alt="LA Kings Insider with Rich Hammond" />For all the excitement over the goals scored, the most impressive part of the Kings’ victory last night might have been Sidney Crosby’s scoreline: one shot on goal, a minus-1 rating and two penalty minutes. Crosby was no doubt a presence, particularly on the power play, but he didn’t do anything to beat the Kings. Here’s what Terry Murray said last night about keeping Crosby quiet…
MURRAY: “There was no special strategy. We’re looking at our forecheck game, and a big part of our responsibility is that high third man, is to cover over the center iceman. We ask that against any team that we play, but I think there’s greater awareness when you have the elite player, that Crosby is, out on the ice against you. That third guy in the offensive zone, in the middle of the ice, was well taken care of. I thought every one of our forwards, against them, read that the right way.”
Murray was also asked about the continued strong play of Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske, and Murray brought that subject back to Crosby as well…
MURRAY: “You’ve got to play big and strong down below the goal line against this team. Crosby is not a huge, physical guy, like a Rupp is, but he’s one of the strongest guys on the puck in the league. He’s got a low center of gravity, and there’s incredible stuff he can do with it. You’ve got to have big, bulky guys that are able to lean on those kinds of players and shut down the cycle. That’s where (Drewiske) excels.”
On the other side, the Penguins allowed five goals in a game for the first time this season. They hadn’t allowed five goals in a regular-season game since a Feb. 22, 2009 loss (5-2) to Washington, although it did happen to them three times in the playoffs last season.
I am so torn whether we need to pick up another puck moving D man or not via trade, I still think Kaberle would be a huge addition. Whiskey is playing so damn well that I don’t want to take him out, but he is the only one I would consider.
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If it aint broke, don’t fix it…
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Tons of props for the Kings on NHL Live this morning. Finally getting noticed!
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I still want to see how the Kings play in Dec. That really is where the teams start to pull away or drop off. Good game last night… The D – Forecheck and faceoffs are always the key!
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The best defense will always be a good offense.
A team can’t score if they don’t have the puck.
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Hit The Post… I’ll go one step further:
NHL Standings as of 01/02/2009!
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Boston – 62 ——– vs. 8. Pittsburgh – 42
2. Washington – 53 —- vs. 7. Carolina – 43
3. Philadelphia – 49 — vs. 6. New Jersey – 47
4. NY Rangers – 49 _— vs. 5. Montreal – 48
OUT OF PLAY-OFFS
9. Buffalo – 41
10. Florida – 37
11. Toronto – 36
12. Ottawa – 31
13. Atlanta – 31
14. Tampa Bay – 30
15. NY Islanders – 28
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. San Jose – 61 — vs. 8. Columbus – 40
2. Detroit – 55 — vs. 7. Phoenix – 43
3. Calgary – 48 — vs. 6. Anaheim – 43
4. Chicago – 47 — vs. 5. Vancouver – 46
OUT OF PLAY-OFFS
9. Colorado – 39
10. Minnesota – 38
11. Edmonton – 37
12. Dallas – 37
13. Nashville – 37
14. Los Angeles – 36
15. St. Louis – 31
Obviously the Phoenix and St. Louis stories are noteworthy in the West…
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Marc – Great stats
St. Louis was a great story.
Come on Kings!
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The best defense will always be a good offense.
A team can’t score if they don’t have the puck
–Then it’s the Offense with the puck down low, making it a great offense is a great defense.
Right?
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Drewiske’s play almost makes me forget about what could have been if Lombardi had not traded with Buffalo and given them Tyler Myers last year. (Not too critical since I love just about every other deal Lombardi made.)
I can see Drewiske on the back end with Doughty in the near future and for a long time coming. He’s turning out to be a real find. I’m hoping Drewiske develops a bit of a nasty streak to him because the rest of his game is solid right now. Every time I see him on the ice, I feel like the play is secure.
As much as a Myers – Doughty back end would have been an elite pairing, Doughty – Drewiske is not looking too bad either.
I’m also predicting that with all this attention on the other players, the pressure won’t be as great on Jack Johnson to round out his game. He’s going to get considerably better and the fans will be back on the JMFJ bandwagon before mid-season.
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Also Colorado, Marc nathan….
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WTF, K…
Colorado was a non-playoff team on 1/2/09, and remained one at season’s end. The story there were the ST. LOUIS and PHOENIX flip/flops. All 8 Eastern teams that were in the playoffs on 1/2 were there at the end.
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They dropped all the way to last place from just out of the playoff points…and now they’re…where they are…
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What’s the frequency, Kenneth
Marc Nathan is only talking about the story last year, not what the teams are doing this year. Last year, the stories were STL and PHX.
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Oh. I thought it was about trends between various arbitrary points such as the beginning of the season, middle of the season and the end of the season. That seemed to be where HTP was going.
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I was at the game last night and tried to focus on Crosby every time he was on the ice. I realize the guy is a great player, but if he was wearing a different jersey I would have thought he was just another guy in the league. The Kings never let him get it going at all the entire game. It was a great job by all.
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