Tonight’s game story, with video, stats, etc. Thanks for reading!
Canucks beat Kings 2-1 in shootout
The Kings finished with the second-best October in franchise history, with 18 points on an 8-4-2 record. The 1990-91 Kings went 9-3-1 in October for 19 points.
No practice for the team tomorrow, but I’ll have some stuff throughout the day, so check the blog! Thanks…
Will do, Thanks again.
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That was a strange game to attend. Fun, but boring. Exciting but dull. Well played but kind of… not.
From the game to the fans to the obnoxious will-call line, I’m not sure how to feel about this one. OH well, I tried: http://lakingsnews.com/2009/10/29/canucks-beat-kings-in-useless-part-of-the-game/
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I kind of agree, JDM. If I hadn’t been watching this game from the first tier (a rare treat for me), I probably would have been more excited by the ice girls than many parts of the game. The big blocks of Canucks fans also created a weird vibe.
I gotta say, though, Parse’s goal was pretty impressive. A bullet, and placed right where Raycroft had no chance on it. It was either really lucky or darned brilliant, and from where I was sitting, it was jaw-dropping to see.
Also looked like Purcell whiffed on a couple of chances in deep in the 2nd. They were at the far end of the ice, though, so I didn’t see them as clearly.
Overall, kind of frustrating in that the Kings dominated one period and played no worse than even the other two, yet only came away with one point. But OTOH, the two games I attended last season were the 4-1 loss to Boston and the notorious Tampa Bay game, and the Kings look so much more capable and competitive this season.
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2nd best October! Now lets build on it and make it the best November in Kings history! GO KINGS GO!!! And Surly, it could have been worse. You could have been at the ECHL game i was at here in Vegas. It got so bad we started cheering for the other team. The only game I ever left after 2nd period (we where down 8-1 and lost 9-2). Well, going to bed now. I will be at the next Kings home game on the 5th!
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I must say, if this game were last year, I would have been singing “Hey we hung tough with a better team!”, but this year that just won’t fly.
We can beat anybody. This team is a good, if not great. The difference is all in their heads, and the Canucks threw a different type of game at them than they have seen all year, and it threw the Kings a little.
It was also a long, hard month. Tons of games, 3 back to backs. Tough month to start the year on, but the Kings were brilliant for the vast majority.
I thought Purcell was strong, but I am trying to recall if I’ve ever seen him execute, or even attempt, a one-on-one move. I was pleasantly surprised to see him use his speed through the neutral zone a few times, but he has so much skill, I have to imagine he is capable of getting around defenders for real scoring chances.
Speaking of the ice girls though, I liked the costumes. A few of them have a posture that distracts me far too much from the game at hand.
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WRT the attitude about the loss, last year the Kings probably would have lost both games, and I think most of us recognize that. We’ve already learned to expect game-to-game improvement from the Kings, and amazingly, we’re seeing almost exactly that!
Still, I think it’s worth reaching for the stars and being disappointed with something less than perfection. It’s not necessarily so important for US to be disappointed, but it would be great if the expectation of continuing improvement rubs off on the team. Some teams get into “good enough” mode, and I don’t want to see this team do that–we’ve waited, patiently, WAY too long to see them not become the powerhouse we’re hoping to see, if not this year, soon.
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Thanks for all your work Rich, you make my workdays go by a lot faster!
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It’s incredibly annoying to lose a game like that. The Kings game it their all for 65 minutes while the Canucks trapped until the shootout.
I wish Murray would have come out and said that.
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Dear Rich,
Yesterday’s economic release showed that GDP increased by 3.5%. I’m pretty sure that if you didn’t have a blog worker productivity would’ve been higher and we would’ve hit 4.0%.
Thanks for single-handedly stunting US economic growth Rich
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Yet another perfectly good game ruined by a shootout.
It’s like watching a solid basketball game that goes to overtime, that ends with bringing out the Harlem Globetrotters.
It’s just silly.
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the one thing I hate more than a shoot out is a tie, but I really wish they would do 10 mins of 4 0n 4 or even 20 mins of 4 on 4 before taking it to a shoot out
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Ersberg and Shakes…very funny!
I thought Purcell played a really strong game, but still no finish. Hopefully he builds on the effort and the goals come quickly.
