Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the result…)
MURRAY: “I thought we played well enough to win today. We’re playing well. We didn’t think we played well in Phoenix, but we played well enough to win today. We just need to keep going with the same thing.”
(on the difference in the game…)
MURRAY: “We did everything that we wanted to do, as far as managing the puck, getting it in, getting good forechecks, cycles, lots of shots. I think we had 30-plus shots on net. We didn’t give up much at a critical time of the game, in the third period. I think they ended up with three shots in the third period, only. So you’ve got to reinforce that part of it. We’ll have to check better. Obviously the power-play goal is, again, that’s unbelievable bad luck. They go to clear, dump the puck in, it hits the shaft of Frolov’s stick, breaks his stick, pucks goes in, he comes to try to get a new stick, and does get a new stick, and as he’s recovering back into the zone, it’s in the net. Those are things we have to work through. It happens, and it always works out in the end. You’re going to get your breaks.”
(on the play of Parse and Purcell…)
MURRAY: “(Parse) had good jump and he played an intense game for the duration of the game, which is something that he has not been doing. He’s been playing very well, leveling off, dropping off, and tonight I thought his game was really good. Obviously to be able to do what he did late in the third period, he was on his toes and skating and jumping. Purcell, I thought his game was pretty good. The line was effective. They had a lot of good things going in the offensive zone. They generated some great scoring opportunities and shifts, duration in the offensive zone. He’s a part of the line, and you’ve got to give him his marks for being a part of it.”
fro was a moron going all the way back in the 2nd period to get his stick. Nice job making it a 5 on 3 as u had to go to the far side for the stick
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LOL you’ve got to give him marks for being apart of it? What the hell does that mean TM? Ohhhhh can you guys seriously blame me for hating this guy? “You have to give him his marks for being apart of the line” lmao?! That line did absolutely nothing, man this is typical Terry Murray, I can’t stand him
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Was TM watching the LA vs. Min. game?
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AK the first line DID have some good possession shifts, especially early in the game, but Purcell was never the reason for them. Purcell must impress the hell outta TM in practice to give him soooo many opportunities.
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How the heck did they do everything they needed too?
That last 5 min there were crucial time ticking off because we couldn’t get it into their zone. That time firstly could have led to the initial tying goal and the one at the end. We gave up ALOT of critical time.
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I can only assume that TM believes that line was generating ALOT?? of quality scoring chances and since TP was out there he was a part of it. I thought that line was the weaker of the three from start to finish.
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AK, I think he means he had nothing better to say about Purcell.
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I guess you can give a guy “marks” for looking so lost that GPS couldnt even tell him where the net is.
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On the bright side, the PP was 1-for-1. :p
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First time I’ve ever heard of a guy under-performing and being scratched to top line in the span of one game.
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Someone help…I’m confused. Am I on Punk’d right now?
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I must confess that in watching the game I had a hard time finding TP, but did notice him a bit right at the end when it was desperation time… but also because I was making an effort to look for him
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Purcell is Worthless!!!
Get rid of him!!
Ivanans better start dropping the gloves. Boogey leveled Smyth and Ivanans does nothing?? Someone tell Ivanans that Westgarth is in manchester with a boat load of fights and with 7 goals/many assist. Oh yeah, and Westie just signed that 3 year contract. Bye Bye Ivanans!!!! Clune needs to be up here to. WE need some identity!!!!!
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For AK47:
No, the worst first-liner would be Kyle Calder on the Anaheim Ducks. LOL, BTW he is on waivers once again.
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Oh, Murray’s talking about technical stuff. That’s the way he has to look at it as a coach who is trying to impose a system; he believes that if they continue to execute the system, the bounces will shift in our favor. I agree with him, as far as that goes.
What he’s saying about Purcell is that, in terms of the technical aspects of the system, the line worked and he worked in terms of his part in it.
He’s not saying, wow, they really delivered tonight. They obviously did not. And the blame for that is more on Kopitar and Smyth, because they get the $13-14MM, and because they are the leaders. Purcell is a prospect. He did not help his cause tonight, but he wasn’t worse than Kopitar, and frankly that’s a huge problem.
