The Kings outshot the Coyotes 10-6 in the first period, and got the better of the offensive chances, but Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov looked sharp and each team failed to score on one power-play opportunity.
Archive of entries posted on January 2011
Scouting the Coyotes
As noted earlier, this two-game set is big for the Kings and Phoenix Coyotes, as it includes the potential of an eight-point swing in the standings. Will the power play make the difference tonight? Both teams have been wobbly of late. As earlier noted, the Kings haven’t scored a power-play goal in five consecutive games, [...]
Kings try to get power play going again
The Kings’ power play is back on a downswing. In a six-game span from Dec. 29-Jan. 8, the Kings were 7-for-20 on the power play — an outstanding success rate, but in their last five games, they are 0-for-13 with the man advantage and have fallen to 19th in the NHL in power-play efficiency, after [...]
Mitchell making a left turn on defense
The Kings will go with the same six-man personnel on defense tonight, but the players will get moved around a bit, as the Kings go back to a look closer to the one they started this season with. Drew Doughty pairs with Willie Mitchell, while Jack Johnson pairs with Rob Scuderi and Alec Martinez pairs [...]
Smyth, Simmonds, Parse updates
First, the latest news. Scott Parse was on the ice today for the first time since he had hip surgery in November. Parse hit the ice in a practice jersey and sweat pants — and skates, of course — for some post-practice conditioning skating, but he’s still probably looking at an early-March return, at best. [...]
Loktionov returns in high-profile role
Andrei Loktinov is back with the Kings, in a high-profile role. He will be the first-line left winger tonight, alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, and Terry Murray indicated that Loktionov will get power-play time as well. Loktionov made the Kings’ roster coming out of training camp and had one goal and one assist in [...]
Sturm to miss at least three games
After 15 games with the Kings, Marco Sturm is out of the lineup. Sturm, who joined the Kings’ lineup on Dec. 21 after a trade with Boston, and after having recovered from significant surgery on his right knee, was placed on injured reserve because of tendinitis in the other knee. Sturm previously had ACL surgery [...]
Thursday skate update; lineup changes
Wayne Simmonds and Ryan Smyth will play tonight, as will Andrei Loktionov, as the first-line left winger with Alexei Ponikarovsky coming out of the lineup. There will also be some shifting on defense… Loktionov-Kopitar-Brown Smyth-Stoll-Williams Clifford-Lewis-Simmonds Richardson-Handzus-Westgarth Mitchell-Doughty Johnson-Scuderi Martinez-Greene Quick More on all this, and other notes and quotes, to come…
Loktionov up; Sturm on I.R.
Marco Sturm has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to yesterday, with knee tendinitis — the other knee, not the one most recently repaired surgically — and Andrei Loktionov has been officially called up. Presumably, Loktionov will play tonight — he’s on the ice right now for the morning skate — but we’ll find that [...]
First look at the Coyotes
Tonight’s game is the first of back-to-back games between the Kings and Phoenix Coyotes (they meet again Saturday in Arizona). How important are these two games for the Kings? The Coyotes are in third place in the Pacific Division and sixth place in the Western Conference. If the Kings sweep the two games, they will [...]
Loktionov on standby
I’ve been able to confirm that there has been a “transfer” of forward Andrei Loktionov from Manchester of the AHL to Ontario of the ECHL. It really has nothing to do with either of those teams. It just means the Kings want Loktionov close by in case they need to call him up and have [...]
Search continues on the first line
Today in practice, Alexei Ponikarovsky skated on the first line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Tomorrow? Well…check back tomorrow. Over the past 10 days, Ponikarovsky has gone from a first-line winger to a healthy scratch to a fourth-line winger to a first-line winger. To be certain, none of this takes place because Terry Murray [...]
The puck is frozen, solid, and it hurts
It’s certainly not unusual to see players get hit by pucks in practice. It happened to Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske last week, and Drewiske got away with nothing more than a nasty cut above his eye, and we’ll find out tomorrow morning if Ryan Smyth got similarly lucky. Smyth was hit on the leg by [...]
Quick redemption for the goalie?
Jonathan Quick will get a chance to redeem himself in a hurry. Quick, who had the game-winning goal trickle past him late in Tuesday’s loss to St. Louis, will be in goal Thursday when the Kings face Phoenix. Until the late gaffe, Quick was having one of his strongest games of the last month or [...]
Smyth, Simmonds updates
Ryan Smyth was getting treatment, post-practice, so there was no immediate word on his condition after he got hit by a slap shot. Terry Murray said he thought Smyth might have been hit in the hamstring area, near the back or side of the leg. The afternoon went far better for Wayne Simmonds, and Murray [...]
Major pain for Smyth
Ryan Smyth left the ice in significant pain after getting hit by a slap shot somewhere on the leg while playing the front of the net. Smyth was able to get to the locker room under his own power but was yelling out in pain. That brought an abrupt end to practice, so we’ll see [...]
Wednesday practice update; Simmonds on ice
Wayne Simmonds is back on the ice for practice this morning, so we’ll see, after practice, what his status is for Thursday’s game. For now, Simmonds is a part of the green-jersey, fourth-line group. Otherwise, the Kings are skating up front the way they played for most of last night’s game… Ponikarovsky-Kopitar-Brown Smyth-Stoll-Williams Sturm-Handzus-Lewis Clifford/Richardson/Westgarth/Simmonds
Postgame notes (Jan. 18)
Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games, as they fell to the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night. – The Kings’ quick two-game trip to the Midwest ended with identical 2-1 losses to Dallas and St. Louis. The Kings have now totaled [...]