I thought we played a really strong game on both ends of the ice.
I agree guys that we should expect to win every game, but realistically, that’s not going to happen. Sometimes you will run into a goalie like Raycroft who decides to imitate Patrick Roy instead of Jason LaBarbara. The only thing you can expect from the team is to continue to battle during the game and hope to get one past him. In the past, this is a game we lose in regulation, not shootout.
I applaud the effort and the points that we got in this game will help us down the road.
The object should be wins, but getting points every night is extremely important when looking long term during the season.
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Shakes — Epic!
Thanks for the laugh.
I think it’s been a fabulous first month for the team, they played alot of games, made it through their longest and toughest road trip of the season and have a great record coming out of the month. Onward Kings!
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Dean definitely made a smart decision when bringing in Terry as coach. He’s an excellent teacher, has gotten his players to buy into his system and is a calm, mild-mannered, father-like leader perfect for a young, developing team. However, I wonder whether Terry is the type of top-notch tactition we need to take the Kings to the next steps of making the playoffs and ultimately winning The Cup. In the past few games we’ve seen examples of poor decisions that have cost the team critical points.
First, there was the decision to sit Quick in the Rangers game. I can understand his logic–back to back games and his first goalie hadn’t yet taken a break, plus maybe saving him for the Detroit game was more important in that it was a 4 point game against a conference foe. But Terry remarkably forgot one of the cardinal rules of sport–never mess with a player on a hot streak. Clearly, the Kings outplayed the Rangers, yet lost 2 points because Ersberg let in several soft goals. But this decision may have lost the Kings more than just 2 points, because it definitely affected their confidence in the succeeding games, leading to a losing streak.
The last 2 games, Terry has shown another, even more concerning area of bad decision making–his choice of shootout players. Watching him now for over a year and hearing his comments, it is apparent that he likes to choose his shooters by “rewarding” players who have done well in the game or at practice, rather than selecting the best men for the particular job of shootout. This “reward” system ultimately penalizes the team as a whole, when as in the San Jose and Vancouver games, wher his team outplayed the other, his players must watch the opponents skate off triumphantly congratulating each other. At some level, this has to be demoralizing, particularly for a young team still trying to build its confidence. Shootouts demand your best skater/puck handler/shooters. Clearly, on the Kings, this means Kopitar and Folov should always be 2 of the first 3 selected. This is based not only on their game results/goals, but also on their past shootout results. If you look at the teams most successful in shootouts, they stick with their two top skill players virtually every time. The best men for the job also become the most experienced and most confident. The third position could be somewhat determined by the play durung the game, but probably should come from the skill group of Johnson, Doughty, Handzus and Stoll. Others can participate in later rounds–the objective is to win it before then!
I give Terry a lot of credit for admitting and fixing his mistake with regard to sitting Quick. Hopefully, this message regarding shootouts will get to him and he will correct it too, so we can get back on the right track toward The Cup!
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We should have at least 20 points right now, but I’ll take the 18
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As the first month ends, here’s what I am thinking: We played some good teams, many on the road – and we are on a pace for 105 points. We have budding superstars in Kopitar and Doughty. We have six solid D-men, and more depth at forward than I ever remember. We have a good young goalie, and another one developing in the minors. We appear to have some real talent in the farm system waiting for their chance. I’M EXCITED. Does anybody disagree???
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I was at the game & was really upset with the Vancouver fans. There were probably a couple thousand of them. And section 111 was 90% blue jerseys, blue faces & blue & green wigs. I was tired of hearing “Go Canucks Go” all night. Everything was just fine though as I really didn’t mind them cheering for their team. But after the game in the concourse it was ridiculous. They were all screaming & shouting & running around with their capes & flags & getting in the Kings Fans faces. It was like they won the Stanley Cup – what fools they acted like.I wasn’t surprised to see a couple shoving matches. Win with dignity & go back to Vancouver!
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Amazing, we have 18 points and the second best start in Franchise history, AND I’M STILL DISAPPOINTED! We could have easily won both games.
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Rick, agree 100%.
Here’s a thought, maybe if Williams played we win the last two games.
