The Kings will face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Well, sort of. Sidney Crosby has been out of action since Jan. 5 because of concussion symptoms, isn’t practicing with the Penguins and isn’t expected to play Thursday. Also out is talented forward Evgeni Malkin, who suffered a serious knee injury last week. Still, the Penguins are highly dangerous. Entering today’s game against Columbus, they were 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and had won five consecutive home games. They’re still very strong in net, with Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson, and today, Terry Murray resisted any suggestion that the Kings are fortunate to be playing the Penguins when they are shorthanded.
MURRAY: “Any time you have two players out of their lineup, it’s very unfortunate for the game, first of all. The National Hockey League needs the premier guys in the game and playing at their best. It’s what it’s all about. It’s entertainment. It’s exciting for the NHL and for the fans, and it’s great for us to come in, as a visiting team, and to (face) the best lineup. You never want to see anybody hurt, but certainly not the premier guys in the game. It’s very unfortunate. Hopefully they will get back quickly. Then, on the other side of it, when those two players are out of the lineup, you have to make sure that, emotionally, that you’re going in with the right attitude, not backing off the gas pedal at all. These are very important games for the L.A. Kings, and we have to come out and play the same game, as hard, intense and focused as if they had a full and healthy lineup.”
It was reported that kunitz got hurt in today’s game too
Btw does anyone have an update on Braydon schenn? Thanks
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KingTrojan Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
@KH, 8 games in Saskatoon: 6 +11 = 17 points
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KH Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 1:10 am
@KingTrojan, Thanks I’m assuming the shoulder is fully healed then
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PLEASE don’t be a trap game!
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xeropoint Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, Took the words right outta my mouth.
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USHA#17 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
Please don’t let it be a lazy game and play down to the Pen’s level….
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Pesus Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
@USHA#17,
Blues are riddled by the injury bug too but they found a way to slow down TM’s offensive attack. 3-0 against us. We get so out coached its sad.
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fsd1 Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 7:11 am
@Pesus, and that is old hot air, any chance you can change your theme?
Pesus Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
@Pesus, Not with TM around
So the we’re playing a team without the great Sid the Kid, and no Malkin. BTW, the last time the Kings played in Pittsburgh, didn’t Malkin give a nasty cheap shot to Wayne Simmonds in the final minutes? Hmmm, I guess what goes around comes around……
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KC23 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
@Goring 19, Malkin gave Mitchell his concussion on a cheap shot along the boards last year when Mitchel was still with Vancouver.
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Dominick Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
@Goring 19, I believe it was the season before. Last season everybody wanted Simmers to go after him, but the game went on without any real skermishes.
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brymaster1 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
@Dominick, thats because the cheapshot happened like 5 seconds before the end of the game, malkin conveniently has missed all the meetings sense that game.
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USHA#17 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
@Goring 19,
Yeah, it last season and it was a nasty and needless elbow at the far side boards. I was shocked that no one stood up for Simmonds.
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Crosby probably doesn’t want to play because he knows Doughy and Johnson will end his season when they lay him on the ice.
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GO KINGS!
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TM is right in that the Kings can’t afford to take *anyone* lightly down the stretch because the playoff battle will be just that brutal. But the Pens are down to Columbus 4-1; there’s not much left of them once you take away Crosby *and* Malkin.
Washington lost to SJ tonight, 2-0 (which is bad for us, actually), so they’re not exactly unbeatable right now, either.
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puck73 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
@DougS, Dont look now but Niemi is starting to be the goalie that San Jose hoped he would.
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USHA#17 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
@DougS, The Washington loss is a bummer. Just hope the Kings don’t play down to the Pen’s level.
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Jesse Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
@DougS, Good luck Kings.
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The Pens are coming off an emotional loss to Caps so, for once, the schedule seems to be in our favor. Without Sid and Geno – the Pens lack their usual socring punch so expect a low scoring, physical battle. The PP will decide the game and with Kopitar feeding Doughty and Johnson for one times we should get pucks to the net. But Kopitar needs to shoot himself and I am hopeful he will get on track during this road trip. Our best players need to be our best players in this game and on this trip. GKG!
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Stackhouse Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
@Dawg,
Geez that’s a little harsh, don’t ya think. I know Kopitar hasn’t been scoring as much as we need him to, but I don’t think he should shoot himself!
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Pesus Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
@Dawg,
Think u mean shoot more, not shoot himself.
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Totally of topic, but I noticed some interesting stats about the Kings so far this season:
They have a +21 in goal differential, good for 5th in the entire NHL
They rank 4th in Goals Against
They rank 16th in Goals For (which wasn’t such a surprise)
That +21 is no doubt due to strong defense and good goaltending for most of this season so far, given that we’re 16th in GF. Imagine what filling that left wing position would do? Maybe that 16th in GF moves up quite a bit and we’re solidly in a playoff spot?
GKG!
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Dawg Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
@pnm,
Speaking of “off topic” and I apologize if this is a little juvenile – but what would be worse…..
1. Getting checked by Dustin Brown (especially if you did not see him coming)
2. Getting a Z. Chara slapper to the ankle
3. Getting hit with a Westgarth haymaker ?
Need a game soon…..
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They brought their #$^%@*$ toys? Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 10:36 am
@Dawg, Chara slapper! I’m out myself right now from a slapper to the ankle. I can’t even imagine what his would feel like.
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xeropoint Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
@pnm, Or even a little more production from the lineup in general would help, too. Just a few more goals from Kopitar, Handzus, Simmonds, Doughty would have us in the thick of things. I’ll take that mysterious left winger, though!
