Some notes from yesterday’s game…
– A lack of a second goal once again cost the Kings, as they lost to the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Nassau Coliseum.
– The Kings have scored a total of six goals in their last five games.
– The Kings have scored fewer than two goals in 22 of their 56 games this season, and have a 3-12-7 record in those games.
– The Kings are now 1-3-1 on this season-long six-game road trip, with today’s game at Dallas remaining.
– The Kings outshot the Islanders 35-25, including 12-4 in the second period. The Kings also had 22 shot attempts blocked and 11 shot attempts miss the net.
– The Kings went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The Kings have failed to score a power-play goal in 30 of 56 games. The Kings have now killed 15 consecutive penalties and have been perfect on the penalty kill in their last six games.
– The Kings are now 11-8-7 on the road, 14-9-11 in one-goal games, 7-15-6 when allowing the first goal, 2-8-4 when trailing after the first period and 3-5 in games decided during the five-minute overtime period.
– The Kings allowed a first-period goal for the first time in their last 10 games.
– Jonathan Quick stopped 23 of 25 shots. Eight times in 47 starts this season, Quick has allowed one goal in regulation and not recorded the victory. He has suffered two 1-0 regulation losses and six 2-1 overtime/shootout losses. Quick has allowed a total of 32 goals in his last 21 starts.
– Andrei Loktionov scored the Kings’ goal, for his first goal and fifth point of the season. Loktionov had failed to record a point in 15 consecutive games. Loktionov has five goals in 54 career NHL games. His previous goal was on Feb. 16, 2011, at Columbus.
– Dustin Brown had an assist, for his 16th assist and 29th point of the season. Brown has an assist in each of his last two games.
– Rob Scuderi had an assist, for his seventh assist and eighth point of the season. Scuderi has two assist in his last three games. Six of Scuderi’s seven assists have come on the road.
– Jordan Nolan made his NHL debut. Nolan played 14 minutes, 18 seconds, and did not record a shot on goal. He was credited with two hits and took a third-period interference penalty.
– Dwight King made his season debut. King played 15 minutes, 11 seconds, and did not record a shot on goal. He was credited with two hits.
– Drew Doughty recorded a game-high six shots on goal. Matt Greene was credited with a game-high nine hits. Jack Johnson was credited with a team-high three blocked shots.
– Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, with a game-high 25 minutes, 21 seconds, followed by Willie Mitchell, at 23:47. Anze Kopitar led all Kings forwards in ice time, at 20:14, followed by Dustin Brown, at 20:07.
– The Kings won 37 of 57 faceoffs (65 percent). Anze Kopitar won 17 of 22 draws (77 percent). Mike Richards won 12 of 18 draws (67 percent). Andrei Loktionov won 4 of 7 draws (57 percent).
Kings dominated on most stats. The only stat that counts is scoreboard and they lost that one so the other stats dont really matter.
If they manage to win today in a back to back with the horrible offense they have, I would be shocked. I just dont see it. Hopefully Jeff Carter or Rick Nash is on their way soon. Knowing Lombardi, doubt it.
[Reply]
YuriM Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 10:58 am
@puck73, I’ve been hoping for Nash all season & I want to say everyone but Kopi & Quick are available as trade bait 4 Nash IMO
[Reply]
USHA#17 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
@YuriM,
Rick Nash? You mean the guy who is -21 on the season and -71 lifetime?
[Reply]
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:05 am
@puck73,
Been out of town a few days, somebody enlighten me,,,,, Penner and Stoll are out of the lineup? Benched? Were they called out? Are there rumors of them being traded? Sorry for being out of the loop. Sounds like much has changed, with the exception of the results. Those look much the same.
[Reply]
CB14 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:21 am
@40YearKingsFan, Stoll is on IR with a hip injury. Penner was a healthy scratch. King and Nolan took their spots on the 2nd line with Richards.
[Reply]
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:25 am
@CB14,
Thanks. Wow! Did Sutter address this or does he feel this too is none of our business?
meister könig Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:22 am
@40YearKingsFan, stoll is hurt penns scratched
[Reply]
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:50 am
@40YearKingsFan, Hey 40, ” The more things change, the more they stay the same” Penner/Stoll are out, Stoll hurt, Penner sucks, Nolan and King in and still only one goal scored, that is History repeating itself, again.
