– The Kings broke their two-game losing streak, improved to 11-6-2 — including 6-4-1 on the road — and dropped Carolina to 0-10-3 in its last 13 games.
– Erik Ersberg made 22 saves for his first victory of the season and his first victory since Dec. 13 of last year. In between, Ersberg went 0-7-3 in 10 decisions.
– Randy Jones had one goal and one assist in his debut with the Kings and played 16 minutes, 25 seconds, mostly with Jack Johnson as a partner. Jones entered the game with 13 goals and 56 assists in 217 career NHL games. Last season, he had two multi-point games in 47 games with Philadelphia.
– Anze Kopitar had two assists to push his league-leading point total to 30 (14 goals, 16 assists) in 19 games. Kopitar has now recorded at least one point in five consecutive games and has recorded at least one point in 16 of the Kings’ 19 games this season.
– Justin Williams had one goal and one assist against a Carolina team that he won the Stanley Cup with. Williams now has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 14 games and has two multi-point games (out of five) since he returned from a lower-body injury on Nov. 2.
– Wayne Simmonds had one goal and one assist. He broke a two-game streak without a point and recorded his third multi-point game of the season. Simmonds had three multi-point games in 82 games last season.
– Ryan Smyth had one goal and one assist, giving him 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 19 games. Smyth had totaled just one assist in his previous three games.
– Dustin Brown had one assist, his 11th of the season, and has two goals and two assists in his last four games.
– Alexander Frolov had two assists, following a five-game stretch in which he had only one assist.
– Jarret Stoll scored a goal and has two goals and two assists in his last four games.
– The Kings outshot the Hurricanes 31-24. Smyth had a team-high six shots on goal.
– The Kings went 2-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The Kings had been 1 for 15 on the power play in their previous six games and 4 for 7 on the penalty kill in their previous two games.
– Drew Doughty played a team-high 24 minutes, 15 seconds. Kopitar led all Kings forwards at 22:23.
– The Kings lost 28 of 49 faceoffs (43 percent). Handzus lost 10 of 12.
I was impressed with Ersberg, Frolov, Simmonds and believe it or not – Randy Jones, Philly and all.
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WOW. Anthony……… you feelin’ ok?
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Was just over at nhl.com and it was interesting to note they have a section where they predict NHL Trophy winners. They have Anze as Hart Winner and Doughty as a finalist for Norris and Murray for Adams as a finalist. Cool and nice to see recognition.
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I think Williams should have passed the puck to Kopi for the open net. Kinda selfish of Williams.
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Anthony, can I get some of your new meds?
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Williams tried. Defender was in the passing lane. He almost didn’t get his shot off. Anze still got the point.
Speaking of which, Anze’s got 30 points so far. 7 more than 2nd place! Tied for most goals and 3rd in assists for the league. Wow…just WOW!
Simmonds is a +11!!!
I’m dreaming…that’s it….it’s all a dream…right?
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WWAMD: Wayne Simmonds was also listed second in the Selke Trophy running. Obviously it’s early and unofficial, but very cool to see nonetheless.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/288305-bleacher-reports-nhl-awards-at-the-one-quarter-mark
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WWAMD: Williams shot it because it was the right play, not because he was selfish. There was a defender near Kopi and Williams had the clear shot. You don’t sacrifice a goal in the name of unselfishness. Both Kopi and Williams know it doesn’t matter who scores as long as it goes in.
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Wish the Kings could fix their woes in the face off circle. All in all good win for the Kings
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First 10 games: 6-4-0 12/20 Pts.
Next 10 games: 6-2-2 14/20 Pts. (Going out on a limb saying we beat Atl.)
Not doing to shabby. We improved by two points. As long as we can keep a similar pace we will be playoff bound.
