Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading…
The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.
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This is just another one of those fluke, crap the bed games. They happen, just like the Detroit gsme and the St Louis game. Look at the Canucks who just lost 4-1 to the Oilers. They happen to all teams and there is no doubt in my mind that the Kings wont come out looking like a whole different team on Wednesday and beat the hell out of the Coyotes. This is not the end of the world and we are still a very good team and will be in the playoffs. Go Kings Go
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mash-ola Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:13 am
@ULVkingsfan, I wouldn’t exactly call the game a fluke, as the Sharks are an elite team. What was flukey was the Kings uncharachteristically poor defensive play. We all know the offense is goal-challenged, but the Kings make up for it with good goaltending and sound defense. Unfortunately, that part of their game escaped them as well.
You have to give respect to the Sharks’ game. They were tenacious and relentless and the Kings caved under the pressure. Hopefully the team can learn from these butt-whoopings, but yeah, it was a tough one to watch.
Next!
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mash-ola Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:13 am
@mash-ola, oh yeah,
GO KINGS GO!
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Stuart Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:15 am
@mash-ola, and Marleau is en fuego right now. Perfect timing for him to cool off and disappear in the playoffs. Him and big joe could go fetal position by game 3.
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Player-X Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:51 am
@Stuart, fetal position, classic!
GOKINGSGO Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:07 am
@ULVkingsfan, hope you are right, wendesday is a possible 1st round playoff preview…. Would love to send a message, but we gotta get our first line rolling. They were invisible last night. Bring Richie up to 1st line, only player with any legs last night
Penner-richie-brown
smyth-stoll-moller
poni-zeus-simmer
clifford-lewis-westie
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well that game was horrible lets just get going on Wednesday and clinch the spot that game
Go kings go
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We have three tough games, against three playoff teams. Dallas has four games against Columbus, Colorado twice and Minnesota.
Am I too stupid to get nervous?
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bbb7 Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
@KingTrojan, Nervous is understandable, but I look at it this way – if the Kings lose their last 4 games and miss out on the playoffs because of that, they wouldnt have done anything in the playoffs anyway. So instead think positive and realize winning 2 of the final 3 puts us 4th or 5th, most likely.
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KingTrojan Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
@bbb7, Yeah, good point. I really think staying 4th or 5th is huge, as I like our chances with PHX, as compared to San Jose or Vancouver. Detroit I’m indifferent on.
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boxtime17 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:05 am
@KingTrojan,
Most are predicting Kings vs. Nashville based on upcoming games for those two teams.
Kenny44 Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
@KingTrojan, Just imagine how you’d feel if the Stars hadn’t kicked two into their own net Saturday!
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Cortex949 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:28 am
@Kenny44, Very very good point. I’d be freaking out
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Lot of fans upset, but the Kings will find a way. Fortitude has been there all season long, and everyonce in a while it just goes south. This 1 game doesn’t sum up the season anymore than that time we lost to them 4-0 in a game where they dominated from start to finnish. Pick yourself up and lick your wounds because we might have lost this battle, but we still have a war to win.
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A 4-6 or 1-3 woulds been better cuz we’re only +2 on HSH now & a seed might come down to that.Take it out on PHX.Besides,Bob wasn’t announcing so did it really occur?We beat them(NSH) the season series,my bad.Reg. wins then…we’re iffy of course & DAL,NSH don’t play anybody.Help us out Sharks,kill DUX & PHX(2)for us.2 of the last 6 guys,we can do it.
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So last year the kings had a pretty good pp and were weak on 5 on 5 as was evidenced by the vancouver series. They made strides to improve the 5 on 5 this year, but now the pp sucks. I suppose next year they are going to address the ability to not give up goals after scoring goals. But what part of the game will go then? Feels like my golf game, the short game or the long game is on but never both at the same time. Props to Stevens for the pk as it has been stellar all year.
