Some notes from last night’s game…
– The Kings played their first home game in nearly a month and beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Thursday night at Staples Center.
– The Kings have allowed a total of 33 games in their last 18 games — an average of 1.83 goals per game allowed — and have allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of those 18 games.
– The Kings finished the season series against Minnesota with a 2-0-2 record.
– Anze Kopitar scored a third-period, empty-net, shorthanded goal, the Kings’ third shorthanded goal of the season. Brad Richardson had one on Oct. 23 at Colorado and Willie Mitchell had one on Oct. 28 at Dallas. It also marked the third time this season that the Kings scored an even-strength goal, a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game.
– The Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. They had been 1-for-15 on the power play in their previous seven games and 19-for-19 on the penalty kill in their previous seven games.
– The Kings outshot the Wild 30-27, including 13-6 in the first period. The Kings have allowed 27 or fewer shots on goal in four of their last five games.
– The Kings improved to 18-9-1 at home, 26-8-1 when scoring the first goal and 15-3-1 when leading after the first period. The Kings are 29-6-1 when they score at least three goals and 27-6-2 when they allow two or fewer goals.
– Jonathan Bernier stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win, coming off his 25-save “shutout loss” against Minnesota on Feb. 1, when he and the Kings were beat 1-0 in a shootout. Bernier has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his last six starts and had a .939 save percentage in those six games.
– Wayne Simmonds had two goals for his second career two-goal game. The first came on Oct. 21 at Phoenix. Simmonds broke a 16-game streak without a goal and recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season.
– Drew Doughty scored the game-winning goal in the third period. It was Doughty’s third game-winning goal, of the nine goals he has scored this season, and Doughty now has five goals in his last 10 games.
– Anze Kopitar had one goal and one assist, as he scored his seventh career shorthanded goal. The Kings have a 14-3-0 record this season when Kopitar scores a goal. It was the 15th multi-point game of the season for Kopitar.
– Dustin Brown had two assists, for this 14th multi-point game of the season and his fifth multi-assist game of the season.
– Ryan Smyth had one assist, his 399th assist in 1,048 NHL games.
– Jack Johnson had one assist, on the power play. Of Johnson’s 35 assists, 23 have come on the power play. Johnson leads the Kings in power-play assists and power-play points, with 26.
– Marco Sturm had one assist, for his ninth point in 16 games with the Kings.
– Michal Handzus had one assist, his third assist in his last seven games.
– Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty each recorded a team-high five shots on goal. Brown and Matt Greene were each credited with a team-high six hits and Jack Johnson was credited with a team-high three blocked shots.
– Drew Doughty played a game-high 25 minutes, 55 seconds. Anze Kopitar led all forwards in ice time at 20:36.
– The Kings won 33 of 57 faceoffs (58 percent). Michal Handzus won 12 of 16 draws (75 percent).
33 goals in 18 games**
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@Blake, They’ve been really busy, squeezing 33 games into their last 18 games!
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Hey rich was Sturm placed on waivers to day Puck daddy has it at yahoo sports.
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Kings Fan Vancouver, WA Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:40 am
@hockeyfanB4gretzky, yes he was.
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wavesinair Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:41 am
@hockeyfanB4gretzky, It’s a good blog, read it sometime.
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Jason4Kings Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:43 am
@wavesinair, I loved this from you yesterday, and i love it today.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:04 am
@Jason4Kings, Holy frig guys lay off the man. Making fun of him because he doesn’t read every last thread/posting on a blog … this blog is for sharing info, not trying to make others feel stupid.
wavesinair Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:12 am
It’s a joke. Laugh sometime.
tornado12 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:37 am
@Jason4Kings, i thought it was funny
Jason4Kings Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:53 am
@VanKingsFan…
I actually agree with you about laying off people, things can get pretty obnoxious sometimes. I just didn’t think wavesinair’s line was mean. That’s a pretty gentle joke. It’s the posts by the “know it alls” that are the worst, like the one’s that start… ” You obviously know nothing, here’s some hockey 101, i’ve been playing hockey for 500 years and i invented Canada.” ….
hockeyfanB4gretzky Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:46 am
@wavesinair, I do
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fsd1 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:52 am
@hockeyfanB4gretzky, not today i dont think…..
Blake Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:41 am
@hockeyfanB4gretzky, really? wow
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When Doughty scores, the Kings are 8-0
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steve Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
@Harry, when was doughty’s two goal game?
