It’s not difficult to predict that special-teams play will play a big part in this first-round series between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks. In the regular season, the Kings ranked 21st in power-play efficiency and fourth in penalty-kill efficiency, while the Sharks ranked second in power-play efficiency and 24th in penalty-kill efficiency. The team that can maintain its special-team strength and improve its weakness might have the upper hand.
Going deeper into the numbers, the teams were close to equal this season in terms of 5-on-5 scoring. The Sharks scored 154 goals while the Kings scored 148 goals. In terms of 5-on-5 goals against, the Sharks allowed 133 while the Kings allowed 141. In terms of power-plays goals, for and against, the Sharks scored 68 and allowed 56, while the Kings scored 47 and allowed 40. Of course, in facing a strong power-play team such as San Jose, the Kings can greatly help themselves by staying out of the penalty box as much as possible, a strategy that certainly had the endorsement of Terry Murray…
MURRAY: “That’s always important in the playoffs. You don’t want to bring the referees into the game. You want to make sure you’re playing the game the right way, hard between the whistles, and then you try to eliminate that hooking, reaching-in stuff that end up being cheap calls that you don’t like to kill off as a team. So, knowing that going in, we know that (Sharks) power play is one of the best in the league. They showed us some unbelievable stuff in the last game that we played against them. Penalty killing is going to have to be really good. The reads are going to have to be sharp and right on the mark in order to get through any kind of penalty-kill situations that we have. I don’t want to see us get into a situation where we’re looking at relying on our penalty-kill guys too many times in the game.”
Jonathan Quick if you are out there and you can read this….Get Some Sleep, Eat Some Wheaties, and watch Rocky IV….WIN QUICK WIN!!
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LA Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
@David, maybe watch the miricle too. were not as fast and we dont have as good of an offense but if we play as a team and out work them we can win.
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Johnson -21… when was this suppose to balance OUT?
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
@jkking, but of course, during the playoffs!
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RobSD Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
@jkking,
The worst +/- in history… at least from when they started keeping track of it, is -260. Mr Johnson is already at a whopping -77 for his career. The shocking part of that is that he is considered an offensive defenseman. So imagine if he didn’t have all those pp assists.
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Pesus Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
@RobSD,
You dont get a + for a PP goal so those assist dont factor in his +-
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RobSD Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
@Pesus,
Didn’t know that! I still don’t like him, but will be cheering for him.
Paul G Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
@jkking, This will balance out in New Jersey for him
Parise to LA, what?
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To think there are 9 teams that fared worse than the kings on the PP.
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jkking Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
@dMan, are they in the playoffs?
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The answer for the Kings is NO! Buisness as usual. San Jose is suspect 5 on 5 though.
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Can we get a quote about the embarrassing power-play?
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If it comes down to special teams then the Kings better be near perfect in the PK since their power play is anemic.
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So, who are we going to play in the second round?
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jkking Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
@King Doughnuts, quackers.
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jkking Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
@jkking, sorry PHO or Detriot
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gggbd Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
@King Doughnuts, I’m guessing Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Rory McLLroy
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Dominick Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
@gggbd, Bwahahaha! That was low.
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RobSD Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
@gggbd,
HAHAHAHA!
We’ll be playing with ourselves. Some great statistics on NHL.com, gave me a ton of hope.
Kill or be killed — The last four Stanley Cup winners ranked in the top eight in penalty killing during the regular seasons when they won the Cup. The last two Cup winners, the Blackhawks and Penguins, ranked 18th and 20th on the power play, respectively, in their regular seasons.
Seven of the top-eight penalty-killing teams reached the postseason this year. Of those eight teams, only Montreal and Vancouver ranked in the top eight in power-play efficiency. Special teams are a huge factor in a short series, so perhaps the only two Canadian franchises in the playoffs will have an edge.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
@RobSD, been telling everyone all along, DEFENSE wins STANLEY CUPS!!! Thanks for looking that up ROBSD!
xeropoint Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
@RobSD, Nice work, digging all that up. I wish there was an easy way to see how many teams in the last 10 years (or ever) have won it all with their top 2 scorers out of the lineup. Or the team with the most rookies who have won…
RobSD Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@RobSD,
It’s all going to be about timely goals. If you think back to the Devils and Broduer’s reign, we have a very similar style team. Quick has been outstanding in his short career and is only going to get better. Those Devil’s teams won a ton of 2-1, 1-0, 3-2 games. It’s very possible. We need to be able to get those 1, 2 and 3 goals though!
