Tonight’s game story (March 11)

Posted by Rich Hammond on 11 March 2011, 10:19 pm

Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading…

Kings beat Blue Jackets 4-2

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 2 p.m. Central time (noon Pacific time) in the Dallas area.

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55 Comments

Hip-Check says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:27 pm

Great game….Like how the line of Kopi Penner n Williams is fitting together.
….
Prediction….
….
I just looked at remainder games and I predict kings win 10 or 11 of remaining games.
That should give us 101 to 104 points if one or two of losses is a regulation tie….
That should give us first or second in our division

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 1:56 am
@Hip-Check, Likely 2nd in the division with a 4th or 5th sead. I think the Duck’s are going to have a real hard time with the Kings now that we have Penner. They will not have nearly as big of an advantage with their first line Vs ours.

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c-nut Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 6:03 am
@KC23, agreed, also, without Hiller coming back anytime soon, their chances are slim. Poor guy. He is “the enemy”‘ but you always want to compete against the other teams best, and I never like seeing guys go down with injuries like that, even if he is a duck.

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Cry Baby Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 6:58 am
@c-nut, Don’t count the Ducks out, they are playing fairly well right now.
DesertKing says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:32 pm

When Kopi goes to the net, good things happen. Basically we just knocked Columbus out of the playoff race and now we need to go into Dallas and take 2 points from them. The 1st line really seems to be gelling and the goaltending is looking good.

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Goring 19 Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
@DesertKing, another “4 point game” coming up in Dallas.

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 1:58 am
@Goring 19, I stopped counting the number of times I have had to stop myself from saying how important the next game is because every fricken one of them is so darn important it’s redundant.

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DesertKing Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 9:18 am
@KC23,

You are not kidding. The only thing we can do is win to gain as many points as possible while denying points to everyone else. Penner appears to be fitting in very well and I have a feeling he is going to be what we need to push us over the top. It also looks like Kopi and Brown are returning to form at just the right time. I have already reserved my playoff tickets so GKG!

Goring 19 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
@KC23, very true, at this point every game is a must-win. They’re no margin for error.
Hip-Check says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:32 pm

FOr al the grief and negative posts Kopi has gotten here over last couple of months…take notice how he is tied for 7th in league scoring .. Thats 7th best plater stats in the LEAGUE !!!!! And now he has a fantastic set of temamates to keep moving higher.
I think the answer of left wing is here now.
And in the summer I hope we pick up another elite scorer and bring on a couple more rookies…’
Cup probabilities for next year if not a real good run this year….

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Goring 19 Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
@Hip-Check, very true. Stats don’t lie. I was as critical of Kopi as anyone else on the blog recently but I feel it was more out of frustration wanting the Kings to win so bad that I almost expected multiple point nights out of Kopi. My humble apologies Mr. Kopitar!

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 1:59 am
@Hip-Check, My only critial comments have been in regard to his half board play on the PP, which still sucks imho.

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Michael J. Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 9:02 am
@Hip-Check,

Yup, I have been critical of Kopi’s play also, mostly his effort, in which net play is crucial. I am glad to see him going to the net, which allows him to be as successful as we all think he can be.

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Hip-Check says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:33 pm

For all…player …sorry about typos…

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neil says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:33 pm

we need a tape delay post so we know where to make our comments after watching the game…Only question I have..Why was Westy playing in the third period???

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Goring 19 Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
@neil, why was he playing at all?

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Cristobal Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 10:29 am
@Goring 19,

Is Westgarth possibly THE worst “enforcer” in NHL history?
I can’t count the times our top players have been run with him in the lineup.
Both Kopi and Brown were run with dirty hits and Doughty was run with some questionable hits. What does Westgarth do about it? Nothing. Even when he accepts the fight (sideshow for the benefit of the bored-as-hell Columbus fans) he acts as though it’s a friendly cerfuffle and applauds everyone and pats his opponent on the back.
Personally, I don’t buy the argument J Fox was making that TM inquires with the players and partially makes his decision about who to play based on their input.