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Nice to get the win – carolina hung around way to long and had tons of good scoring chances in the 2nd from between the circles and the high slot – we spent much to much time in our own zone tonight – I watched the chi-col game on center ice and the speed of their forwards compared to ours is vastly different – we need better breakouts to combat our lack of forward speed to be a playoff team in the west – WS continues to impress with his desire – is jack johnson even on our team anymore?? drewiski with another solid game- 3 very winnable games on deck
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That empty netter must have drained all the skill out of Williams. He needed every bit of it.
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WWAMD … really? come on. let it go. Just because you cannot admit that we got the better of the Sully/JW trade does not mean that you have to find every little thing to bash JW about. This was a hockey decision and DL and TM made the right one. This is reinforced by the fact that Sully is a mediocre, at best, player for the Oilers playing on a line that he SHOULD be a star on. I mean seriously. Even Moulson has taken advantage of a great opportunity to shine in NY, and I’m a Sully fan!
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SOMEONE WITH PAST KINGS KNOWLEDGE PLEASE HELP:
So Carolina is winless in 13 games. I seem to remember the Kings having a similar streak in the 2003-2004 (could be diff season) season spanning November, December, Jan.
Is this correct? Will someone shed some light on the Kings longest winless streak?
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Anthony – keep it up. Looks so far as though Williams is going to outscore O’Sullivan and then you’ll have to honor your promise and not come back. Bad bet to take.
I’d still like to see more out of Frolov. Purcell has been invisible too and you can add Jack Johnson to the list.
Around the NHL, can you believe Columbus getting rocked for 9. Steve Mason isn’t doing very well in his second year. 7-5-2 is respectable but a .879 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA looks like a sophomore slump to me or is it Jim Carrey disease?
For the Kings, do you keep Jones in the lineup? I would and sit Johnson, bring back OD for the Atlanta game. You could also sit Harrold and carry 7 D. I love that Atlanta plays tonight and we get them the next night.
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Off the topic can somone remind me why we let moulsin go?
The guy is playing great and putting up points.
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@JPUCK — I’ve been watching them for a long time, and I don’t remember anything that bad. I’m thinking six or eight games. They had a really bad roadie about five years ago. They lost several straight AND got tagged pretty badly in some of them (like 6 or 8 goals.) I think it was at the beginning of the really bad goaltending days.
@54fighting — Yes, I noticed that too–Mason’s had some ugly outings this year. I’d keep Jones in the lineup after a game like that! Maybe rotate some of the older defensemen to give them a breather. For now, I like keeping Roldy in because he was scratched several games, and he can plug in wherever. That back-to-back thing will hit the Kings the next night against Tampa–the Olympics schedule and all. Too bad it’s not Tampa playing when the Kings are rested.
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@speedy — Moulson was only signed for a year last season and was a free agent. According to the Islanders, he had 10 points in 29 games for the Kings over three years, so he apparently wasn’t part of DL’s and TM’s long-term plans.
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that fourth line of ours looked really bad, and with us being on the road, opposing coach’s are gooing to take advantage of that. I’m a little nervous over the lines that Atl. can put out there against our 4th. Also, with a back to back, we can’t double shift players on to the 4th like we normally would.
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To bad we coulndn’t get WWAMD to make the same bet Anthony did huh??? Deal with it O’Sullivan is and not coming back….
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You have to give DL some credit–the JW deal looks like a good one. Even the worst critic would have to concede that at the very least it is a wash. JW is a skilled player, and has helped raise the play of his linemates.
I concur with the comments on JJ. Not sure what is going on in his head.
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@ Steve Soldo — Let’s review in July (hopefully not earlier!) If he stays healthy (and I don’t expect his game to drop off, otherwise) DL won the gamble.
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wwamd said: “I think Williams should have passed the puck to Kopi for the open net. Kinda selfish of Williams.”
Kopitar was yelling for Williams to take the shot. As Naturallawyer said, it was the correct hockey play. Try playing the game sometime.
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Right EJ, and Williams was looking for Kopi on that play. He took the shot because it was indeed the right play.
