Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the game…)
MURRAY: “We did a better job in the second and the third period. At the start of the game, they came at us pretty good. They played very well in their game in Anaheim. They just brought some of that energy to the first period, and they just had us going a little bit there in the first half of the first period. We started to settle down and do better things with the puck. I thought, in the second period, we were doing the right things through the middle of the ice to give ourselves a chance in the offensive zone. The thing that we needed to be better at in that game was just getting traffic at the net. We were standing off the post, we were off the side of the crease, but we needed to `play’ goaltender, to be right at his head. He saw a lot of pucks, and you end up getting a couple goals on pucks coming from the blue line. It’s just a shot mentality, but the traffic was much better. Loose pucks were there. We were finding a way to tie the game, which was a lot of hard work, but we got the job done and had a chance.”
(on the style of play…)
MURRAY: “I didn’t think it was a very physical game. It was more of a track meet kind of a game, up and down. They had the cycle going, and we weren’t stopping and sealing anything in our D-zone. Probably the same in the other end. We did a pretty good job once we got the puck into the offensive zone, with our cycle. Whenever the game got hard, the fans got excited. Clune got a little bit involved. Simmer, at the end. We need to be a little bit more like that on a consistent basis.”
(on the lack of traffic on the power play…)
MURRAY: “The traffic on the power play… We had many opportunities on the power play. In the latter part of the game, that was the issue. In the early part, on the power plays though, we were not shooting the puck. We were trying to pass the puck into the net. There were a lot of seam, cross-ice passes that were not necessary. We had shooting lanes, and we were passing it up. That’s a lesson learned, I hoped.”
(on faceoff struggles…)
MURRAY: “They won a lot of clean faceoffs, that give them possession, and then winning battles that were there for pucks. That’s a big part of it, when you’re on special teams. If you can establish possession right away, and get things going, the more things are going to happen. That was throughout the game, in all situations, 5-on-5, 4-on-4, power play, penalty kill, we were not digging in hard enough.”
C’mon TM.
“They brought their energy from the last game.”
NO! It’s a brand new game and has nothing to do with previous games.
They can just bring the intensity right away that we can’t.
Nevertheless, this is still a playoff team.
Frustrating loss but we’ll be ok.
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After tonight, we are still in the top 10 in PP%
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Powerplay was abysmal again.
I’m looking forward to Dean Lombardi’s offseason moves. And I ain’t talking about the players.
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So many missed chances
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The Kings are not a pretty team. A vast majority of their wins have been gritty, with goals coming from hard work. Sure there is the skill of Kopitar, etc. But the grinding physical play is the identity of this team. It wasnt there tonight for some stretches of play.
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Yes yes we all know this, but when is our team going to get it? I don’t expect great play every night from every player, but these lame beginings are killing us, winners dont play catch up.
Just aint going to win, not scoring on PP’s.
And Clune, for his first NHL, I like it.
Would have liked to see him in the shoot out, maybe the newbie to the goal would have been an advantage.
Yes, the shoot out concept still stinks.
Oh well, just need to take a loan out and get to LA for the avalanch game. And if anbody has a Simmers bobble for sale, please let me know.
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Teams on losing streaks are underrated. People expect beating them to be easy, and it’s not. Those teams are usually working harder to do everything right because they’re gripping. I haven’t watched the game yet, but I think some of you might be basing your impressions on who they played, not what they did.
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this is a great building year. We should hopefully hit the playoffs and maybe even squeek out a round. Great growing year for te kids and great tenacity at the nd of games.
I thought the coaches lost this one for us. Why can we not be ready for games and the line combos in the last couple of games down right sucked. Stoll is a center and should be on the second PP unit. I am perplexed at in-Kompon-ents power play failure.
I hope D.L goes after Hamhuis this offseason to stabilize the defence, he would be a perfect #2 on this team behind Doughty and bumping everyone down a noche to where they should be.
I didn’t like Clune’s start, maybe nerves? but he also got better as the game wore on.
Ersberg showed rust but tried to stand tall.
Why is Frolov not on the first PP, his boardwork would be a plus and would free up people in the slot and points.
Yes it was a loss but we are in good shape and still building
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WTFK,
Watch the game. It was abysmal for 80% of the contest.
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My that waz hard to watch. Sometimes I think theyre to loose. I understand when u play down competition u tend to lower your play but wow, wasn’t expecting that. they got a point which is better than nothing. Now watch they go out and dominate the av’s. Its how it is.