Westgarth has done nothing to merit another minute of ice time this season.
Absolute waste of a spot in the lineup.
Funny. Could you even expect anything out of P Harrold at this point? He hasn’t played in months.
Poor coaching decisions going on. Thanks to some good play from TM’s players it hasn’t tripped us up, yet.

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Badger57 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 10:41 am
@Goring 19,
Way to go Westie! Columbus has fighters, that is why Westie is on the team. We don’t need Simmer, and Clifford fighting everybody. We need THEM in there to do more of the puck moving/scoring. Westie was doing what everybody is begging him to do. I guess SOME people will never be happy with whatever, and whenever Westie does something. TM must be ok with what Westie is doing! Glad TM is the coach and not the Westie haters of the world.

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Goring 19 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
@Badger57, I’m not a Westgarth hater, I just would have rather had Richie in. Richie can make more scoring chances happen with his limited ice time than Westgarth can make with his 3-4 minutes of punching guys. I like the way Clifford can fill the role if need be.

Leo4kings Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
@neil, To kick some ass as he did. Columbus is ranked 8th in Team fights in the NHL. We needed him out there to take the pressure off Cliffy and Simmonds. And he did his job and did a hell of a job, if I may add. So, what’s the problem?

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Kenny44 Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
@Leo4kings, Umm, well, no. He fought a guy that he had 30 lbs on, to a draw. Oh yeah, he got into a fight in the 3rd period when we had a 2 goal lead – not smart to help Boll get his team riled up (that fight was a couple minutes before their goal). Waste of TOI, drag on top 3 lines.

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Leo4kings Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 12:04 am
@Kenny44, Maybe you should go back watch the tape. It was Boll who called him up and Westy responded.30 lbs or not. Now, you critizing him for being bigger and better? Boll was doing his job trying to start something when his team was down. If it was not Westy, he would have gone after Cliffy or someone else. I much rather Westy take care of him as he did rather than a Cliffy who is just 20 and does not need his head getting banged up this early in his careier.I don’t get where is all this negativity coming from specially when is unjust. Westy had a solid game, held his own and did his job. If u have a problem with him being on the ice in the 3rd, talk to the coah, but picking on a guy who did exactly what his team and coach asked him to do is just not right.

Leo4kings Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 12:05 am
@Kenny44, BTW, it was not a draw. Not even close. According to Hockey fight site, he won 87% and 13% draw. What game where u watching I wonder?

KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:01 am
@Leo4kings, Yeah, he picked a great time to pick a fight. We’re leading by two goals and the BJ’s are dead in the water. Westgarth gets in a fight and the BJ suddenly get life again and make it a one goal game shortly after Westgarth’s idiotic decision to get into a fight.

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neil Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 7:33 am
@KC23, imo he shouldnt even been on the ice in the third…

Belexes Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 8:35 am
@KC23,

Are you serious about this? Maybe the Stoll penalty had a little something to do with the BJ momentem? You guys just crack me up with your slanted, and negative views. Westy could turn into Mikus for a day, and that still wouldn’t be enough!

Belexes Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 8:30 am
@neil,

I think Westy was out there in the 3rd for the same reason as the 1st, helping the Kings to an impressive victory.

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Cristobal Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 11:06 am
@Belexes,

Isn’t Westgarth supposed to prevent incidents like Dorsett’s hit on Kopitar or Moreau’s boarding hit on Brown or Upshall driving Doughty into the stanchion?
Westgarth may have gotten 4 shifts and I didn’t see him block one shot or take part in one goal.
How on earth did he contribute to the win?
And before this “saving Simmonds and Clifford” business goes any further, they are under no mandate to fight and simply would be foolish to get involved in something when the team is up by 2 in the third.
If Westgarth isn’t in the game maybe Dorsett would have payed the price for that hit on Kopi by answering to Clifford.
Westy’s presence actually deters enforcement!