Presumably, Murray will also dust off the old “the big names have to come to play” quote. I’m sure we could all field those questions “in the role of Terry Murray” at this point.
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I will tell you guys one thing facted: Brad Richardson is really turning his season around and IMO has been doing better than Kopitar these last 6-10 games.
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Purcell was in the blue the entire game. I am not sure how much more you can get from him given his experience. It took Richie 5 seasons to become a player. JJ is also young and youth will be served no matter how much we want the team to win now.
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TM must have orders from DL to keep giving Purcell chances whenever there is an opening. DL is not going to send TP down and he’ll be lucky to trade him. We’re going to see him in and out of the top 2 lines all season until he either breaks out and keeps the spot or someone else does. If it’s the latter he’ll walk at the end of the season and we’ll hope he’s not the next Moulson.
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sd-
Moulson actually had alot of potential IMO and I think the Kings really did not give him a chance and well not even close to as many chances as Purcell has gotten. However change of scenery for Moulson could be a big one playing with a struggling team that needs as much power they can get.
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I watched Purcell carefully thru the game and thought he stepped it up some. Maybe he’ll develop further with more playing time like tonight.
I think Teddy actually played pretty well on Kopi’s line. They had a lot of chances and kept the pressure on in the Wild’s zone. Teddy was going after the puck with more zeal. Give him a chance; he was about the same as Kopitar tonight. Now they just have to finish it off and score.
I’m glad TM wants to give Teddy some room. One game isn’t enough.
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One game isn’t enough, but trying to find a line that fits him where he can be successful but proves again and again that he isn’t IS ENOUGH.
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Well, let’s see if this line will work and things will gel. Even Smyth and Kopitar are lagging some.
Then later on in the season, we can come to better conclusions.
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Did anyone notice that kopitar made the same play leading to a goal that elkins made and landed him back in manchester? Our 2nd 3rd and 4th lines played well. I like segal
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The first line played well too—just didn’t get the puck in the net. That happens some games. Let’s wait and see.
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If Quick makes the stops on the two goals high-stick-side, we win! He only stopped 19 of 23 shots I believe… (but he did play well otherwise). And then Frolov’s broken stick…
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Well if Quick stops all the shots then yes, we will win every game. But the two shots stick side high were PERFECT. See that is why they went in
I thought the Kings looked better than Sat. but still rusty and sore and banged up. We had plenty of chances but everything seemed a half step out of sync.
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I was at the game tonight. Teddy Purcell played good dot to boards MOST times. He loosened up a few pucks. He made some decent passes. That is all fine and dandy. His BIG mistake is the same as Kopitar’s:
NO PUTTING YOUR HEAD DOWN AND DRIVING TO THE NET! Daryl Evans said as much tonight on Kings Talk and he’s exactly right. You need to pay the price and get into some quality scoring areas. Guys like Smyth are going to follow and get garbage goals when you do that. Put FROLOV in this category as well, but tell him to at least SHOOT THE DAMN PUCK when he’s in the @#$%^ slot! He had a wide open shot 15 feet out and passed it to the winger?!?! WTF?!?!
Terry Murray should be working with Ryan Smyth and using the next practice to do NOTHING BUT dropping your shoulder and driving to the net drills. Our top wingers have no backbone all of a sudden! Kopitar had 2 chances down the slot and stopped up. (The third one he actually did drop his head and tried. Puck was stripped, but he did try). Frolov had 2 chances in the slot and stopped up as well. So did Purcell. Grow some balls guys.
Richie was on FIRE tonight! He was all over the ice. Dot to boards was better than anyone and really showed serious passion in his game. The entire line of Parse-Richie-Simmonds for that matter was awesome! Really working hard.