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I was at the Shark Tank and it was obviously a bummer. Well at least watching warmups was fun. I noticed more Kings fans than normal at HP Pavilion. I kind of let Dustin Penner have an earful as he skated off. The guy just seems lost right now.
Jonathan Quick had an off night and it just proves that his margin for error is so slim. If he struggles, we are history. Their 2-0 lead felt like 5-0 in the second. Then when they scored the 3rd goal you knew the Kings were in trouble.
Let’s hope the Kings shake this one off and get the defensive coverage back in order. I noticed so many players standing around and out of position tonight. We also had difficulty clearing the zone and SJ capitalized. Personally, I think the Sharks are legit this year and they proved tonight how deep they are offensively. I wish I could say that someone on the Kings had a decent game. Maybe Clifford? Did anybody else think Simmonds struggled? What happened to the Wayne we knew and loved his rookie year?
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Harty Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 4:43 am
@hockeysureshot, agree Wayne struggled tonight big time…….
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Darrell Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:25 am
@Harty, You know it’s bad when the coaches ask him if he’s really injured.
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OK, here’s a big WTF, but not for the reasons most might think….
Am I the ONLY FRIGGIN ONE who thought we dominated play in the first? We won faceoffs 14-3, outshot San Jose 12-10 and basically spent about 14 minutes out of 20 in the O-Zone with a vicious forecheck!
Our defense just had no positioning, but don’t tell me the FORWARDS we’re playing poorly to start this game. Cliffy-Richie-Simmer were really pressuring on the forecheck every shift. Penner actually pressured on the forecheck as well! Poni did REALLY well behind the net. I swear I kept saying to myself that his was going to be one of those games where we dominate O-zone play and get smoked because our d- is either trying to do too much or just is not into the game tonight.
First goal was just good countering by SJ.
Second goal was a FLUKE pass that goes through 3 sticks and ends up on Vlasic’s stick. Notice Quick kind of hesitates across the crease thinking that puck gets picked up? Total fluke. Those homer announcers were tough to listen to tonight, especially when telling us how wonderful that ‘Pass’ was. That was a ‘Close your eyes and get the puck to the slot’ pass. Good play, not planned.
Now we score on some seriously hard work. Just a continuance from the first period I thought. We let down our guard once again and they score on us within 3 minutes….AGAIN! Not the greatest goal either.
From there, I really didn’t care anymore. Our D- let us down tonight. It happens.
I just don’t want ANYONE to sit here and tell me that our forwards didn’t begin the night doing their damn jobs. They truly dominated a majority of the 1st period. To hear the players and the coach try and make this a ‘Team’ loss is understandable, but I prefer the truth be told here.
The D- as a collective whole had an off night. Bad time to do it. Don’t do it again this season. We can’t afford it. You haven’t had many and we’ve gotten spoiled by it.
Just clinch against Phoenix. You will if you keep the forecheck mentailty the same and just shore up the D-.
BTW, I say let Bernier start against the stray dogs. Just to give Quick a reflective moment.
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:12 am
@Cynic, i agree on Bernier in net weds something really wrong with Quick i say Bernier weds and firday and Quick sat and the playoffs Quick
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 5:23 am
@Cynic,
Cynic, the guys on Versus seemed to think the Kings were putting on pressure in the first period as well. But One BIG thing I noticed. They never did much at all with that possession time. They NEVER looked dangerous in the offensive zone. All their play was along the boards and behind the net. Shots from the boards are very rarely gonna challenge any nhl team.
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Player-X Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:54 am
@number 6, true but holding the puck is a value, liek a ground game eating up the clock in a football game. It slows the tempo, and with a counter-atrtack team and a scor eon the rush team like San Jose, slowing the game down is a good thing. Yes, we need chances, but denying chances and possession time is a good thing, too.