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Leo4kings Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
@Cristobal, This is the problem with some of you guys picking on a wrong guy (Westgarth) for no apperent reason. If he goes and retaliates against anyone who takes shot at our guys, you hammer him for taking bad penalties and being stupid. If he responds to someone like Boll who challenges him, you fry him for getting involved and what the hell was he doing on the ice anyways? The guy is damned if he does and damned if he does not. Maybe the difference in our opinions comes from how we like our team to perform and represent itself. I personally like an old fashion Hockey that suggests as much as you need a good goalie, a solid D and core players; you also need enforcesrs on your team to take care of business whenever is necessary. The Westgarth haters here apperently have no interest in an enforcer force and think we can do without. You may very well be right, but all I am saying is don’t pick on a guy and label him whatever you wish just because you don’t like his role. Back to last night’s game; Westgarth had a decent game as an ENFORCER and had a awesome fight and did what the coach needed him to do. Period.

Leo4kings Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
@Belexes, Amen to that.

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mcsorleyfan Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
@neil, my expectation, he was sent out there to ring Boll’s bell or anyone else’s that wanted to go. It’s the third period, the lead doesn’t seem to be in jeopardy; time to go square things up. You don’t want to drop gloves when the outcome is in doubt; the time to drop them is when its a lost cause or the game is well in hand. This one was well in hand. Sometimes an enforcer has to say “Guys, get me a 2 or 3 goal lead, and I’ll see he PAYS for that”. The coaches make that statement too. And, if we don’t get him this game, we get him next time. The first task is win the game. That part being pretty well accomplished, you protect your respect. many of the games where Westgarth is criticized for not fighting is where the outcome is still what the coach considers “winnable” or “slavageable”. That enforcer is a tool of the coach. If he wasn’t doing what the coach wanted of him, he wouldn’t be in the line-up.

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frazier king says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:46 pm

man penners size and net presents opens up kopi, its so fun seeing them jell.Just check out penners smile ,you just no he is so glad to be here.

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Hip-Check says:

March 11, 2011 at 10:55 pm

And cudos to Justin Williams ..He has moved to 28th in NHL scoring ..up there with a lot of Elite scorers

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:02 am
@Hip-Check, And thanks to DL he is ours for the next four seasons. We should all take note that despite the security of a 4 year contract his game hasn’t let up one bit.

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KingatUniversityofRedlands says:

March 11, 2011 at 11:34 pm

I predict a fourth place finish in the standings as the season concludes

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:05 am
@KingatUniversityofRedlands, Yep, 4th or 5th. I’m thinking Calgary has peaked too soon, they are due to slump soon. I think we’ll see the Sharks also slump soon. OTOH, Dallas is due to get hot now that Richards is back. I think Dallas will take the 4th spot and we’ll get the 5th. I like our chances against Dallas in the first round though.

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Token Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 6:23 am
@KC23, As long as we don’t play the Hawks in the first round, I’ll take any playoff spot this year.

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bbb7 says:

March 12, 2011 at 12:31 am

Love the first line, good effort all around. I wish Smyth and Zus would take a rest cause offensively neither is contributing anything now and it’d be nice to have them back somewhat for the playoffs. Smyth isnt used on PK or in a D role so give him a few nights off.

I like the look of the ‘new’ PP, even tho they only scored one and still had problems entering the zone. A little work on it and it’ll be fine… so nice to see movement and players actually looking to make cross-ice passes. Any system that can get Kopi in front of the net on the PP is great.

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xeropoint Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 1:12 am
@bbb7, Smyth definitely could use a few nights off. Maybe Handzus, although the PK might suffer. I think the key to Smyth-Stoll-Brown will be Stoll and Browns ability to enter the zone and recover pucks, allowing Smyth to just do his thing and get planted in front. He’s been the F1 more than he should be. That job requires either more speed or perfect execution by the D-men or dumping forward.

