Here’s my LAKings.com game recap for tonight, with stats, video and pictures included. Thanks for reading…
The Kings will not practice tomorrow and will return to the ice Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. Stay tuned tomorrow, though, for more notes…
That Dallas coach has those guys playing very well. West is gonna be amazing this year.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:22 am
@KC23, I was impressed.
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Kings Fan In Temecula Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:31 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, very surprised here, i’ve never even heard of this guy
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#1faninVegas Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:41 am
@Kings Fan In Temecula,
Ask me about him, I can tell you info from his playing days as a Las Vegas Thunder to a coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers. =)
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:24 am
@KC23, I was reading on one of their blogs after the game that he thought it was the best game they’d played so far, so there’s a nod to our guys. I guess it wasn’t just us who thought both teams played at a very high level.
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I will repeat this, Brickwalls want to be Quick this year for Halloween
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Pssst … guess who has the best defense in the league?
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:33 am
@KC23, Hint: Their best defender isn’t even playing atm.
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Shakes Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:03 am
@KC23,
…but he can hang out at ATM’s…
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BigMikeonD Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:46 am
@KC23, Pssst, JMFJ was playing tonight.
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 10:01 am
@BigMikeonD, ahhh, good one … can’t argue that so far!
KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:40 am
@KC23, Hint #2: this team also has the best goal differentcial in the western conference.
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Andrew: the second coming Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:56 am
@KC23, The Los Angeles Kings of Los Angeles?
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:52 am
@Andrew: the second coming, He scores!!!
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Dominick Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:08 pm
@Andrew: the second coming, Is there another Los Angeles Kings, or just the one in Los Angeles?
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 1:38 pm
@Dominick, Bizzaro Kings.
First off, a congratulations are in order for the Dallas Stars. They have adapted to a new coach very quickly, and a good coach Glen Gulutzan is. I can’t praise Glen Gulutzan enough as I watched him coach the Las Vegas Wranglers since our inaugural year. He was than promoted to the AHL for two seasons before taking over the realm of Dallas Stars’ ex-Kings coach Marc Crawford.
Second congratulations goes to Jonathan Quick. I enjoy watching Quick grow over the last few seasons into a Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Dominick Hasek type goaltender. Again I want to congratulate Quicker for his 3 shut-outs and 188:10. I also noticed with Quicker that he has been playing better with the stick handling and going behind the net play. Glad Quick is in net for us right now.
Another player I noticed playing very well since last year is Dustin Penner. He doesn’t have to score as long as he keeps taking the body as he has been. He has stepped up as a team player as far as I could see.
Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson. Three times mentioned his name, three goals, three game winning goals, and a +4 for the season. Career year for JJ? Maybe!
Anze Kopitar. Thank God he recovered from his surgery!!
Justin Williams. Needs to pick it up a bit, but still glad he is on our team.
Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Ethan Moreau… Glad they are on our team. WOW! What a difference these players have made for us this year.
Rest of the team. Fighting hard, and I love to see it.
Defense! I am impressed with how we are putting the sticks in the passing and shooting lanes frustrating our opponents. We are not giving the opposing team the 2nd opportunity.
Offense! Coming along just fine. With good defense comes great offense. =)
PP and PK! Power Play is a lot better, but the PK needs to improve by some numbers!
Go Kings Go
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:36 am
@#1faninVegas, Our PK is 11th atm, but that’ll move up into the top 5 before too long me thinks.
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#1faninVegas Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:40 am
@KC23,
True! However, I was hoping we’d be there already after last seasons PK numbers! This is going to be an AWESOME year!
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Wow. GREAT Game! Dallas looks really stingy. Their coach knows what he’s doing. Maybe they are for real. Take a few more games this season to find out, but kudos to them man…
Quick is a stud. Congratz on the records, but especially the 2 points (Because you’d want it that way). He looks really sharp and he should kiss the post for that one shot that got by him. The post was the only thing that could have stopped that shot.
Thoroughly impressed with this team chemistry. Gagne should be doing nothing but shooting drills though until Tuesday. Gags had a handful of chances he could have got better placement on. Guess his hands were only playing D- tonight. Dallas D- didn’t make it easy though.