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:17 am
@Player-X,
I absolutely agree with you. The points I make…. it’s all about balance. Yes it is good to slow the game down (see Baltimore Ravens) but you’ve also gotta pose more threat on the offensive end (see Baltimore Ravens) if you expect to not just win a game vs. good teams during the season, but to win a best of seven series against teams with way more playoff experience like Detroit or SJ.
neil Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:39 am
@Cynic, I posted the same thoughts previously…To me when the Kings gave up the third goal was when the game changed..until then we were outplaying the Sharks and doing alot of things well…
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fsd1 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:59 am
@neil, I agree 100%, how deflating is it to play like that and then let those 2 goals in….move on to the next game
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Barry's Mullet Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:30 am
@Cynic, I agree 100%…the Kings were actually taking it to the Sharks in the first period.
Unfortunately what usually happens is we cycle and get nothing for our efforts. The Kings can cycle the puck like mad men, but they just don’t know how to marry that with some creativeness to the front of the net and get those good quality shots like the Sharks did from their dmen.
The Sharks did everything well last night…and they schooled the Kings. Kopitar or not, the Kings lose that game. Kings were not ready and the Sharks had something to prove.
Kings are going to need balanced scoring and the defense to generate scoring chances just like the Sharks did last night….or its going to be a short playoff season once again.
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Stuart Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:39 am
@Barry’s Mullet, our cycle is more like a vicious cylce of ineptitude. all work and no payoff!
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Barry's Mullet Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 11:11 am
@Stuart, don’t you mean all work and no PLAYOFF?
The only guys really having a good year are AK, DD, JQ, WM, JW, KC, MG
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:44 am
@Kings x, i think JB too
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McDonalds Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 3:58 am
@Kings x,
I would take DD off that list
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:41 am
@Kings x,
who is MG? Marion Gaborik? I thought he was on …. oh sorry, it’s Matt Greene. I wasn’t trying to be funny btw, just figured it out as I was typing.
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bbb7 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:12 am
@Kings x, I think Trevor Lewis has had a good year given what they have asked him to do, and he could do more if TM wouldnt relegate him to playing on the 4th line with Westgarth. And I agree, I would take DD off the list; his play has definitely been a step backwards from last year, but he’s still a pup so that happens.
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Penner Lewis brown
smyth stoll moller
Cliff Richardson simmonds
poni zues westy
Brown and Lewis had great chemistry I don’t see why TM broke them up I would like to see them again before its to late
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bbb7 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:13 am
@lex, Switch Poni and Smyth and I’m with you. Put Lewis and Brown back together!
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For those worried about a playoff spot, Dallas has to win out and the King’s have to lose out. Possible, yes. Likely, not. There are 10 really solid teams in the Western Conference and 2 of them won’t go. I hope it isn’t us and the odds are it won’t be. To me, once your in, your in. The playoffs are like another season. I, for one, am not worried about first round matchups. Eventually, we will have to play the best team anyway.
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Darrell Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:27 am
@Mike C, I’m guessing overtime/shootouts will play a part in this before it’s over..
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SJ looked like a well-oiled machine, a truly elite team. It should be them vs Vancouver for the Campbell Trophy. Must faster up front and more skilled than the Kings. After the 1st period, (too late for me here on the East Coast) I thought the forwards played OK but I was skeptical of any comeback. The Kings O just isn’t up for getting behind by 2 or more goals. The weakness is now whenever the Kings get behind by 2 or more, it will be incredibly hard for them to comeback with their popgun offense.
Dustin Penner anyone? Penner? Bueller? Smyth? Johnson? Some production would be nice!
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Observations…………
Clifford was one of our only players who made the trip, he not only had some of our scoring chances he got involved twice, and once was very impressive to stick up for Richardson. He took on a 250lb defensemen, wow…..
Lots of pucks today at the goalies TM from far out, they need the work.
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My observations: While indeed the Kings D wasn’t as strong as it needs to be, the difference between the forwards was pretty clear. Even though the Kings made mistakes, the Sharks forwards made the plays they needed to – they found the space in the prime scoring areas they needed to find.
