After a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in the first minute of the second period. On the first shift of the period, Michal Handzus took the puck to the net and tried a backhand shot. The puck hit the stick of a Ducks defender in front and deflected to the left. It found [...]
Archive of entries posted on December 2010
End of first: 0-0
Shots were 9-8 in favor of the Kings in the first period. The Ducks had a couple quality net-front chances early, and the Kings’ line of Ryan Smyth, Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams also generated a couple scoring chances. Each team went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Scouting the Ducks
As previously posted, the Kings will go with Jonathan Bernier in goal tonight, almost certainly giving tomorrow night’s game at San Jose to Jonathan Quick. Terry Murray said, “It’s four games in five days, so I’ve got to get both goaltenders into games.” For the latest on the Ducks, check out the great job done [...]
Sturm stepping into bigger role
In the third period of Thursday’s game against Edmonton, Marco Sturm moved up to the first line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Sturm’s first five periods with the Kings were spent on the fourth line, as Terry Murray wanted to ease Sturm back into the NHL after Sturm spent the summer, and the first [...]
Kings need to get off the blocks
Tonight’s game will be the second of six meetings this season between the Kings and Ducks. This morning, the Ducks called up rookie forward Matt Beleskey from Syracuse of the AHL. Last time these teams met, the Ducks sent the Kings to their lowest point of the season. Anaheim’s 2-0 home victory on Nov. 29 [...]
Kings go with middleweights, not heavyweight
For a third consecutive game, the Kings are expected to go without Kevin Westgarth in the lineup tonight. Given that the Ducks have dressed enforcer George Parros in all but one game this season, it’s likely that the Kings won’t be matching “heavies.” The Kings are expected to go with a fourth line of Trevor [...]
Sunday skate update; Bernier in
Jonathan Bernier will start in goal tonight, with the Kings also facing a game in San Jose tomorrow night and a total of four games in five nights. Peter Harrold and Kevin Westgarth are expected to be the healthy scratches and the Kings will go with a fourth line of Brad Richardson, Trevor Lewis and [...]
Elevation day for Sturm
This morning’s skate has Marco Sturm in a first-line role with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, so presumably that’s how they will play tonight. The Stoll and Handzus lines have the same look, and we’ll see later what Terry Murray has in mind for the fourth line. On defense, the Kings have Rob Scuderi and [...]
It’s World Juniors time
Back at it this morning… Hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday. A reminder that tonight’s Kings-Ducks game is a 6 p.m. start. Today also kicks off the World Junior Championships, the top international tournament under-20 players. The United States pulled off the dramatic win last year, and this year’s USA team includes defenseman Derek [...]
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all
Unless something unexpected comes up, this will be my last message to everyone until Sunday morning. A very Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and a happy holiday season to everyone. Thank you, as always, for all the support over the years! Remember that Sunday’s game is a 6 p.m. start. The morning skate will [...]
Murray reaches century mark with Kings
As noted yesterday, Terry Murray has reached 100 wins faster than any other coach in Kings history. Murray did it in 197 games, topping the mark of Tom Webster, who did it in 211 games. Murray now ranks sixth in all-time coaching wins for the Kings, behind Andy Murray (215), Bob Pulford (178), Larry Robinson [...]
Postgame notes (Dec. 23)
Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings returned from their five-game road trip and beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday night. Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll scored in the shootout and Jonathan Quick stopped five of six shots. – The Kings improved to 4-0 in shootouts this season and [...]
The view from Edmonton
Here’s a selection of stories from the Edmonton media about last night’s Kings-Oilers game, followed by some quotes from the Oilers’ locker room… Another shootout in L.A. takes down Oilers 3-2 (Edmonton Journal) Stoll sinks Oilers (Edmonton Sun) Oilers 2, Kings 3 (SO) – A point hard won, a point hard lost (Edmonton Journal blog) [...]
Tonight’s game story (Dec. 23)
Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading! Kings beat Oilers 3-2 in shootout The Kings are off the ice tomorrow and Saturday for the NHL-mandated holiday break. I’ll have some stuff to post tomorrow…
Murray postgame quotes
Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on his 100th win as Kings coach…) MURRAY: “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel any different. It was a good win for us. It was a very hard, very difficult for us tonight. It’s the same old thing, though. You come back after a long road trip, five games, and that [...]
Kopitar postgame quotes
Anze Kopitar’s postgame thoughts… (on playing the Oilers…) KOPITAR: “We came out a little slow. The biggest thing is, they play with no pressure, they’re in the rebuilding phase and no one expects them to win. Obviously they have a lot of firepower and skill, and when they put it together they are hard to [...]
Williams postgame quotes
Justin Williams’ postgame thoughts… (on earning two tough points…) WILLIAMS: “They’re in the bank. We’re in the win column. They’re a team that has got a lot of skill and if you don’t respect them, they’re going to make you pay. Obviously we didn’t have the best game, but at the end we had our [...]
Greene cleared to play
After the game, Terry Murray said Matt Greene was “good to go,” meaning Greene’s baseline testing went well and that he would be able to play Sunday against Anaheim.
FINAL: Kings 3, Oilers 2 (SO)
Shootout results… Kings: Kopitar, save. Oilers: Eberle, GOAL. Kings: Johnson, save. Oilers: Hall, save Kings: Brown, GOAL. Oilers: Omark, save (no spin move). Kings: Handzus, save. Oilers: Gagner, save. Kings: Williams, wide. Oilers: Penner, save. Kings: Stoll, GOAL. Oilers: Cogliano, save. More from the locker room to come…
End of regulation: 2-2
The score and shots (26-26) are even going into overtime, and the Kings will earn at least one point tonight.