When Frolov was on the boards, he and his line was good as well. I think the key to Fro fitting in this system is simple. Keep him as the guy in the corners with Zeus behind the net and Brown in the crease. Tell Fro to stay out of the crease area unless he’s gonna go straight balls for the net to score. Otherwise, stay outside and give it to Zeus or a defenseman pinching at the half boards. When fro tries to do too much, he fails almost every time.
There’s more, but I’m tired. At least I won $120 at San Manuel this morning so the wife and I got to gamble, eat, shop and see the Kings for free and come home with money. Tough day.
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And Murph sez……We just need to keep going with the same thing
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Why does Ivan the large have to fight if a hit is clean such as the one Boogard put on Ryan….. that’s exactly what’s partly wrong in the NHL and also all the crap that goes on after the goaltender catches or freezes the puck.
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John, yes I did notice that Kopitar made the Elkins mistake.
I also agree that Teddy did okay tonight but okay isn’t good enough. It’s barely acceptable when you win, but it’s not at all acceptable in a loss. The only thing in his favor is that he’s not an established player like Kopitar, Smyth, Brown etc..
The question regarding Purcell is about evaluating a prospect. The issue re Kopitar is more important by several orders of magnitude. Why is he not dominating? And how about this: both Purcell and Kopitar were okay but not great tonight; neither proved their worth, but they were more or less in the same ballpark as each other. And yet people don’t know if Purcell belongs in the NHL? What does that say about Kopitar? In another thread, someone noted that Purcell’s one goal in the last 21 games projects to a season total of 3 goals. And I remarked that Kopitar’s 3 goals in the same span projects to a 12 goal season. A 12 goal season! We can worry over the Purcell issue all we want, but it’s a lot to put on young Ted to expect the prospect to jump start the superstar.
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It’s gotten to where it’s far more angering to listen to the uninformed whining after the game than to actually watch the loss, in which they played well enough to win.
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Yeah, I saw Teddy in front of the net a lot, but his stick was not on the ice. I think Cynic is right: there should be more driving to the net all around. And if each line does what it should, they all can be effective—the line combinations are pretty good.
Then we just got to stop the defensive mistakes.
And Quisp is right: A lot of players who should be scoring aren’t. We were one of the top scoring teams before. We gotta attack the net more and do better on the power plays, because other good teams seem to know how to stifle us now. And there are a lot of tough teams fighting hard to get into the playoffs.
I think TM will address these issues, and like on Kings’ talk, this stretch will be just a hiccup, like he said, all teams go thru tough spots in a season. I think the Kings are too good now to revert to like last year. We should at least be able to make the playoff with the players we have.
WAKE UP, KINGS! We’re rooting for your success! All of you…
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I’ll say this: Special teams didn’t seem to improve over the break.
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Kopitar plays too much. He can’t handle all of the minutes he is being given. Move him to the wing where he doesn’t have to work as hard or reduce his minutes until he shows he is ready for more.
Stoll is hurt, Handzus can’t keep up, Kopitar is playing lazy. Why? Because they play center, centers have to play hard for 200 feet, and they’ve been doing it all year long. Our centers are tired and worn out.
Richardson looks good at center because he is fresh.
I think Murray should rethink the way is utilizing his guys at the moment.
On another note, for a guy that only played 11 minutes, 51 seconds, Scott Parse sure found a way to make himself noticeable out there. He is our modern day Dave Taylor/Luc Robitaille in the sense that he was long shot prospect that wasn’t expected to make the NHL.
I just hope the powers that “the powers that be” give Parse the opportunity to play a prominent role on the team the way that Robitaille and Taylor did.
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While I agree Kopi isn’t tearing it up like earlier in the season, he still is getting involved in the play and you can see him trying darned hard. Purcell is invisible and a perimeter player that looks intimidated in the NHL. Frolov was checking harder last night.
I’d like Rich to concentrate on the practices and give us a detailed account of what’s so spectacular about Teddy because I just don’t see it in the games.
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It’s a good thing this team has such strong secondary scoring.
Too bad it hasn’t had any primary scoring since … oh the loss to Chicago on Versus and perhaps a game or two prior, when Kopitar’s slump began. Something happened to him or defenses adjusted.