The Kings forwards are great – but they aren’t scorers (for the most part) they’re grinders. You can’t teach goal scoring. It’s an art that clearly Pavelski, Couture, Marleau and Heatley (w/o mentioning Thornton and Setagouchi) have a feel for.
If our first line at the moment projects out to between 27 and 30 goals a year….. I think that sort of says it all. We didn’t have much depth at forward before the injuries. Now it’s really exposed.
It’s just my opinion that the Sharks were able to create (perhaps helped by Kings errors) opportunities in the prime scoring areas. The Kings had really none at all other than the one goal.
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bbb7 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:16 am
@number 6, Good summary. It’s been clear to us here all year that the Kings lack skilled offensive players and hopefully that’s the next step in the evolution of the team, whether bringing up the scorers we seem to have in the system or going out and really getting one or two this summer.
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One more thing…. just read Helene Elliots’s column and she said the Sharks speed exposed the Kings. That’s the way in part that I saw it too while watching. It begs the question…. how much did their speed help force the Kings mistakes.
That old issue of speed is by now an old one. They have good players, but you absolutely need speed up front. True, Lewis and Richie have it in spades, but neither for the moment have shown that they are consistent 20 goal threats.
You’ve gotta SOMEWHERE on your roster have more than one player who has Speed And Scoring potential.
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neil Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:41 am
@number 6, Schenn and Lotki in the future?????
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:21 am
@neil,
You got me. Depends. It’s clear that Lokti has huge skill, but he’s also been injured both times he’s been up w the big club (I think it was w the Kings the first shoulder injury… maybe not) but he has to prove he can make it thru a whole season first, same way JQ had to prove after his first year that he could handle the No 1 role for a whole year which he did last year.
Wrt Schenn, sounds like he’ll be good, but first year in is he more than a 3rd line center at best?
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Token Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:36 am
@number 6, Other than Lewis who is blazing fast, we have players that are fast enough (Stoll, Simmonds, Kopi, Williams, Ritchie, Cliffy, Brown, etc).
What kills us is the guys that are slow, and I mean really slow: Smyth, Zeus, Westy, Penner. You can carry one or even two guys that are a bit on the slow side if you got good players that can open ice and buy some space/time for them ( i.e. Kopi & Williams), but not four extra slow guys. Just won’t work on a nightly basis.
Right now with the lines du jour, 2nd and 4th lines have slow, 3rd is downright molasses, and the first which has quickness if not speed has no finisher.
Sad thing is, we won’t fix this till next season.
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:21 am
@Token,
Hey Token! So right on your post. It makes me think of a question DL answered wrt bringing in smaller skilled players. He said, yeah he was absolutely open to it, but Not 4 or 5 (I think, I’d have to see the clip again). Point was, yeah, maybe one small guy can make the team, but NOT a team of them.
To me you can transfer it over – as you did – to the issue of speed.
I apologize to Rich in advance but am gonna type a phrase of all caps.
THIS IS THE NEW NHL. SPEED IS AN ISSUE. I’M SORRY, I DIDN’T INVENT THE RULES, BUT IT’S A FACT OF LIFE THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED NOW.
Sorry Rich. Hope you don’t mind. I don’t transgress often on the site
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Token Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
@number 6, Don’t get me started on this.
Every other GM wnd their mother brought up talent, be it injury or cap related. Allot of these guys do/did well.
We cycled a few defensemen before Martinez stuck. We cycled a few forwards before Lokti stuck, and were it not for some bad luck he’d be on the first line right now.
Point is: we could’ve run a couple few guys before the playoffs with the big club and made an actuall effort to win, instead of the lame adversity growth theory nonsense.
Love the way DL drafts and rebuilds, hate the way he manages the prospect pool.
Leaving the zone, without the puck, with the defense spread and vulnerable, is the big no-no.
Left wing breakout didn’t.