The results on the PP haven’t been great yet. Although, the few times they set up, I REALLY liked what I saw. Clean up the entries and let’s see what they can really do!

Kopitar was on his game tonight. I hope he can bring more of that the rest of the way!

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KC23 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 2:06 am
@xeropoint, Actually, that is probably a good idea shortly before the playoffs. Smyth just looks tired out there. A game off in the right spot might be an excellent idea.

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Token Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 8:41 am
@KC23, Dropping Smyth to the 4 line and bringing Cliffy up to LW2 for the Dallas game would be great.

You rest Smytty up a bit with shorter TOI and you get Cliffy out on ice more since he really rocked against the Stars last game.

Safe move since you can revert mid-game if needed.
SHUCHUK says:

March 12, 2011 at 6:55 am

well, at least we can count on having Bettman for 5 more years…whew!

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GG says:

March 12, 2011 at 7:08 am

They can paint those turnbuckles in red and area next to it so they can see that it is a dangerous area for hit

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David says:

March 12, 2011 at 7:32 am

Zus needs to pick up the pace! Lets go!!

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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 10:29 am
@David, Sometimes I wonder about comments like this.

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Dave in Torrance says:

March 12, 2011 at 8:10 am

Kopi had a great game (obviously) but how about actually scoring a goal on a 2 on 1? Haven’t seen the fellas able to finish one of those in many, many games, but that pass, pass, goal was perfect. Give em hell tomorrow boys!

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Goring 19 Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
@Dave in Torrance, a beautiful Dustin Penner pass back to JW, I see nothing but good things for this line.

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deadcatbounce says:

March 12, 2011 at 9:25 am

Rich, with all that’s been going on the past day or so, do you think the Kings will hold any kind of fund-raiser for those poor people in Japan? Hockey seems like such a small and unimportant thing right now with so many dozens of thousands of people having to endure suffering that’s almost beyond belief. I only say “almost” because it would be nearly impossible to comprehend the devastation and misery if we weren’t watching it unfold. I want the Kings to win a Stanley Cup desperately, but more than that I want to live in a world that’s as safe as we can possibly make it for one and all. I’m just heartbroken by what’s going on to our brothers and sisters in the land of the rising sun.

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Cristobal Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 9:51 am
@deadcatbounce,

I agree.
Tragic.
Great post and, hopefully, the NHL and the Kings will do something to help – as we all hopefully will.

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jp Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 10:35 am
@deadcatbounce,

The official Kings Twitter account did send out the following message yesterday:

“@LAKings We encourage fans who want to help Japan to make a gift to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999 or donate at http://ht.ly/4cXKs”

That short code automatically donates $10 to the Red Cross.

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BringBackTheShieldJersey says:

March 12, 2011 at 9:32 am

At least Kopi scored his third goal relatively early so that Bob Miller didn’t have to say, “Here’s Kopitar looking for the hat-trick” too many times.

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leo of pico says:

March 12, 2011 at 9:44 am

people should just take a step back and enjoy what this LA team is doing Smyth Handzus are a very important part they are not tired the kings do not have anybody to take their minutes they are quiet leaders of this team and if were sat you would see the difference and bashing Westgrath it was said by the Kings voice that the players felt more comfirtable with him in their for this game

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Dave's a Killer says:

March 12, 2011 at 10:06 am

Wow! Avs have lost 17 of 18. So much for the “big trade”. Can’t imagine what those fans are going through.

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Dominick Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 10:15 am
@Dave’s a Killer,
Sadly I can. It wasn’t too long ago that we were 2nd to last in the entire league. Hopefully those days are long gone. That did yeild us a very good draft pick though. Maybe Colorado will get a top 5 to go with their compliment of young players. They could use a couple of studs on D to develope as their own.

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What's the frequency, Kenneth? says:

March 12, 2011 at 10:25 am

Don’t know where people got the idea that thing’s a “turnbuckle.” It’s called a “stanchion.”

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