Anyone starting to think they’re mixing up because someones coming in, leaving? Or iz it just me. I thought EE waz fine, the defense was porous, tonight. They need to stop giving out coupons at our blueline. Hit something. Go Kingz! Aloha guyz
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Not sure what game TM was watching. They were awful tonight. Passive coach, passive team…
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this is on the coach…too many line changes…i dont know why he needs to make his mark on every game but overcoaching will cost you..That is why Phil Jackson is a genius….let the players figure it out and stop with all the line changes…
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If there isn’t a heavyweight on the other team why the F is Ivanans in the lineup? I don’t comprehend this.
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I just wish TM would explain why he changes all the regular lines willy-nilly but come power play time its right back to Kopitar – Brown – Stoll.
0 for 6 PPs… good grief.
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I love it – one post says TM was “passive” and the next says he “overcoached”.
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Kings pp:
Stand around, pass the puck around forever, then have stoll shoot right at the goalie.
Rinse, repeat.
It’s on Kompon, the players wouldn’t naturally do this.
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Just what is our PP record in the last 50 attempts? 3-50?
Anyone have that stat. Even a 3 on 4 we looked out matched in OT.
First period, I was falling a sleep at Staples, most boring hockey I’ve seen in a long time.
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The PP stunk. But was even harder to watch was the first 50 minutes of the game. Kings looked like they where watching the game and not really playing in it.
No energy no grit. They need to bring what they did in the last 10 minutes of the game to the rest of the game.
I don’t necessarily blame the coaches. The coaches are not out their on the ice and can not force a player to play with energy and grit that is up to the player to do.
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Losses happen. Time to suck it up and push through. That said, these line changes seem to be disorienting the team. Consistency builds trust & we really need tighter passing and puck control.
I hope that the Kings are watching that Ducks game – Ducks still suck, but the way they pass the puck and swarm the goalie to scoop up the rebounds are things we could learn from. We do have excellent shooters on our team, so if we could just get the lines to have their plays clear, make passes that don’t get taken away and always, always have someone to pick up our rebounds, I’d be happy.
Also, since it tends to freak the goalies out when someone skates right at them at top speed (e.g., Smytty), we might gain a little something from better psychological warfare, too.
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I’m tired of watching the Kings play down to the competition (remember the Blues game??) Hate to say it, but I had a feeling they were going to lose even before the puck dropped. Between last night and the ducks game, I think the team has already left for the Olympic break. If they don’t figure it out, Colorado’s going to come in and embarrass us.
To all of you who were in the Kings Insider suite last night, hope you all had a blast despite the loss. Too bad they couldn’t have played better for you.
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I just do not understand the line changes. what was Stoll and Zues doing on same line. We were winning when Kopi was with Simmonds and Richardson. They had good chemistry. Why does TM constantly change lines just when they are starting to jell?
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I think this game showed how much we really depend on Quick to win us games, specially on the shootout where we had 3 chances to win it with a save. Obviously the PP needs a lot of work. I think the lines should go back to what had been working before.
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It’s time we get a new PP coach.
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‘Stache – agree with your comments, the game was abysmal for the first 2 periods, the 3rd period opened up and was entertaining.
the last 2 games, the kings have looked overmatched by their opponents. No energy, no jump to start the game and they ran around a ton for the first 2 periods.
I cannot believe that they have problems entering the offensive zone onthe PP.
EE played great and got that 1 point pretty much on his own
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It was painfull to watch. Clear indication that Kings are not ready to be a playoff team…yet. No character. Lucky to get just 1 point. Did not play for 2.5 periods. No hitting, no intencity, no pressure…I think it’s all mental and I blame coaching staff for it. Did they watch the game the night before against Ducks? EE was O.K. but both goal were stopable. I think if Quick would play we would win shootouts but we got what we deserve. Goaltender should play more to be in shape. Powerplay is awful! Kompon must be fired immediatelly! I guess he is a “good friend” of DL. No other explanation is why that guy is still our coach.
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Props to Ersberg for playing well for much of the game and in the shootout, but he didn’t get the one point “pretty much on his own.” The third period performance (by itself, obviously not enough) was a part of that. Ersberg’s bad goal (yeah, he did good stuff, yeah, he doesn’t play enough) was a factor, but so was lack of scoring.
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Kompon haters – It’s up to the players to execute the plan, not the coach. TM had it nailed: they were passing the puck too much and looking for the perfect shot. That’s a recipe for failure on the PP, and again, that is the fault of the PP unit, not the coach.
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