After our next big goal, I think if I’m Terry, I just call a time-out and remind everyone the importance of the next few shifts, above and beyond their normal criticality.
Dustin Penner is not fitting. Oscar Moller is not fitting.
We had very little presence between the dots. The Sharks were breaking out up the middle. They’d pass a puck from behind the goal line right in front of the net and walk up the middle. Not anything like our doomed slogs up the wall. We lost the game in the tight spots.
Shake it off. GKG
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:22 am
@anonandonanon,
agree completely about little presence between the dots… i mean you can cycle and cycle and then cycle some more. seems a bit to me like last night, uconn letting butler shoot all the 3′s they wanted to, cause at the end it’s not gonna do much.
also unfortunately so far agree too about penner and moller. i know DL wants to build from goal on out, but it’s frustrating seeing so many teams have rookies or 2nd year players who are scoring close to or more than 20 goals.
maybe toffoli etc will help but that may be 2-3 yrs down the road.
I say it’s a pity cause this team has so many other things in place.
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KingMe20 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 7:44 am
@anonandonanon,
This is why I was hoping the Kings would have traded for David Booth instead of Penner. He’s the wrong guy at the moment. Maybe next year, he’ll figure it out, but right now he’s invisible.
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One game folks. PERSPECTIVE!!!….Doesn’t matter the score, just a loss. Did anyone really expect the Sharks not to come with their top game? This was their division clinching game and their chance to move into the 2 seeding. This wasn’t a game the Kings should expect to win. Yes, it would have been nice for the Kings to have showed up after the 1st period, but fact is, they just didn’t. The important games are the next 3. Those games were important before this SJ game and they are NO more or less important after this lose. Yesterday, everyone here was talking about playoff seedings, me included, and there is no reason to change that mindset now after last nights game. Yes, Quick has to be better! Yes the KIngs have to play better defensively. But this is a game they can look at and understand that they just can’t show up, a good reminder!
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Off topic:
In an exclusive interview Kopi told to Slovene media that it’s much easier to play than to watch the hockey game… I would add that it’s even more valid for yesterday’s game against sharks, not only for him but for all of us fans as well… Otherwise he is slowly getting better after the successful surgery but it will certainly take a long time for his full recovery.
All the best Anze!!! We miss you so much!!! GKG!!!
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Monarchs clinched home ice for their playoffs and have little chance of catching the Pirates for the division title.
I sure hope Dean and Hex are having a coffee somewhere in Manahatan Beach and doing an inventory of AHL talent that can be brought up.
This whole “win with what you got” experiment has to end. 29 other GMs use all their available players without hesitation. Why in the world are Dean, Hex and TM screwing this up on some misplaced idea that adversity will make this team stronger? It wont. It will just make them lose.
Elkins, Cliche, Holloway … Just do something that shows the team that you care and want them to have every possible tool to win. Take a chance. If you do nothing, how can you expect success?
Hubris pretty much summs it up.
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Darrell Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:32 am
@Token, Or, maybe they don’t think anyone on the farm is good enough. Remember we brought up King (who was playing well) and he looked completely out of place.
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Token Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
@Darrell, Yeah, we brought in a Penner sized lumberjack or we brought up pint size skill guys.
We do have seasoned (i.e. Older than 24) players in Manchester in the 6-foot 200-lb range that would likely work out fine in the bottom 6 if called on.
Just doesn’t make any sense.
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What the HELL! Penner is starting to tick me off! I was one that was saying, ok he just needs some time to fit in. But No the time is now for him to pick it up with him knowing Willy and Kopy are out. He should see that and say to himself I have to put that puck in the net!
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Darrell Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:35 am
@King Lopez, He arguably went from a team with youth and skill (and really, no pressure) to a team with (now) less skill and speed and MORE pressure. With Kopi and Williams we thought he would be a good fit, and he was. Without them he’s being counted on to produce on his own, and he is not capable of that.
