The Kings’ recent penalty-kill success will certainly be put to the test tonight. The Kings have not allowed a power-play goal in 10 consecutive games, but tonight they face a San Jose Sharks team that ranks third in the NHL in power-play efficiency and has been even better than that of late. The Sharks have scored at least one power-play goal in eight consecutive games. They are 3-for-4 on the power play in their last two games and 7-for-19 in their last six games, an astounding success rate of 36.8 percent. It’s no stretch to say that special teams could make the difference tonight, and after today’s skate, Terry Murray talked about the Sharks’ power play…
MURRAY: “Best in the league, probably. In the last few games, it’s clicking along really good. We always talk about (playing with discipline). It’s important to play hard between the whistles, but once the whistle blows, you’ve got to make sure you’re showing composure and not bringing the referee into the game. You’ve got to be smart about that, at this time of the year. There’s too much at stake. But you never want to pull back when the game is being played. You play hard, play smart. We want to get away from the hooking and the reaching in, the slashing penalties. Those are hard ones to kill, if there are too many of them. That’s simply moving your feet, keeping your tempo high. By doing that, that will keep the referee out of the game. It’s going to be a hard game, but the composure is really important. You’ve got to take a facewash once in a while out there.”
I really hate to admit it but SJ scares me everytime we play them. I never feel comfortable when we face them as they pretty much have it all! Size, speed, skill, felons(J/K, that was tastless I know) and a top line that is as good as any in the game. I hate to toot there horn but its reality.
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Paul G Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, oooohhhhh yyyyyeeeaaaahhhh Dany Heatley lol
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
@Paul G, I’m going to keep an eye out for an old steering wheel I can loop around my neck and wear it to the games against SJ from now on… Then i’ll run down to the glass where DH can see me…
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39scars Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
@Stuart, paint it gold and u can go2 Laker games also
Dan H. Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
@Stuart,
Dude I catch heat every time I say it but I can never stop calling Heatly “Manslaughter”.
Newf Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, i feel the opposite. SJ never scares me. the teams that scare me when LA plays them are NSH and CGY…but each of those are starting not to based on our play against them this year.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
@BrokeKingsFan,
Their 1st line doesn’t really scare me 5v5 since Kopi’s line always seem to shut them down. Kopi always does an amazing job defensively against Thornton limiting his time and space with the puck especially behind the net which is his bread and butter spot. We should send the games vs. the Sharks to the Selke voters
.
But their 1st PP unit is pretty scary which is why we need to stay out of the box.
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, I figured the greatest population of felons per capita was the Islanders, but the Sucks also have 3 on the bad boys list. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnation.com%2Fnhl%2F2011%2F3%2F23%2F2065528%2Fnhl-penalties-2010-2011&h=08943
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Here that Richardson? No getting cross checked leading to a penalty against you.
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
@ten for instigating, right! Don’t mouth off and get your grill Xchecked because you’ll get two too. Stupidest thing I ever did see!!! I wish the refs would grow some heuvos and call it the right way!!! No way does verbal jarring equal a two-handed xcheck… RICOLA!!!
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liamchop Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
@Stuart, Still PO’ed about that one. Unbelievable, never seen anything quite like it
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
@ten for instigating, I’ve seen a LOT of B.S. But I never seen NO B.S. like THAT B.S…
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I suggest limiting the penalties.
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Newf Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, agreed. i also suggest scoring more than 2 goals.
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John Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
@Newf,
Just one more then them is cool with me!
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Deke'r Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
@John, That WOULD be more than 2!
John Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Deke’r,
Oh psychic are ya??
See, this is what I’ve been saying the last few days here regarding the Kings lack of a successful PP. A strong PP makes an opponent play soft against you because they’re afraid of taking penalties.
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YoBro Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
@Shotongoal, SPOT ON.
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jess Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
@Shotongoal,
Yep and we need to send kompon on a family vacation somewhere exotic and fly-in a serious PP coach
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If we come to play from the opening buzzer we win the Sharts lose very simple,And please hit Logan Couture(Sp)every time he is on the Ice
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Paul G Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
@Hockeyfanb4Gretzky, And Pavelski
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BrokeKingsFan Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
@Paul G, and Marleau, Heatley, Clowe, and Big Joe. By god just hit and injure the whole damn team and not only do we win this game but the division along with it! I can dream right?(about the injuries of course)
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Newf Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
@BrokeKingsFan, watch out for Clowe, he might blindside you with a fish to the head.
he’s a newfie like me
Capt Jam Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@BrokeKingsFan,
and those are mighty big fishies you have out there, too!
Maybe the Kings can take note of their PP since the Sharks have success with it. Looking forward to going to the game tonight. Our friends are also going who are Sharks fans! UGH! Let’s hope we win this one..always nice to shut them up! LOL! GO KINGS GO!!
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
@Laura, Also maybe they can see how SJ completes passes that aren’t N-S bottom to point!
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unrelated but did anyone hear about MRechhi saying the CAN’s embellished the extent of MP’s injuries just to get ZC suspended??? That’s some serious balls!! LOL
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Howe 9 Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
@Stuart,
What? Too many initials.
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Newf Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
@Stuart, yes that was awesome. and I agree totally. Recchi doesn’t really care since he’ll be retiring soon.