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that damn lazy zus only had a 75% faceoff percentage?
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Jason4Kings Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 10:55 am
@fsd1,
I’m with you, people ragging on Handzus is mindblowing.
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Boxtime17 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:03 am
@Jason4Kings,
For sure! He’s only one of the best PK guys on our team as well as face-off guys…. two things that have been very big for us lately! He will be a playoff asset for sure!
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bbb7 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:05 am
@Jason4Kings, Yes, he’s good at faceoffs and yes he’s good at PK but Handzus is just not cutting it overall. In his last 18 games he has 1 goal, 5 assists and that’s playing on the #1 PP unit most of that span. He doesnt have any speed to help create chances and is often behind the play defensively. I dont mind having him on the team, I just dont want him on the PP or on either of the top 2 lines.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:08 am
@bbb7,
You could put Gretzky, Luc and Dionne on our PP and have the same results (well, they might do a little better). The problem is the PP strategy. Improve that and the players numbers would go up.
gmo Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:20 am
@fsd1,
ZUES is the man….lets built a statue of him lol
GO KINGS GO
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I think the Purple jerseys need to be in rotation more frequently.
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Marco Sturm waived by Kings … Interesting that we have to learn this from that Duck Lover Helene Elliot but whatever ..
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/02/kings-ducks-marco-sturm-bob-murray.html
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Rich Hammond Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:16 am
Or you could have scrolled down two items.
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Matt George Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:18 am
@Rich Hammond,
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Slim Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
@Rich Hammond, Wow, Good on you Rich.
Once again that subtle dry humor raises it’s head
Thanks for all you do. This blog is a godsend..
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wavesinair Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@txkingsfan, It’s a good blog, read it sometime. (couldn’t resist)
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tornado12 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:38 am
@wavesinair, not as funny the second time
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wavesinair Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:47 am
@tornado12, Actually it’s like the 10th time!
(backstory: we use it all the time in the BIZ…if you are working on a show and another crew member is confused as to what is happening on a particular day you say, “It’s a good show, you should get on it.”
txkingsfan Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
@txkingsfan, I’m an ass! Yes, I am! My apologies to all offended especially Rich. Crow tastes good today!
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txkingsfan Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
@txkingsfan, although I still can’t stand Helene Elliot!
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9 points in 16 games on a rehab knee for MS. I hope DL knows what he is doing! (of course he does, right?)
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I would just like to make the observation that the kings have TWO goalies with a save pct over 900 and a GAA under 3.
When was that last time that happened, exactly? Never, as far as I can tell.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 11:40 am
@Bill M., When Rob Stauber was backup, he and the starter (Hrudey or Fiset?) may have both been in that neighborhood.
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bbb7 Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, Back in the high flying 90s Stauber had decent (actually, pretty good for those days) save% of about 89-90% in 93 and 94 but with the ‘fabulous’ D the Kings played back then his best GAA was 3.41. I wonder how he and Hrudey would have done in the current era with a good Kings D.
[Reply]
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
@bbb7, That’s a funny angle. The last few years (up until maybe the beginning of last) people talked about how bad the Kings goaltending was. I don’t ever remember it being so much better (didn’t see Rogie.) I did have an appreciation for how much rubber those guys ate and survived with a .9x SV%, though.
tuan jim Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
I saw Rogie in the season when the Kings made the most points in their history — 105 — and he and his back-up Gary Edwards were in the running for the Vezina (it was like the Jennings is now). Rogie is still the best I ever saw. I remember sitting behind him when four — that’s right, FOUR — Philly Flyers came down the ice at him with NO other King back to help. He made a skate save on their shot. He was also a mouse compared to the other monsters who’d crowd him in the crease — the days when “goaltender interference” only meant shooting the goalie in the back of the head. He was pounded, sat on, high-sticked and butt-ended, all in the days when net-men only wore thin plastic masks, not helmets.
There’s a 1976 (?) game I’d like to have on tape — played early in the season at Nassau Stadium against a great Islander squad. Rogie was the only King who showed up that night. And he was so great — in a scoreless tie — that even the Islander fans gave him a standing ovation.
I had a chance to talk with Dave Taylor when he and others were in a serious conversation. The topic of discussion was the greatest goaltender in the league. Someone was arguing hard for Ken Dryden of Montreal. I still remember the knowing smile on Taylor’s face and the quiet way he just nodded and said, “Rogie,” almost in a whisper.