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Again, Moulson is an average player getting top line minutes with 2 studs. Just look how Trevor Lewis looked with Okposo – imagine if Lewis was between Okposo and Tavares and that’s = Moulson. He’s getting 1st line minutes too, something he would never get here in L.A. So in the end, average player that needed a change of scenery and is taking advantage of his opportunity on a terrible team.
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11-6-2, in 4th in the Western Conference, and widely considereed one of the better teams in the NHL.
Yet people complain. Kings fans are absolutely rediculous.
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The Kings win and everyone is arguing over Williams passing or shooting into an open net with a two goal lead. Everyone get a grip and start enjoying how well your team is playing.
Please digress back to the usual banter about what to do with JJ, Frolov and now add Jones to the mix so I can enjoy reading some of your posts with my morning coffee!
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I think that the game was play played in thirds. 1/3 Kings dominate but only get 1 goal and Almostg give up the tying goal the last min of the first after destroying whatever confidence the canes had left giving them life Nice 5 on on three % 2-8 now?. 2/3 Kings have a breakdown and play safe and get dominated. 3/3 the kings play safe the first 5-7 min of the closing period before waking up to see a team that on paper and on the cold white stuff is horrible. Harrold are you kidding me Ivanans would have softly put that empty netter in before Legace relized he was in the lobby and no one was guarding that little piece of iron & twine. Ersberg will need to make those saves. He has given up 5 bad goals in 2 games. Needs to improve. Randy Jones was a great boost. Of course now TM will probably sit him back down along with getting Drago (Ivanans) back on the ice because Atl. has some tough peanut vendors working tomorrow and he wants the muscle. Go Boys lets surprise everyone and win the balance of roadies… PS again either 5 goal or 1 goal..lets get consistant.
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Most games are played in thirds…they’re called periods. JK
But seriously, what I could decipher, I mostly agreed with.
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Nice win by the Kings. Not their best game as they shouldn’t be allowing teams to come back and make it competitive. The team is still struggling with the killer instinct aspect, but is very close.
As far as the Williams and Sullivan ‘comparison.’ Both have very good skills and abilities but bring different things to the table; Williams is a veteran and I think his style of play — particularly along the boards — is what was needed to complement Anze and the acquisition of Smyth complemented them as well. That and Williams’ character are IMO better suited for this team (along with leadership) than what O’Sullivan could provide at this stage of the plan. This does not mean one player is better than the other, but Lombardi and Murray have to look at their roster and try to find the pieces that fit together, not just having a good player for having a good player’s sake. This is the difference between being a good team and being a great team.
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Did anybody notice FROLOV’s pass on the Simmonds goal? Great pass and great effort by Wayne…
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Totally agree with everything Dman just said. Great post in my opinion. I really liked Patty O and will root for him his entire career but Williams is more beneficial for the Kings and the system they play.
Wow 22 minutes for Kopitar. Man that is a lot of skating for a center! Wonder if DL is worried about him being out of shape now?
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This is exciting. JW is definitely a better player than Sully. The best part is we haven’t seen the best out of JW yet. If you watch closely, he is having problems finding the handle on a few pucks. Its like he is rushing to make the quick play.
I thought Ersberg looked nervous in the first. I’m sure he would like to have had both those goals back but he sure settled down for most of the third. I hope this helps his confidence.
Jones was a great pickup. I wonder how the OD and Jonesy story will play out regarding healthy scratches. I’d keep him in for one of these back to backs.
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Barry’s Mullet, Totally agree 100%.
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I dont’ think you can honestly say Moulson didn’t have a chance here. If I remember many of us were wondering why he merited the first and second line minutes he was getting last year. He didn’t take advantage. I think he got PP minutes too if I’m not mistaken.
I’m happy for the guy though. Most of our guys that leave I wish good things for.
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just saw the highlights from Carolina game…WWAMD, are you serious about Williams passing it? He was top of the circles, midway between them, with the defenseman almost totally out of the way of the goal and leaning more towards Kopitar, if he had passed it to Kopi, he would have made a horrible play, just bury the biscuit.
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