Dominick Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
@RobSD, Usually I’m the one trying to come up with encouraging stats, when nobodies feeling it, and ticked off. Thanks! I needed that.
I will say that the Devils won with playing the trap, but the Kings are very capable of shutting teams down and limiting them to 1 or 2 goals per game, just like the Devils did. Scoring 1 or 2 goals per game ourselves is the only unknown right now.
SLG1013 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
@RobSD,
I believe that we can beat the Sharks especially if we can frustrate them in the first two games when they will be trying to put on a show for the home crowd. They still seem to have a fragile psyche and hopefully we can exploit that. That being said, it could be a killer for the Kings if they come out a step slow and fall behind by two goals…
The difference, unfortunately, between those Devil’s teams and ours is that NJ played the trap and had an amazing transition game with very speedy forwards (some were big and fast; a young Bill Guerin comes to mind). This is what killed Detroit in the 94-95 finals; that, and the fact that Scott Stevens and the rest of the Devils thoroughly punished any Wing that got near the crease… The Kings definitely have the bodies to punish the Sharks but the team speed to create chances in transition is just not there.
do you guys think parse, williams, penner would be a better combo then penner williams and moller/zues?
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john Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
@jkking,
Any line including moller is bad, unless it’s in Manchester.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
@john, Actually, Oscar was the only one getting open on the power play.
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It is fun to watch and read media all predictions are sharks in five haha I cant wait to see the kings take them out of the playoffs
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Put Simmons on the power play! The only few times I have seen him on the power play we got points. Not sure why Murray does not put him out there. I like his passing a lot. I feel he would be able to find the right person in the right place. It’s worked before. Go back and look at the stats. I bet if there is a stat that shows who was on the power play when points were scored you will see that the few times he played on the power play points were scored. Not every time of course but from what I remember last month or in March. When he had the opportunity he made the best of it. I would be curious to see the percentage (Simmons on ice during power play and points scored).
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xeropoint Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@Nason, He was actually out there in the last game, when we had the entire first period on the PP. Every time Simmonds was on he almost single handedly killed the attack. Not to say anyone else was much better, though.
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BobKnob Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
@Nason,
His hands were not meant for PP’s…
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BobKnob Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
@BobKnob,
Speaking of, Jeff Turcotte holds a pretty good stickhandling school out here in so cal.
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Yes they will. The Sharks will score on some of their powerplays, and the Kings won’t, just like they haven’t all year. And Sharks win, Kings lose.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
@Arthur, wow, it is kind of depressing how many people have given up on our team. I haven’t in 44 years of being a Kings fan ever made a statement like that.
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MOSH Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@fsd1, Agree this kinds of fans makes me mad
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Guss Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
@fsd1, I hate it too, gotta keep positive vibes,
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Jimbo Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
@fsd1, Totally Guss and MOSH…we can rise to this occasion especially if we go in proud and not tentative…we have been streaky and this break allows us to do just that. GKG
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@Arthur, also, not counting the 3 out of 6 we won against them makes the statement even stranger. I could handle San Jose beating us 3 times……..
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number 6 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
@fsd1,
Yeah, but unfortunately two of those were in the shootout. There are no shootouts (yes, I know you know) in the playoffs.
SJ won their three in regulation. Let’s be honest, if the Kings win it’ll be a major upset. They haven’t scored goals since Kopi went out and it’s really not a surprise. If they can hold the Sharks to one goal a game then major kudos to them! Then they would for sure have a chance….. but if the Kings win a game 5-3 or something of that order, I for one will be a very very surprised guy. I don’t say it’s not possible, but I’d be very surprised.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
@number 6, agree, but no way am i giving up the dream!
