings against Detroit…)
MURRAY: “We went through that last year. We’ve got to move by that. You have to look at yourself. You can’t look at any game as a comparable for where you’re at. You’ve got to come to play, and play your game. We’ve been playing very well, and we just let ourselves get away with play that’s not acceptable. It’s not going to work against a good team like this. They’re a veteran hockey club. They know how to win in many different ways, and they can exploit those critical moments in the game.’’
(on what he thought went wrong in the second period…)
MURRAY: “Right at the start, I didn’t think we were too bad, at the very beginning. They scored the goal right after the faceoff, that first one. I’d like to have that one back, and then a power-play goal, then it’s 2-0 and now it’s time to dig in or it’s going to be a real long night. The air seemed to be let out of our tires a bit after that first goal.’’
(on Kopitar’s hard landing after a first-period hit…)
MURRAY: Yeah, I think he’s all right. That was a little bit of a flip there by Cleary, I think it was, in the middle of the ice, but he seemed to bounce back.’’
(Note: Kopitar didn’t miss any time and, after the game, said he was OK).
(on the penalties, whether they were bad calls or the result of not working hard…)
MURRAY: “Well, however they were, we have to kill them. We need to be identifying those power-play situations, when we have to really dig in and be desperate and make sure we get through it. They scored right away off that look that they’ve been showing for the last 15 years, with Holmstrom in front of the net and the puck coming from the blue line. So again, however (the penalties) happen, it doesn’t really matter. The fact is, you’re going to have to kill them.’’
Rich, if you have a moment, read this article. http://lakingsnews.com/2009/10/15/passing-opportunities/
Passing was not very good last season but it appears to have gotten worse. Does Terry Murray have an answer for this or is it one of those “we just have to work harder at it and get better” replies.
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Zad,
Minus Quincey plus Scuderi equals less connecting passes from deep in our end.
You can’t build a stable house on a shaky foundation.
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I’m pretty sure the team’s passes are much better compared to last season.
Tonight wasn’t the best. That’s true. In comparison to the rest of this season it was the second worst game. The opener being the worst.
However, in comparison to the games last season it lands somewhere in the middle.
If someone can research the puck possession times for this season and average it against last season I’m sure we’ll see an increase. With accurate passing being one of the key factors for that.
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Cris
It’s deeper than that. Every player on the team suffers from it. Jack’s passing has regressed. Doughty looked terrible. Smyth made some nice passes but then Kopitar couldn’t hit him from 5 feet. It’s infected the whole team. Personally, I think it’s rushing the pass. There is so much time and space that a lot of these defensemen have and they play hot potato with the puck.
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I’d like to know where the Kings aggressiveness went. Especially after that cheap check Cleary put on Kopi when he dragged his leg and Kopi fell akwardly. If the officials miss a call like that, they need to take things into their own hands. Simmonds should have beat the crap out of Cleary, and I guarantee that would have started some momentum for the kings.
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Zad,
you hit the nail on the head.what kid of passing drills does this team do?
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