Some notes from last night’s game…
– The Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.
– This is the Kings’ 28th best-of-seven playoff series in franchise history. They now have a 9-19 record in Game 1. All-time, when the Kings have won Game 1, they have won three out of eight series.
– The Kings outshot the Canucks 39-26, including 16-8 in the second period.
– The Kings went 2-for-8 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Kings had two 5-on-3 advantages (they scored once) and one five-minute power play (they scored one goal).
– Jonathan Quick stopped 24 of 26 shots. In four regular-season games against Vancouver this season, Quick allowed a total of seven goals.
– Mike Richards had a power-play goal and two assists. In 64 career playoff games, Richards has 17 goals and 36 assists.
– Willie Mitchell had a power-play goal. In 52 career playoff games, Mitchell has three goals and seven assists.
– Dustin Penner had the game-winning goal. In 41 career playoff games, Penner has eight goals and 12 assists.
– Dustin Brown had an empty-net goal. In 13 career playoff games, Brown has three goals and five assists.
– Jeff Carter had two assists. In 48 career playoff games, Carter has 13 goals and nine assists.
– Anze Kopitar had one assist, on the power play. In seven career playoff games, Kopitar has two goals and four assists.
– Alec Martinez had one assist, on the power play. In seven career playoff games, Martinez has two assists.
– Drew Doughty had one assist, on the power play. In 13 career playoff games, Doughty has five goals and seven assists.
– Justin Williams had one assist, on the power play. In 52 career playoff games, Williams has 11 goals and 19 assists.
– Dustin Brown recorded a game-high eight shots on goal. Brown, Matt Greene, Dustin Penner and Mike Richards each were credited with a team-high four hits. Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi each were credited with a team-high three blocked shots.
– Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, at a game-high 28 minutes, 18 seconds, followed by Willie Mitchell, at 24:50. Anze Kopitar led all Kings forwards in ice time, at 22:30, followed by Mike Richards, at 22:25.
– The Kings won 33 of 74 faceoffs (45 percent). Anze Kopitar won 11 of 22 draws (50 percent). Mike Richards won 9 of 21 draws (43 percent). Jarret Stoll won 7 of 18 draws (39 percent).
We got to get better on the draws, Its a strong point for us most of the time…
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Shuchuk Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:25 am
@pr0cess, YES. especially in our own zone.
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lakingbob(chi) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:27 am
@pr0cess, I said it just before the goal to tie the game. Kings win the face offs they will be real tough to beat…
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pr0cess Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:33 am
@lakingbob(chi), that draw you could see kopi was gassed.. i knew something bad was going happen
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PRMan Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:48 am
@pr0cess, I know. I was like “Call a timeout!” But we saved it for nothing.
Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@PRMan, at the end of a season, a coach turns in all his unused TO’s to human resources and he gets a small cash-out.
jp Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:47 am
@pr0cess, So much of it is match-ups. These are the numbers Rich posted after our last game against Vancouver:
“The Kings won 27 of 62 faceoffs (44 percent). Anze Kopitar won 11 of 22 draws (50 percent). Jarret Stoll won 7 of 15 draws (47 percent). Mike Richards won 5 of 13 draws (38 percent).”
Looks surprisingly similar. I’m sure they’ll start to learn some of the opposing centers’ tendencies as the series goes on.
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pr0cess Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:50 am
@jp, i hope so we need to figure something out…
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Sebastian Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
@pr0cess, THIS was the biggest weakness last night…end zone draws, the Kings could not buy a win. on PKs, on PP’s, they lost all the important draws. must be better.
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I’m still GEEKED! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! GO KINGS! THE BIG PAYBACK! DO-Do-DO REVENGE!
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Ian Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
@Shuchuk, That song will be blasting as I drive to Staples on sunday.
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Perro Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@Ian, what song?
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So excited, so excited, so excited, so excited. The pressure on this Canucks team now is intense. Let’s hope the boys keep rolling and crack these sucks.
Stoll almost killed our momentum with that dumb penalty, and then gave the puck away when they scored that first goal. He has to play smarter.
Any update on Cliffy?
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Stoll just had himself one real bad game. Hope he gets better.
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Real 7 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:32 am
@KC23, he has the irritating bad habit of leaving his feet when throwing a check….the ref calls it almost every time…
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PRMan Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:49 am
@Real 7, And leaving the zone without the puck. That’s real bad, too. I mean, Dude, you’re the third line center. You’re not scoring anyway. Hang around the zone and make sure you get the puck out of there.