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It seems to me that for the past 3-4 seasons the Kings goaltending in the shootout has been anything but decent. Though I’ve been a hockey player for many years, I am not going to assume that I know better than guys who have been in the NHL, and a part of hockey for much longer than I. That being said, it seems that the goaltending technique in shootouts appears off. I see Quick getting beat the exact same way that LaBarbara did. I do think that Quick is a FAR better netminder than Labs, I still do not feel confident in shootout situations.
Also, WWAMD…
You mentioned that Kompton chooses the line-up for shootouts.
WHY??
I understand that there has to be some strategy for determining those line-ups. But having Zeus and Smyth as the 1st and 3rd option are not strong choices. Zeus is a nice player, but does not have the hands of Kopitar or Brown. Smyth is not a deker. That doesn’t make Smyth any less of a player, but shootouts are not his strongest area. Johnson has proven that he can score in shootouts.
This has been a fun start of the season for Kings fans. I’m excited to see what happens next, as the ads on FSNW say.
GO KINGS GO!!!
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Definitely two games we dominated for the majority of each and didn’t get the results we should have. The elite teams in this league win both of those games. The Kings aren’t there yet……perhaps soon though……
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Rick..No argument from me!
Swami
I mentioned it on another post about the shootout
The Kings don’t really have any go-to guys for the shootout other than maybe JJ.
As talented as Kopi and Fro are, neither are close to a sure thing.
I think Fro’s shootout percentage is somewhere in the 20% range (if i’m wrong, please correct me). that means he’s going to miss roughly 8 out of every 10 tries…not very good at all.
No matter who he puts out there, the chances aren’t very good that they’re going to score.
I couldn’t blame him for using Zeus again coming off the goal he scored in SJ, but you know he’s not a sure thing on the shootout.
Who can he use that any of us would have confidence in?
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Jeff> I was thinking the same thing, hope he’s back in the lineup soon
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Rick
Couldn’t agree more. I’m especially loving the depth.
Put it this way. When Williams comes back, you’ll actually have to play one of Parse, Purcell or Simmonds on the fourth line.
Kopitar/Smyth/Williams
Frolov/Handzus/Brown
Parse/Stoll/Purcell
Ivanans or Harrold/Richardson/Simmonds
Now, settle down all you Simmer lovers (I happen to be one too) I put him on the fourth line because of his strong two way game. I just as easily could have put Parse there as well but i really liked what I saw from him and Purcell last night and him and Stoll the two games before that.
But how awesome is that? Having that much depth that we’re actually debating which one of the young guns has to play on the fourth line.
Dean Lombardi. Welcome to Ken Hollands world.
That’s how Detroit have been doing it for years. Rolling four strong lines.
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nykingfan
Nick Nickson went over shootout stats last night on Kings Talk. Kopi and Fro are career 41% and Brown is around 38%.
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Jester’s Dead… YeeHaw!
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Jester’s Dead
thank you…I stand corrected. See what perception and laziness will do?
I pulled these stats off of nhl.com Lifetime shooting %
Kopitar 40.0%
Brown 39.1%
Frolov 38.1%
Smythe 28.0%
JJ 50.0%
Zeus 42.9%
Stoll 25.0%
JW 25.0%
Simmer 33.3%
Doughty 33.3%
Purcell 0.0%
The samplings are pretty small…only the top 4 have 20 or more chances
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Thanks for the input on Fro and the shootout. I didn’t think I only imagined Fro being effective. Sure sounds like doghouse behavior on the part of TM to me.
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No kidding Kenneth,
I thought the same thimg which makes me worry that Fro wont be around that much longer. Heck, at this point I hope we dont ship him before x-mas.
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I don’t think its because he doesn’t like Fro.
If Fro can help him win, that would be career suicide, not to mention Dl would fire his ass in a heartbeat. These guys (TM/DL) are all about winning.
Looking at the numbers, while it’s a joke to say that Fro’s an automatic, I can’t see why he wouldn’t have used him in either game..unless he’s just going by perception, which is how I looked at it.
Did anyone else have the same thoughts on Fro that he sucked on breakaways and SO? I’d hate to be the only delusional person here.
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I’m having a hard time past looking back three or four years when Fro was THE ONLY guy consistently GETTING breakaways. IIRC, he was getting more than his share of breakaways on the PK, too. Frankly, it’s all a fairly vague memory, though.
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