Why didnt he mention our powerplay? Ohhhhh thats right.. we don’t have one.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
@john, And what mention would you like? If I were TM I would say something like this…..”It is the players responsibility to perform and produce on the ice” If our Power Play is not there than ask the same question to the players and I will bet they say they need to put the puck in the net, no current player has said it is TM’s fault WE don’t score on the power play.
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jess Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
@fsd1,
SO the team doesn’t need a coach then right fsd1? And what player is going to publicly blame the coach for anything? Whether the player is right or wrong, that relationship will be short-lived and definitely not in the player’s favor.
TM knew like everyone else did weeks ago that the pp is our teams weakness. So couple that with the fact that we cannot squeak by into OT and win in a shootout anymore then whay you have is a compounded disadvantage…
He should be talking about it, it’s our number one problem and if it’s not fixed, we will not see past the first round.
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fsd1 Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
@jess, just because he doesn’t announce it here doesn’t mean he isn’t working on it….
jess Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
@fsd1,
So far on this topic TM has used the ostrich method, which is to bury one’s head in the sand and wait for the problem to go away. If he really is working on it and we start scoring on it, then I will happily stand corrected. I will appologize to you and hockeynerd and player-x who are all so offended by my citing these real issues and would prefer we all just defend the staus quo and say happy things no matter the severity of any given situation.
iam surprise about the 5 on 5 scoring….we are not as bad as I thought. Now lets compare to last year;s team….Kopi Out….Williams in ??? out …..Penner is in…..Jones and O D. out…..Mitchell and Martinez is in. Quick not rested…this year ….rested…… Last year …..not as much experiance…..this year….more….
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RobSD Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
@neil,
Neil, you’re not much for grammar but you make excellent points! I think everyone is just so down because of the last few games. They were terrible. It’s hard to finish off the season like that and think your team is going to be able to come out any different. We get a couple bounces and we could be in every game.
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neil Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
@RobSD, me grammar is bad….I sorry LOL!!!!!!
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jess Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
@neil, hey neil you communicate just fine and your points are good:)
Food for thought,
How many games did we win in the reg. season by way of shootout?
If the nhl did not have shootouts in the reg season would we have made it into the playoffs?
So without shootouts in the playoffs and a weak powerplay what is the strategy to offset our weaknesses?
Defensive teams win cups, but don’t those teams also have to score goals?
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So…by close he meant they are better than us in every statistical category but penalty kill. How does our penalty kill really rate? How did we we do against the top 4 power plays in the league-that would be VAN, SJ, ANA, CHI? Well, 12 of the 40 PPG the Kings allowed this season were against those 4 teams. Hmm. What about SJ specifically? Better: we killed 14 of 17 PP. And our PP? We were shut out on the power play for 5 of 6 meetings and went 2 for 5 in the game we won in a shootout.
And if you remove Kopitar’s numbers it gets even worse. I’m not worried, for we have Parse (and his stellar two-way game) coming back shortly.
I don’t know what to make of these numbers other than to say that, Yes! our penalty kill could keep us in it, but our power play could also lose it for us.
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“Will special teams make the difference in series?”
Um … NO
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ive read like a good dozen blogs now amd NO ONE is giving us a bit of a flippin chance vs the sharks…..they are treating us like we are a joke and dont deserve to play san jose. seriously?? last i checked we went toe to toe with those idiots from san jose if not played better! that last game was just a fluke! i cant wait to hear how quiet the shark tank will be come thursday and saturday after quick and the kings steal 1 if not 2 games there haha. lets face it we will lose at least one game in la…we gotta win on the road!
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jess Reply:
April 11th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
@khays, We beat them in shootouts…
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The Kings just need to stay out of the penalty box and not give S.J. an advantage. Play smart, stay focused and believe they can win. GKG! I’m behind you all the way.
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How’s this for a change?
First line: Clifford – Brown – Williams
Second line: Smyth – Handzus – Simmonds
Third line: Poni – Stoll – Penner
Forth line: Lewis – Richardson – Moller
First line is our hot hands
Second line is speed, skill and closer
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