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
@LVKINGS88, You say that after 1 game that Nolan and king play? Jeez they are rookies. It isn’t like we got Nash and Parise on Richards wings.
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
@LVKINGS88, Well said. Lots of changes to end up with the same result.
variable Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:40 am
@puck73,
imo…i think the elite teams and teams that have more nhl-ready/proven players have a much better opportunity to land one of those guys IF they are both seriously on the market…
i think the rangers, flyers and red wings are in a much better position to land one of those guys if columbus decided to move one/both of them…
[Reply]
USHA#17 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
@variable, I think the wings would look to Webber, first.
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
@USHA#17, Actually I would love for Detroit to go after Webber. It would make it that much harder to obtain Parise and make less teams able to afford Zach.
It just gets more and more depressing to read these after each game….so much disappointment
[Reply]
Trade deadline coming up soon. Should be interesting what the Kings will do or lack of. Either way, unless they get their act together real soon and start scoring more goals this season is done.
[Reply]
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:53 am
@taomakingsfan, Tao makingfan, hey Taco is that you? too much Patron with those taco’s last night huh?
[Reply]
Scored fewer than 2 goals in nearly half of our games. That is staggering.
[Reply]
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:17 am
@KC23, “Staggering” is so right. It’s just amazing that this team, with this lineup, is flirting with the title of the most offensively impotent team in the history of the NHL. Any idea how many absolutely awful teams with zero chance of a playoff spot have offensively outperformed this Kings team. Staggering? I’ll say.
[Reply]
Kevco Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
@40YearKingsFan, flirting, no I think they are marries to that title now. I dont see them getting divorced any time soon either. Has a team that is 30th in scoring ever made it to the playoffs?
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
@Kevco, They may be last in offense but they are top 3 in defense and goaltending. That is why they are where they are. If they just pick up the scoring a tad they will win the division.
Stagger Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:26 am
@KC23,
Yes, yes it is “Staggering”
[Reply]
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
@Stagger,
Thee you have it. Stagger says it’s staggering therefore staggering it is
[Reply]
I can understand where we fans are pissed off,but we must keep the faith,even when the chips are down.
[Reply]
Stagger Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:29 am
@KingCharlesofSalLake,
What do you see that is helping you “keep the faith”? When every player on the whole team is playing below their potential, my faith is gone.
[Reply]
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:55 am
@Stagger, Really! that’s how I’m feeling.
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
@Stagger, You say that yet the Kings are in 7th place 2 pts out of 6th and 3 pts out of 3rd. I mean come on regardless of our problems offensively, our defense and goaltending are keeping us where we are. It isn’t like you need to change anything, except maybe a minor trade for a forward, but the fact is we aren’t that far away of winning the division. Plus the way we play all season is how the Playoffs are played.
[Reply]
40YearKingsFan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
@Jeff_R, You’re right, we’re a solid defensive team, and we may still get in the playoffs. But, we will draw a top seed, give them home ice, and lose in the first round. Heard this song before. Does anyone really believe we can hang with Vancouver and even make it a competitive series when we score 1 or 2 goals a game? Offensive production would change everything, but it’s getting awfully late in the season for even the most optimistic fan to believe we’ll see substantial change, if any at all.
I love that we get these figures delivered after every game. Although sometimes depressing, it’s an interesting read. There’s always something freaky about it with the Kings that makes you raise that additional eyebrow. This time, the fact that we allowed 1 goal in the first period in the last 10 games quite surprised me..for any other team, this would be highly likely to generate a lot of regulation wins.
[Reply]
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:56 am
@Christian, What if you have a unibrow?
[Reply]
Christian Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
@LVKINGS88, Then my astonishment would split it in two
[Reply]
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
@Christian, LOL!
