Kicking off the “Open Forum” answers, here’s the first set. We’ll see how many I can get through today…
Archive of entries posted on January 2011
Open Forum time
We’re certainly overdue for an “Open Forum” session here on the blog, so with the All-Star break underway, it’s the perfect time, right? Feel free to post any NHL- or Kings-related question that you think I, or your fellow readers, might be able to answer, and I’ll start posting responses as soon as possible. Here [...]
Undisputed: Jarret Stoll
Kings Vision has released the extended version of the “Undisputed: Jarret Stoll” feature that ran on Fox Sports West last night. This version clocks in at just over nine minutes and gives an in-depth look at Stoll. For some words to go with that video, you can also check out Stoll’s “My Story” feature, in [...]
Afternoon reading: Kopitar an All-Star
Anze Kopitar will learn his short-term fate this afternoon. Will he be a member of Team Lidstrom or Team Staal? The NHL will hold its All-Star “draft” tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Versus — [correction: initially-posted information was for a mock draft...] — and that will kick off Kopitar’s second All-Star experience. Kopitar, [...]
Murray welcomes chance for Kings to rest
It’s funny how one week can change things. Last Thursday, the Kings seemed to be limping toward the All-Star break. They had been beaten 2-0 by Phoenix and were facing a rematch against the Coyotes, followed by games against Boston and San Jose. Of course, the Kings got the maximum six points from those three [...]
Postgame notes (Jan. 26)
Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings won their third consecutive game, as they beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday night at Staples Center. – The Kings go into the five-day All-Star break in 11th place in the Western Conference, with 55 points in 50 games. Seventh-place Chicago, [...]
The view from San Jose
A special good morning to the Sharks fan with whom I shared an elevator during the second intermission last night. That would be the fan who, apparently having enjoyed the Staples Center’s selection of alcohol a bit too much, vomited on the front of his jersey and required a stretcher to get to the first-aid [...]
Tonight’s game story (Jan. 26)
Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading… Kings beat Sharks 3-2 in shootout The Kings now start their NHL-mandated four-day All-Star break, so there will be no on-ice sessions in El Segundo for quite a while. The Kings will fly to Minnesota on Monday and practice there, [...]
Murray postgame quotes
Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the game…) MURRAY: “That was a playoff game. There was good checking. There were some big hits. There was some scoring. It was a fun game. And big goaltending at both ends. Both guys, I thought, were very big. They came up, not only in the overtime and the shootout, [...]
Johnson postgame quotes
Jack Johnson’s postgame thoughts… (on the shootout…) JOHNSON: “It makes it a lot harder, no question. I think the whole point of getting a point in overtime is to make it a little more wide open and take chances. I think that was the whole point of why it was put in place, to go for [...]
Ponikarovsky postgame quotes
Alexei Ponikarovsky’s postgame thoughts… (on his game…) PONIKAROVSKY: “I had a couple of injuries at the start of the year and I’m kind of recovering after it. It’s a normal process and you just have to go through some tough times. Today, everybody had a good effort. We put a lot into the game so it was just [...]
Quick postgame quotes
Jonathan Quick’s postgame thoughts… (on the confidence gained, going into the break…) QUICK: “It’s huge, absolutely. We need wins. We need two points. We dug a little hole for ourselves, and I think we’ve done a good job of starting to climb back out, but we still have a lot of work to do. So [...]
FINAL: Kings 3, Sharks 2 (SO)
Shootout results… Kings: Kopitar, off post. Sharks: Pavelski, save. Kings: Johnson, off post. Sharks: Couture, wide. Kings: Brown, save. Sharks: Clowe, save. Kings: GOAL. Sharks: Marleau, save. More from the locker room to come…
End of regulation: 2-2
The Kings killed off Brad Richardson’s double-minor high-sticking penalty late in the third period and helped send the game to overtime. Shots were 22-17 in favor of the Sharks in regulation.
Kings 2, Sharks 2
After some early-period pressure, the Kings tied the game 5:47 into the third period. Michal Handzus’ close-range shot got blocked, but Alexei Ponikarovsky was in the slot to pick up the rebound and beat Niemi, through some traffic, to tie the game 2-2.
End of second: Sharks 2-1
Two late goals allowed the Sharks to take the lead after the Kings went up 1-0. Shots were 8-7 in favor of the Sharks in the second period. The Sharks are 18-3-2 this season when leading after two periods.
Sharks 2, Kings 1
Less than three minutes after they took the lead, the Kings trailed. San Jose tied the game with 4:36 remaining in the second period, on a counterattack. Ryane Clowe picked up the puck deep in his own zone, skated it into the Kings’ zone and beat Quick with a long-range wrist shot, to the high [...]
Kings 1, Sharks 0
The first goal of the tight-checking game came with 6:25 remaining in the second period. Jarret Stoll entered the San Jose zone and pushed the puck ahead to Ryan Smyth. Smyth took it to the right boards, then abruptly cut to the middle of the ice. Smyth’s wrist shot, from the slot, got through traffic [...]
End of first: 0-0
After a fairly slow start by both teams, the offensive chances picked up in the latter part of the period, and the Sharks ended up outshooting the Kings 8-6. The Sharks will be on the power play for the first 1:57 of the second period.
Scouting the Sharks
Staples Center has been an all-too-hospitable arena for the San Jose Sharks of late, as far as the Kings are concerned. Since the start of last season, the Kings are 3-1-1 against the Sharks in San Jose but are 1-3-0 against them at Staples Center. As noted earlier, Ryane Clowe returns to the Sharks’ lineup [...]