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jet Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
@Stuart, Don’t get me started. At least Fox recognized the suspension to Cooke was deserved during the intermission of the last game. It should have been rest of the season. With what we pay for tickets, it is nice to see all of the players on one’s team.
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EternalOptimist Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
@Stuart,
Seriously? Do they know that MP fractured his VB(vertebrae
)?
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
@EternalOptimist, got me there, I didn’t see the Xrays… for all I know there never even were any xrays… MP’s photo in the team picture is fading like he never existed… straight out of back to the future…
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Something’s gotta give on the SJ PP tonight…either the Kings shut them down or SJ scores on their opportunities.
The Kings need to be committed to playing solid, smart hockey for 60 minutes against this team or else it will be a long night.
GKG!
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
@vplaza, “either the Kings shut them down or SJ scores on their opportunities.” There can only be two outcomes master of the obvious!!!
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Weis-Guy Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
@Stuart, let me present a third outcome. Kings get dominated, but the Sharks don’t hit the net and we score a shorty. Boom.
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
@Weis-Guy, I’ll take door #3 all day!!! batta-boom-batta-bing we’re smoking cigarettes, aye!
sit Poni = less penalties
jk
seriously, just keep the feet moving to keep the penalties down so we don’t have to test their pp vs our pk
also, playing in their end more will force them to take the penalties and put us on the pp… uhhhhhhh scratch that strategy!
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Just play hard and smart and stay out of the box Kings!
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If I recall correctly, the Sharks’ PP was clicking on all cylinders when the Kings visited San Jose on Nov. 15. I think I remember at least two goals within 20 seconds or so of going a man up. On the positive side, since that 6-3 loss, the Kings have outscored San Jose 7-3 in three games; even including that embarrassing loss, the Kings are up 10-9 in all four games. There’s proof right there that the fish can be reeled in. Do I see a Friday fish-fry on the calendar?
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Capt Jam Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
@Zeley,
Mmmmm…fish fry. That reminds me of the fish market in downtown L.A. at 6th and Central.
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I don’t have a good feeling about this game at all. I feel a 4-1 loss coming on.
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Deke'r Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
@brymaster1, Thanks for the vote of confidence……no hockey for you..1 year!
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KFII Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
@brymaster1, That’s okay, you can root for the Kings instead.
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brymaster1 Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
@KFII, LOL I like that, but seriously you guys cant be to confident yourselves can you? the kings a severe lack of scoring and the sharks have a hard time not scoring it seems of late. I would be shocked if they got three goals.
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fsd1 Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
@brymaster1, so you still rooting for us?
well i always Fear the Sharks and the Coyotes because we always lose against them
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DLB Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
@KingsFanFTW, and we beat them both the last time we played those teams. Can we forget that lovely shutout beatdown the Kings put on them in SJ, either?
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KC23 Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
@KingsFanFTW, Add the Blues to that. In fact the Blues are worse than both put together for us.
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mcsorleyfan Reply:
March 25th, 2011 at 12:45 am
@KC23, Having grown up in St.L, those losses have cost me MONEY! (Boen in Redondo Beach tho)
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@Stuart, how do u call a broken neck a dive?
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Stuart Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
@39scars, First of all, sounds like the beginning of a joke, and secondly, my name isn’t Mark Recchi and I don’t think he called it a dive. He was saying the Montreal OrganIzation was embellishing the “severity” of the concussion so that the league would suspend ZChara. I guess he felt that aside from that small problem with his neck (my jest) he probably didn’t have a very sever concussion. I didn’t make the news, I barely even reported it.
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Nice to see TM can recognize a good PP. Try watcin some tapes to see what makes it work.
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What Kings player has the most penalties this season?
Why do I think it is Brown…
Anyone? Anyone?
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kevin Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
@Slim, Clifford 111 PIM Westgarth 93 PIM Simmonds 71 PIM Brown 65 PIM Greene 64 PIM Doughty 60 PIM
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…then there’s the other side of the coin.
The SJ PK has been a very ho-hum 71% in its last 5 games. CAL scored on their only PP last night. The Blackhawks put in 3 ppgs in beating SJ 6-3 (SJ’S last loss). it
SJ’s recent results indicate that this is a team that outscores opponents rather than shuts them down. The Kings are the exact opposite. It’s defense that usually wins tight games. If the Kings can survive the first 20-30 minutes with either a tie or a small lead, the Kings should win; if the Kings start trading goals and/or fall behind, they will come up short.
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Slim Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
@Capt Jam, I thought they were already coming up short with Moller..
See where I went with that?
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Capt Jam Reply:
March 24th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
@Slim,
That’s a good one.
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Things are going to click tonight and we’ll get a big win. This will be the their best home win of the season.
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Winning faceoffs is key to slow their PP.
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How about we play crate hockey instead… Kopi’s line vs Thornton’s line for the 2 points
.
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If the Kings score first, they will win – book it! Come out strong boys! Bring the pain! We tend to sit back too much against teams on the second night of a back to back. Let’s try going out and hitting them in the mouth right from the start. Take the body early and often!
GO KINGS!!!
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I m hoping we get at least 1 point, 2 would be huge!!
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