it’s like watching the same game over and over again. Change the sweaters on the opposition but the Kings do the same thing over and over againb. Anyone with any hockey sense can readily see how to shut down the Kings offense. What–there is an offense???? All the coaches are D coaches so is it any wonder there is no O! D does not win—balance does. Kopi was one of the most gifted O players, but was so instilled in “defense first”, he is usually the best D man on the team. Richards came in roaring to, but is now MIA. And Kompon—-yucky yuk
[Reply]
- we are still 7th in the conference in spite of our inept offense…
- of the 8 teams currently in a playoff spot, we are the only one with a minus differential in goals for and goals against, with a -2…
- all the other teams not holding a playoff spot are at least a -10 (dallas) or worse in that stat…
- the two teams tied for 9th in the conference, calgary and and colorado, are -17 and -13, respectively…
- chicago, who holds the 6th spot with 65 points, only 2 ahead of the kings, has only a +3 differential, giving up the send most goals in the conference with 171 and are reeling after losing 8 straight…
- the kings has given up the second least amount of goals in the conference with 122, 11 behind the leader, st. louis…
we harp so much on our lack of offense – and rightfully so…no doubt, we have problems scoring…could we use some help…? definitely…
will we get it though…? hard to say…
the trade theories and rumors get more and more intense and/or insane…depending on how you look at it… as we continue to have offensive problems…
and the same approach one could have when analyzing how defensively sound this team is…i wonder if we were scoring at the same clip of the boston’s, vancouver’s, philly’s and detroit’s, would we be as vociferous in our contempt for the kings if our defense was as inept in such a scenario…(?)
most fans like to watch an offensive team rather than a defensive one…as soooooo many peeps have pointed out over the season, dl has built this team from the blueline up…so we shouldn’t be so surprised about our team’s defensive identity based upon that fact…many of dl’s off-season acquisitions haven’t panned out due to injuries and/or poor individual performance…with the exception of a few teams in the league that can be truly called elite, the kings fit in with many other teams who have had some sort of imbalance of either offense or defense…
what does this all mean…?
well…for what it’s worth…if the kings show the slightest improvement on offense, things can get better real quick…and that doesn’t necessarily mean that help has to come from an outside source…it can come from within – with the players we have – if they can somehow find ways to score again like they have in the past…
last year, we played the same exact system and scored considerably more goals at this same time…sutter has tweaked a few things here and there, but the system has primarily remained intact…so to me, that means that we do have the capability of scoring more goals whether or not we get new players or not…
the biggest problem to me is not so much the system, but the confidence these guys have in finishing their opportunities…
you start to wonder if certain players on this team have the confidence to ’know when to say when” when it comes to entering scoring lanes/areas…there comes a time when you have to start creating yr own space, instead of waiting for the opposition to create it for you…
if you can take a minute to appreciate how the kings have played on defense instead of continuously harping on our offensive difficulties, you might be able to don the perspective of how we are really in much better shape than other teams, because if these guys start to produce just a lil’ more a game, we would take a giant leap in the standings and be a more formidable opponent…
building the perfect beast is never easy…just look at how little of them exist in today’s league…
i’m just trying to show some optimism this afternoon and put things in an objective light…
[Reply]
variable Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:31 am
@variable,
it should read…
“chicago, who holds the 6th spot with 65 points, only 2 ahead of the kings, has only a +3 differential, giving up the SECOND most goals in the conference with 171 and are reeling after losing 8 straight…”
sorry…
[Reply]
NB22 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:39 am
@variable, And have two players with more then 40 points (Sharp and Kane) and two players, with more then 50 points (Hossa and Toews) and still latelly sucking.
[Reply]
variable Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:42 am
@NB22,
exactly…
so there is no shortage of teams out there looking for their own version of a “competitive balance”….
McSorleyfan Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 11:55 am
@variable, Thanks for pointing that out; I’m sure I’m not the only one that loses perspective at times. If Wormtongue is around next season, I’m not renewing my seats, tho. I’m hoping like hell one or both of these kids makes themselves irreplaceable, and I believe it’s possible. Big bodies have been in short supply of late, and they made a difference. Richards spent most of his time in the Ozone yesterday for a change, and it was nice to see him smile on the ice. This may come together today, but I give it a week, and hope DS is still playing them 2 weeks from now.
[Reply]
Stagger Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
@variable,
Very well said and all true. I think that the reason I have been so cynical lately is that we’ve been waiting for them to “score a little more” all year, but it just isn’t happening. Every single game it’s the same story. I agree, their confidence is shot.
Also, I am happy that we have such a strong defensive presence. I feel that it’s a bit skewed because of the brilliance of Quick however. Most of the numbers you put up, I believe, would not be as favorable with almost any other goalie in the league in net for the Kings.
Something happened to this team, whether it was a slow building lack of offensive confidence under TM and DL’s antiquated system, or something more sudden, I don’t know for sure. I know that you could see Mike Richards slowly fall into the same zone as the rest of the team. At the beginning of the year he was smiling, playing instinctively, and most importantly, scoring. Now he looks like he is over analyzing offensively, like the rest of the team.