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We beat SJ 3 times this year, and inone of those we en=mbarrased the you-know-what out of them. They beat us 3 times this and embarrassed the you-know-what out of us last night. It is what is known as parody. Their speed versus our grinding. Their good goaltending versus our excellent goaltending. Insome of the games, some of the parts worked and in other games, they didn’t. There is no reason to jump off of cliffs and project doom and despair from this one game. If nothing else, it gave us great video of how we shouldn’t play and great video of what a really good team looks like. Besides, once the guppies hit the playoffs, they fold and they will be playing someone other than us in the first round. The Kings just have to stay in the hunt, keep Quick focused on the prize (last night showed how valuable he is to us) and remember thatin the playoffs, anything can happen. GKG and our new frontline should be Shell, Otto and Sistrunk.
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:05 am
@DesertKing,
My expectations are that the guppies as you call them won’t fold once they hit the playoffs. All you have to do is look. They started the season very weak and have gotten progressively better. Is it a new season in playoffs? Yes of course but they seem to be peaking at the right time and are Deep at forward. Very deep. Heatley, Thornton, Marleau, Setogouchi, Couture, Pavelski. Ryan Clowe. Five twenty goal scorers and two thirty goal scorers. Goaltending is good with someone who just won the SC.
I disagree with you there.
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DesertKing Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:30 am
@number 6,
They have had the same line-up with better goal tending the past several years and history has shown them to fold each year after peaking at the end of the regular season. That is why despite being the the winner of the President’s Trophy in the past, no one picks them to win the Cup since they can’t finish. They do have an awesome line-up, but they disappear in the playoffs. Reference Niemi, yeah, he was on a team that won the Cup, but I don’t think anyone will truly say it was because of his great goaltending. In fact, they liked him so much in Chicago that they…. oh yeah, they let him go. The great thing is we can disagree on this but always agree that we love the Kings.
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number 6 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:25 am
@DesertKing,
Yes we do love the Kings. Also, wrt Niemi, I was checking over some stuff from last years playoffs, and the verdict was that he played a heck of a series vs. Philly And that the only reason they didn’t resign him was because of the pickle they got themselves in financially…. not because he was ‘less than’ so to speak.
Also as you say, I think we do agree to disagree, because, as I see it, the fact that SJ has tanked will make them stronger and I think they now have so much depth….. let’s just say, if I were Vancouver I wouldn’t wanna play them.
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 8:34 am
@DesertKing, I think you mean parity, big buddy. Last night was more like a parody of the Kings about three years ago.
From time to time all season, speed had exposed the Kings’ defense. I think the Kopitar’s two-way play was conspicuously absent last night (that’s who Murray threw out against top lines before he was injured.) Unfortunately, without him and Williams, a bad game looks even worse. If there was ever a time to shake off a bad game, this is it, because they could really benefit from getting at least a point against the Dogs and at least a split in the final two against the Schmucks.
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DesertKing Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:06 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
Typing on Tuesday after a 6-1 loss, yep, I am a parody!
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The Kings will tighten things up against the Yotes I’m sure. I’m not reading too much into last nights debacle, it is what it is and we all know what they have to do to win. Hopefully, several of the players (I won’t mention any names, Penner, Smyth,) know what they have to do to turn it around.
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On the bright side: Phoenix got hammered, though not quite as badly, by the Sharks about ten days ago. They’re next up, coming up that loss, a squeaker against Dallas, and an OTL to the Avs. So, they’re probably not exactly taking charge of their game either.
It looks like the Kings can and will shore things up to the extent possible, and take care of business tomorrow night.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Oh, and, um…The Dogs get to play the Sharks TWICE after the Kings, so if the Kings keep their heads up and take care of business, they’ve got a great shot of retaining the fourth or fifth slot. They might be stuck behind Nashville, though, because they get tomato cans from their division to finish the season. It appears as though they’d have to lose out to let the Ducks ahead of them and end up in sixth.
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