Some notes from last night’s game…
– In a rarity, the Kings took a lead into the third period but didn’t the win, as the Dallas Stars rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.
– The Kings led 2-0 going into the third period. Since late in the 2008-09 season, the Kings had led 68 teams going into the third period, and had recorded 65 wins and three overtime/shootout losses.
– The Kings allowed two third-period goals. They had allowed a total of 17 in their first 21 games.
– The Kings fell to 5-2-3 on the road, 6-2-4 in one-goal games, 8-2-3 when scoring first, 7-0-1 when leading after the second period, 3-4 in overtime and 6-4-3 when being outshot by the opponent.
– The Stars outshot the Kings 38-24, including 13-6 in the third period. The Kings have allowed 38 shots on goal in three of their last four games.
– The Kings went 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
– Jonathan Quick stopped 35 of 38 shots. Quick had been 2-0-0 against the Stars this season.
– Mike Richards scored a goal, his 10th goal of the season. Richards is now tied with Anze Kopitar for the team lead in goals, and is second on the Kings with 19 points. Richards has now scored a goal in five consecutive games, the longest streak since Luc Robitaille scored in 10 consecutive games in 1993. Richards has a total of eight goals in his last eight games.
– Kevin Westgarth scored a goal, his first NHL goal in his 73rd career game. Westgarth also has four career assists, including one this season.
– Dustin Brown had one assist, his 10th assist of the season.
– Ethan Moreau had one assist, his third assist of the season.
– Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards each recorded a team-high four shots on goal. Dustin Brown was credited with a game-high five hits. Willie Mitchell was credited with a team-high four blocked shots.
– Drew Doughty played a game-high 26 minutes, 17 seconds, followed by Anze Kopitar, at 25:44.
– The Kings won 29 of 52 faceoffs (56 percent). Anze Kopitar won 11 of 19 draws (58 percent). Mike Richards won 9 of 16 draws (56 percent). Jarret Stoll won 4 of 8 draws (50 percent).
I’m thankful that the Kings got a point.
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RobSD Reply:
November 25th, 2011 at 8:37 am
@chip,
Yeah, the way this team holds a lead it’s amazing they didn’t get 2 in the last minute.
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Say Days Ago Reply:
November 25th, 2011 at 9:43 am
@chip, They should have had two points….I was so pissed that they lost. Again another HORRIBLE call for the faceoff line up. Why would you put ONE guy in the middle of the ice with 20 seconds left and the faceoff on your blue line. Chalk another one up for Jamie Kompon being the worst offensive coach ever
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The neutral zone was still a problem to control. Kings have had issues there (especially coming out of their zone), but hopefully will get a handle on it soon. I think the bloggers have been way too harsh on the players also. We lose games. All teams lose games.
I wish some people would stop trying to pin it on 1 or 2 players. Especially when trying to point out 1 or 2 plays out of the 20 to 30 shifts that those players might have had. Awefully shortsighted. Blame away if you must, or look for some scapegoat to try and make yourself feel better, or the loss more palatable, but your not fooling anyone who is watching the entire game. This is a team game, and no 1 play is responsible for defensive breakdowns, lack of goal scoring, Failure to make adjustments, and lack of discipline all in the same play. It’s a coordinated team effort when we win, and a combination of efforts when we lose.
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Both games i thought they worked hard and gave an effort you dont see at home.Bloggers are young and want everything tomorrow. But watching the last two games made me appreciate hockey all the more,very fast,hard hitting,grinding in the corners.There is nothing like a good hockey game!Tell the coach its ok to show emotion.
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petemagoop Reply:
November 25th, 2011 at 7:18 am
@mark manila, sure beats the ball sports
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Three bonehead plays cost us two points in Dallas. First, Moreau taking the slashing penalty.Interesting thing about that is that Murray in his post game comments stated that they had been talking all 3rd period about controlling their sticks and not taking penalties. Seems to me that it is an admission that Murray has lost control of his players and they don’t listen to him. Second, as astutely mentioned by another here, the faceoff lineup prior to the tying goal was ridiculous. With 6 against four, Kopitar liked up against the boards and was completely out of the play, leaving a three-on-one in the center of the ice. Kopitar should have been positioned on the opposite side of the face off circle and would therefore been in position to aid Mitchell. Horrible coaching. Third, and no one seems to have seen this, just before the winning goal in overtime, Jack Johnson decided to go for the hit and crush a player who had already passed the puck. That took him out of the play and left one defenseman to try to stop the odd-man rush. It is these kinds of stupid plays, which we are seeing over and over, that indicates that Murray has lost control of his players. He’s not effective communicating and very unimaginative in addressing the team’s inconsistency.
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joan fondell Reply:
November 25th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
@RussD, Agreed about JJ, but WHY is Richards taking the faceoff? Shouldn’t it be Stoll–defensive minded faceoff. WHy is he swatting it? instead of drawing it back and then out of the zone. Really poor coaching for that face-off. Moreau needs to be a healthy scratch for a game or two. He has taken too many bonehead penalties at inopportune times. So much for the reasons to have veterans in the line-up. They are supposed to know better–and show the young guys how to play. Alert: Young guys–don’t want Moreau for cues on how to play.
4th line: Fraser, Lewis and Richardson! Bench Hunter, Moreau and Westy (even though he scored a goal and played a good game in St. Louis)–two good games is not enough to keep him in the line-up.
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also the Kings are 0-0-1 in games where Westy scores
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