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josh e. Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 6:13 am
@pnm,
I think its a testament to losing a lot of one goal games but also you have to remember that random series of road games where we beat detroit 5 to 0, nashville like 6 to 1, colorado 5 to 0 and then san jose 4 to 0, that probably inflated that +21
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Injury report
Evgeni Malkin (C/RW) Lower body injury Day to day
Arron Asham (RW) Upper body injury Injured reserve (IR)
Mike Comrie (W/C) Hip surgery Injured reserve (IR)
Sidney Crosby (C) Concussion Injured reserve (IR)
Mark Letestu (C) Knee injury Injured reserve (IR)
Some issues down the middle.
Don’t know if Matt Cooke had any disiplinary action taken for a knee to knee hit he made on Ovie.
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Dawg Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
@Dominick,
Dom – great research! I am a Kings fan – but your knowledge of the opposition is impressive – if not a little scary. How do you have time? At any rate- keep the facts coming – seriously – I did not half of that stuff and feel II guess it is nice to know that am not the only one who obsesses about every game. GKG!
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Dominick Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
@Dawg, It’s more knowing where to look, and who does the best breakdowns of teams. It only takes a minute.
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Dawg Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@Dominick,
I appreciate it nonetheless. Looking forward to seeing the Kings play a full game before midnight for a change.
puckbob Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@Dominick, And where would that be?
puck73 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
@Dominick, Hope I see you in Anaheim on the 23rd vs the Dorkheads.
Dominick Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
@puckbob’
Quisp does some great breakdowns at http://www.jewelsfromthecrown.com/
David Johnson at http://hockeyanalysis.com/category/authors/david-johnson/
Kukla at http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/psh/comments/the_kings_goals_for_and_against/
and about a dozen other sites. I love guys who go beyond the obvious. I also look for alot of #’rs since I’m sort of a geek when it comes to stats like corsi and fenwick.
USHA#17 Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
@Dominick,
I recall a similar story line when the Kings were schooled by the Coyotes…just hope LA plays like a champion team tomorrow.
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xeropoint Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
@Dominick, Those are some big damn holes. Hopefully the Kings can shoot some pucks through them (on net, of course).
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i admire the coaching and gm of penguins so much. to be missing your 2 scorers and still do so well
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The Kings already played a team wrecked with injuries earlier this year…
http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=301216019
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xeropoint Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
@Naturallawyer, We’ll see if they finally learned this lesson on Thursday. They still haven’t figured out the “allowing goals right after scoring” thing, so… we can hope, right?
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No respect! Go kings!
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LBlocal Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 10:43 am
@Jason4Kings, No respect and NO Matt Cooke. 4 game suspension for that GOON!
gKg!
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Gloryofsky! These 5 days between games is damn near unbearable. I really hope we come out with a solid game and haven’t lost our edge.
Go Kings
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Yeah, and with any luck they’ll be without that #$^@#$% Cooke because of this gem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Kv0cOcJXFv4
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Cry Baby Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 8:25 am
@Dwreck, Someone needs to clean that guys clock once and for all…he’s dangerous. His hearing will be over the phone (per TSN) which means 5 games or less, but it is safe to say that he will not be in the line for the Kings game.
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(Sorry if it’s been posted, didn’t check) Dean says we’ll be active come the deadline one way or the other.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=353045
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KFII Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 6:25 am
@Cynic, Interesting. I hadn’t seen that. Thanks.
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Player-X Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 10:17 am
@Cynic, nice one, thanks
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just want a king win and no Bull*#@* from all of us, I love the pens, but they have been able to take care of themselves the last 3 or 4 yrs, so if they r having problems, screw them and lets get 2 pts, I don’t care if they have to bring Mario and the boys in, we need 2 pts—–plain and simple thx Rich
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I don’t like it that some guy hits probably the best player in the league (Sidney Crosby) and knocks him out with a concussion (during the outdoor game New Year’s). This is exactly the type of thing the NHL DOESN’T need. What a dumb sport—if the league allows such things.
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King John Reply:
February 8th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
And the concussion (I hope not) may affect the rest of his career…..
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Stuart Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
@King John, so what you’re saying is that there should not be anymore physical contact in hockey? Go watch figure skating then. Concussions are going to happen. Always have and always will. Players are not going to get smaller or slower so I don’t see how this is going to get resolved.
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Dear Murray, Here are the shootout stats for this season, please consider these when you chose who shoots
Stoll- 4 goals/ 5 attempts 2 game winners
Handzus- 3 goals/ 4 attempts 2 game winners
Kopitar- 2 goals/7 attempts
Brown- 1 goals/ 5 attempts
Johnson- 1 goal/ 7 attempts
williams- 1 goal/ 4 attempts
Doughty- 0 goal/ 1 attempts
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Their defense and goaltending r still healthy so I say we don’t play a dump and chase and instead play with more puck possession so we can generate more offensive pressure on the forecheck…it’s painful watching the dump and chase bcuz one forward stays high so there isn’t much pressure….play like Detroit and we got this one
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Kind of off topic here, but yikes, just about every other team in the West plays tonight while we are idle. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
Go Kings Go!
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Whatever we do, don’t let Quick leave the net to fight Johnson!
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
February 9th, 2011 at 9:08 am
@DesertKing, Seriously! no need for a broken face!
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This is a good time for the Kings to play Pittsburgh. From what I saw online, they are a little bangged up. With Crosb, Malkin, and Kunitz out, we have a really good shot at winning! It is still going to be a tough game, physical, but if we play as a team, score on the power play, and make Pittsburgh play from behind, we can win it.
I predict that the game will be low scoring, and we win like a 2-1 game or a 3-2 game. It is not going to be really wild scoring, without Pittsburgh’s star players. If Columbus could go into Pittsburgh and beat them, we can too! Lets Go Kings…..LETS GO!
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