Anybody wanna look over the tape?
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You guys are hilarious the way you try to defend Kopitar. Now it’s Purcell’s fault? Kopitar has been screwing the pooch for the last 20 games. I guess that was Purcell too.
FYI…Purcell was the best player on that line last night.
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This place is pure entertainment after a couple of losses.
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Purcell passed it out of the slot while he was uncovered twice. What the heck? You’re a shooter, dude, shoot!
Of course, Simmonds did the same thing as did Frolov.
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The lack of heart with the so-called “skilled” players is why I always lose a debate of whether ice hockey is better than football. I would take a team made up of Brown’s, Simmer’s, Richie’s, Moeller’s, and Smytie’s any day over Kopi’s, Purcell’s and Fro’s. Don’t get me wrong I want Purcell and the skilled players to succeed, because if they succeed the Kings succeed. BUT, the lack of heart, intensity, grit is what frustrates me the most. I as a fan want a team that other teams don’t want to play against. The team that might not win on the score board, but will beat you into the boards. To use a phrase from football, I want to see “smash mouth” hockey. I love me some dirty goals and guys lowering the BOOM! Tick-tack-toe plays are cute, I guess there is nothing wrong with those types of goals.
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Can we win a faceoff?? Maybe just one import faceoff???
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Better than Saturday’s game
Quick played well early and all 4 goals beat him clean
Purcell played OK
Kopi played like crap
Brown made a few nice hits but tailed off
Frolov played well…just a bad break on the broken stick
Smyth still has rust
Moller had one or two nice shifts
Parse played like someone who just got a second chance
Simmonds played really well
Richie was on fire!
Zeus like always was MIA
The Wild earned the win…Backstrom stood on his head and we had to beat him twice on two odd goals to even be in the game…Parse had the only nice goal.
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I don’t know what to make of this team sometimes. Kopi was brilliant in the early part of the season but recently he seems to be lost out there, loafing up and down the ice, not driving to the net, no screen in front, etc.. Purcell? put on waivers, then of course he scores 50 goals for someone else and will always kill us. Ryan Smyth has not impressed me so far being back. Maybe he’s still hurtin somewhat, however, the Wild scored that pp goal because of his stupid offense zone penalty, not a Frolov broken stick. If all the guys played like Wayne Simmonds and Brad Richardson, we’d be awesome. Love the way Richardson plays. For the rest of the team, practice getting shots on net, other teams seem to have no problem getting shots on goal. I’ve ranted enough, good day all.
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Purcell did okay last night, but Kopitar is a proven elite NHL scorer that is currently snakebit. To suggest that because of Kopitar’s performance the last 15 games, that he should be treated the same as Teddy Purcell is laughable. Talk about “what have you done for me lately”.
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I agree with gof, losing Stoll on the faceoffs has really hurt us.
Seeing Belanger last night reminded me how good he was in that department.
We need Stoll back, if for nothing else, to win faceoffs.
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Not sure I agree with the comments in regards to Parse’s up and down play, he was plus something when they sent him down before Christmas and they kept a guy who went -2 with 7:47min playing time against PHX. I was impressed with the output I saw from Parse on both ends of the rink right from his arrival/debut in the NHL this season, especially his defensive play where I saw him make several key plays back in the low slot after being involved in a scoring opportunity in the offensive zone.
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I’m afraid that I will have to disagree with the assertion that Kopitar is a “proven elite NHL scorer”. He has what, 77 points in his best season and 32 goals, followed by 20 the next season? And has 2 goals in his last 20 games? Proven elite scorers like Ovechkin, Heatley, Kovalchuk, Gaborik, will NEVER go 2 for 20. EVER.
Kopitar is learning to be a first line center in this league and may or may not succeed at that. If he doesn’t, he’ll be the best 2nd line center in the NHL. Right now he needs to get back to what was working for him, stop falling down, get out of the corners, crash the net and forget that he learned to shoot into defender’s sticks from Brown.
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