The only real disappointment was Penner for the first 2 periods. He was making no-look backhand passes to nobody, standing around on dump-ins, basically playing lazy. Something was said to him between the 2nd & 3rd. He was a different player in the 3rd period. Thank you to whoever gave him an earful.
I didn’t think Quick would get the shutout again, but boy was I wrong. I’ll say he won’t on Tuesday just to keep the streak going.
2 points baby!
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puck73 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 4:13 am
@Cynic, This was a great win against a club that is playing well early on. Gagne. Richards, and Moreau have made a big difference on our team. And I still think Trent Hunter will help us out as the season goes along because you gotta figure we may get a injury or 2.
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Cynic Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 am
@puck73, I agree completely. Those three have helped change the attitude of this team the right way. Awesome to see for sure.
Hunter is interesting. I think he’ll contribute too, I’m more concerned how much he’s healed up from his injury. Guess we’ll see. The bench time might actualy help him and besides, Westie deserves the playing time right now. He’s playing good, solid hockey.
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BigMikeonD Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:48 am
@Cynic, Penner was and will be fine. His energy and fitness is clearly up. His effort level is also way up. He keeps this up and he will score a bunch this year. Get off the guys back.
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Cynic Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 9:35 am
@BigMikeonD, Not on the guys back Mike, just stating what I saw. He was not up to speed with the other guys in the first two. I didn’t say it wasn’t allowed, it just happened that way. I agree with you Pens will be just fine. He has sparks in his game I haven;t seen since he was with the Ducks.
I think guys like Richards and Moreau would disagree about getting off the guy’s back. They care enough to be on his back when necessary and everybody needs that sometimes.
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Anyone else do the Bailey’s Buddies Halloween Trick or Treat thing after the game? It was pretty neat – you got to go out onto the actual ice! I mean, I expected to go out on a carpet or something, but you got to walk out on the actual playing surface. It was amazing – like walking on fresh powder! Really chewed up, too. I can’t imagine what it must be like to play on that!
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I was at the game tonight and I really think these points need to be mentioned.
1. Slava Voynev is the real deal! VERY calm in his own zone and showing a lot of poise.
2. Mike Richards completely changes this team. He not only makes the players on the ice better (see Penner) but his hockey sense is second to none!!
3. Jack Johnson plays MUCH better without Doughty in the lineup PLUS this year he is playing the best two way hockey of his career.
4. Willie Mitchell is the leader of our D corp. His calm, steady play helps Johnson, Voynov, etc play much better than they normally should.
5. Penner has been busting his A$$ this year, although it hasn’t lead into many points. He was rock solid tonight.
6. Quick has transformed himself into a Top 3 goalie this year, no exections
7. Our Power Play is 1000 times better with Kopitar AND Richards in at the same time. Teams just don’t know who to focus on.
8. Westgarth has really looked good lately. If he’s our weakest link, then the rest of the league is in trouble.
9. Moreau is a valuable member on this team that won’t get a lot of hype but we need to have.
10. The TEAM looks confident and strong in ALL situations, a sign that this team KNOWS it should win every night.
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TYLER Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 2:23 am
@PLAY2WIN, +1
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puck73 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 4:16 am
@PLAY2WIN, Voynov is very poised in his own end. For a guy who finally got a chance at 21 to get his feet wet when #8 got dinged, this guy has come in here and not embarrassed himself or the team. And you are right, he is the real deal and could definately be on our 23 man roster if we didnt have so much depth currently.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:36 am
@puck73, Frankly, I think the only reason he’s not on the 23-man roster is contract considerations (I think they’d send someone ELSE down when Dewey comes back if they didn’t have to go through waivers.)
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Bill M. Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:11 am
@puck73, He’d be playing on any other team in the league, I’d say.
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petemagoop Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 6:21 am
@PLAY2WIN, I thought Penner looked solid too, apparently though not all agree
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:38 am
@petemagoop, I’m happy with the improvement. There were a couple times he made mistakes, but that’s on a team that’s suddenly SO impressive. This is going to sound snide, but maybe he’s learning how to improve his game in earnest, and he probably has to work very hard to shake bad habits he was getting away with for a few seasons.
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:58 am
@petemagoop, I thought Penner looked okay, but there is zero chemistry between Penner,Brown and MR.
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PLAY2WIN Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 10:29 am
@KC23, Give it time Penner has played in only THREE games this season AND he has been hurt!!
KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 11:42 am
@PLAY2WIN, not really complaining, just an observation to date, it will eventually get better. Brown is a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to new line mates imho.
kopi looks good without the puck – impressed with his backchecking – just saying
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wideleft Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:48 am
@petemagoop, Kopi is the best 2 way player in the league.Amazes me that he can constantly pick someones pocket just before they start a rush.Also, watch when he hits the blue line and the entire defense backs off. it’s almost like they’re saying to themselves oh shi*
Re: quick- I think we can put to rest who their #1 goalie is, but I still would not play him more than 70 games.
Re: Penner- doesn’t matter what he does or how well he’s playing, the critics here will not give it as rest. The guys a beast out there and no opponent wants to be hit by him for 60 minutes with that frame.I would rather him shut down a line than score 20-25 goals.Keep focusing on D Pens…I for one am sure glad you’re on our side.
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:00 am
@wideleft, Datzuk is still the best two way, but Kopitar is right up there.
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Jeff Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:09 am
@KC23,
No
Bill M. Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:15 am
@KC23, Datsuk was the best, but his time has passed. He’s still good but isn’t aging like lidstrom. Kopitar, Kesler, and Toews will share the selke for the next decade. Hmm all three western guys…scary.
Great Job Quickie!!!
Let’s go for SO # 4 Tuesday night….
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Its good to see the team play well in front of Quick, now they just have to play like that in front of Bernier.
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:04 am
@Kinger, Haven’t seen any significant difference in team play. Quick is just flat out a world class goalie. Bernier is good, Quick is playing like few goalies ever play.
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off topic but in relation to last night’s game: was the audio on FSW feed dropping in and out throughout the game? I just got a new tv and hd box and only had this issue during the FSW feed. No 5.1 speakers set up, just using the ones off the tv. It was as if Bob’s play by play was being drowned out by the ambient mic’s on the ice during play. Any idea?
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YooperSkip24 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:37 am
@toemas_sandstrom, I have experienced that fading at times over the past 2 years. IT almost seems like Bob and Foxy have their heads turned away from the mike at times. Don’t know what causes it. Right now I can’t even recall if it occurred during last night’s broadcast. I was so on edge during the game, I don’t recall. What a game!!!
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LAPD line Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:38 am
@toemas_sandstrom, No problems with my Time Warner FSW reception.
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Eric Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:52 am
@toemas_sandstrom, I did notice that. I also noticed that we could hear alot more of the on-ice sound. There was definitely something going on with the audio.
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toemas_sandstrom Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 11:30 am
@Eric, Good to know it wasnt just me. Thanks for the input guys!
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congrats to the boys for earning this day off, hope they bb-q , watch some foosball and drink a few cold ones. and most of all be proud to be a la king……… gonna be a heck of a year……..
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Don’t know if this has been posted, but the KINGS (and Quick) have not given up an even strength goal in 291 minutes, 57 seconds.
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Kings 2nd to only Washington in 5 on 5 play.
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Other than the phila game, we haven’t gotten any post game quotes from Richards. He, like Westgarth last game, was a goal away from the Gordie Howe hat trick. Would really like to hear what he has to say.
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Who Knows? Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 10:01 am
@trytodethroneus, I think he is enjoying not having to answer EVERY question about his team..
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 am
@Who Knows?, Richards was unavailable because he was busy writing a Thank You notes to the Philly management.
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What a game last night!!!And the sellout crowd at Staples showed their appreciation by a very long standing ovation at the end of the game. Hardly anyone left before the three stars were announced. Go Kings Go. Keep up the solid performance. Makes me happy to be a season ticket holder
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 10:07 am
@Is this the year?, Yep, my little 10 game flex plan has me with playoff tickets right through to the cup. Gonna be fun watching Brown grab a hold of the cup while Quick is off in the corner getting his MVP award.
Hey, it could happen!
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This figures, the team is off to an amazing start, the last few games felt like playoff games, Penner is playing, everything is looking great, now FOX is pulling regional sports FSW and PT from Direct TV. Does anyone know if the Kings going to show the games on the internet this season?
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KC23 Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 11:44 am
@5 4 Fighting, Direct TV will cave, you watch.
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Penner looked good to me too!
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