We’ve been waiting all year for this team to play to their potential. They are still young, and still prone to inconsistency, however, as I’ve said before, when every single player on the team is playing below their potential offensively, then it’s time to take a look at the overall team philosophy and make whatever changes are necessary to get more production out of the players.
IF this team makes the playoffs, (remember, almost every other team in race in the west has at least a game in hand on us.) they aren’t going to go far if they can’t score timely, big goals. Right now they are having a hard time scoring ANY goals.
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
@variable, I am really happy that you wrote this. I been trying to say this over and over these past few weeks, but you said it in a much better way then I ever did. This team isn’t in as bad of shape as lot of people here are saying, if they just start scoring a little bit there defense and goaltending will take care of the rest and we will win more games. The team we are really battling with right now is Chicago and San Jose. Chicago is on an 8 game losing streak and San Jose is starting a 9 game road swing. Whether by trade or the players we have now, we don’t need to score a lot. Just a little bit. Plus all this talk about how we would be lousy in the playoffs is really not all that true. Playoffs the games get more defensive. The Goalies are that much better then the regular season. As hard as the Kings have scoring now, the teams we play will have a real hard time scoring against us in the playoffs. So it will all equal out then. Defense and Goaltending win in the playoffs along with opportunistic offense. That is how Boston won. That is how the Ducks won. That is how you win in the playoffs.
[Reply]
neil Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@Jeff_R, and with Nolan and King on the second line….we are contenders for the cup??? Either we are contenders for the cup or we should be sellers..other wise we just continue to be avg….meaning 7th in the conf…out in the first or second round…I want to be contenders..not just happy with the “anything can happen in the play offs” ..that is a losing attitude..I would never tell my players that…
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
@neil, Anyone that makes the playoffs is a contender for the cup. Do I think that we are a contender with Nolan and King on our 2nd line? I can’t say yes or no to that, because they have only played 1 game so far. So you can’t say yea or ney. Mike Richards played his best game since coming back from his injury and the line looked like it was gaining chemistry. It might work or it might not. By the trade deadline we will make one or 2 trades and things could be different. But all I know is Mike Richards looks invigorated for the first time since his injury and that is what is most important right now.
Osaka Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
@neil, We are a better team with Nolan and King on the second line because it gives the Kings an identity. Penner and Stoll on the wings was a joke. I like Stoll as the third line center but not second line wing. Penner I like in the press box. It isn’t always about the most skill. Nolan and King brought an attitude, presence, and size to the lineup that was missing since Simmer, Smyth, and Zues left. Are we a cup contender? Doubt it, but we are built like a playoff team so I don’t think any team in the league would want to face us. I think the Kings would do better in the post season than the regular season, they are just built that way. Still not a “contender” though…. but how many teams are?
Stagger Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
@Jeff_R,
Exactly, defense and goaltending tighten up in the playoffs. Thereby making it EVEN HARDER for our inept offense to score. We are last in the league in scoring. That does not translate into scoring big-time goals in the playoffs.
[Reply]
Jeff_R Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
@Stagger, How do you explain then that last years Kings team which couldn’t score in the regular season, scored against the Sharks and should of won that series, WITHOUT KOPITAR? Kopi’s abscence we missed his defense not his offense. I am trying to say that the playoffs is a new season and no matter what happened during the regular season matters. Just look at the Montreal/Washington series two years ago. Washington was a high scoring team and Montreal was a low scoring team, yet Montreal won thanks to Cammalleri going nuts and there defense plus Halak playing out of his mind. With the playoffs you never know, anything can happen. Even the lowest scoring team could turn it around and become a high scoring team in a 7 game series.
LVKINGS88 Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
@Jeff_R, Hey Jeff, about the above comment about history repeating itself to 40, I wasn’t bagging on King and Nolan, that was the only bright spot, just saying the team only scored one goal and lost.
[Reply]
Osaka Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
@variable, I always thought LA is the wrong city for DL to use this defensive system. The Kings would need to be in a blue-collar working class city for the fans to embrace a defense first attitude.
[Reply]
All I kwow living in the Chicago area, it is not good for Hawks fans, They need defense and maybe another goalie.Differance is in Chicago they will address the situation and do something about it, good or bad,they like to make moves. That said if I were Dean right now tonight is a big one and to say he is not on the phone is B S. H e is but their are other teams that seem alot more despirit then we are..
[Reply]