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Michael J. Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:50 am
@Real 7,
Except on the first shift of the game when DD was double-teamed behing his net.
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Lake Forest Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:34 am
@KC23, hoping you are right. didnt we play well last year when he missed a game?
Here’s hoping to a better game. no dumb penalties
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KC23 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:38 am
@Lake Forest, Yep, I believe it was the 2nd game against SJ when Doughty had his big game.
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the kings didn’t play a perfect game by any means, but there were a ton more positives than negatives…
you have to like our chances at this point to put it all together and surge ahead…
really, why not…?
we are playing with the house’s money…
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:42 am
@variable,
…and vancouver’s emotions. Can you spell P-A-N-I-C? If we win tomorrow, it will be full blown freakout time and we will be basking in SoCal sunshine…literally.
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Michael J. Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:51 am
@KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair),
The anarchists are filling their gas cans right now as I type this.
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spidey35 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
@KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair), Yes, we need the Canucks to panic. I’m happy we won the first game, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I won’t be comfortable until we win the series.
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
@spidey35,
No doubt. The Kings have been up before and blown it. I’m at ease, however, because I am really sure that this team understands what it needs to do and how to do it. I’m not saying they’ll win the series, but I am very confident they know what it will take, and that is half the battle. If we win tomorrow, the Kings will have a prime opportunity on Sunday to redeem themselves for losing those last two regular season games.
Van. out doved the kings 22 to 0
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chuckrocks Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
@neil, priceless!
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the skate pass….something tells me you can’t teach this, it’s just instinctive
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012-04-12/kings-beat-canucks-wester-conference-game-one/54193888/1
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Kenny44 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
@Real 7, It is instinctive, but wingers practice angling hard-around passes off their skates to their own sticks and to their team mates.
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SLIM Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
@Kenny44,
It amazes me that these so-called
Experts of Hockey….
Don’t know the difference in well
placed skate pass from a fortunate bounce…
IT boggles the mind…
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Gotta keep up the intensity. This team last year would be happy with a 1-0 lead and take it easy in game two. This is where Darryl Sutter’s biggest challenge comes in…keeping these guys focused and intense.
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spidey35 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@FKA PakiFro, I got the feeling two years ago that the Kings were happy to come home with a split……and if I remember correctly, we won the 2nd game, so I know all we could’ve gotten was a split, but we need to bury this team and not give them any chances to get in this series. Win game two and don’t rest on that, keep it going and get that killer instinct-something I haven’t seen in a Kings team.
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Of all the games I watched this year, and I saw them all, Last nights game was the first time it looked like the boys were in total control from start to finish. I’m wondering whether they were just bird doggin it all year, lulling everyone into a false sense of security. If they get past the Nuck, and I don’t see why they can’t now, They will be the team to beat.
* Way to show up guys!!!
* Way to have them ready DS!!!!
Penner, Its time for you to justify your wage. You’ve done this before. Good start by you. I Move you up to the Richards line, Lokti to replace Cliff, Get well soon!!!
*Ritchie!!!!! Bring it!!!!!
*Quick, What can I say but ‘You’re the Bomb’
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:40 am
@Kissmyblarneystones,
They just have to string together 4 solid games. That’s been their curse. Lack of consistency.
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Subby Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:42 am
@Kissmyblarneystones, they were not in control at the end of the 2nd at all. You could call that goal from even before the Kings iced it.
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spidey35 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
@Subby, Yep,totally saw that coming….
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fsd1 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
@Subby, and if it doesnt get tipped by brownie it isnt a goal.
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gretzkymademesayit Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
@Subby, came here to say the same. I feel like every Kings fan KNEW for a fact they were going to give up a goal at the end of the second. Need DS to call timeouts intelligently
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furrylats Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:48 am
@Kissmyblarneystones, HAHAHA! LOKTI to replace Clifford! Are you serious? this is playoff hockey, man. lokti didn’t have the grit to play in half the games he dressed this season. i say you dress richardson. He may not win every puck, but he won’t get bumped off every time he touches it.
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:55 am
@furrylats, you think he’s ready to make the flight to VAN with his appendix still warm on the table?
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
@Stuart,
I laughed…out loud.
When he said ‘dress richardson’ I was thinking his wound, not his jersey.
prisly Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:56 am
@furrylats, Maybe you are forget but Richardson is injured. So is most likely going to be Lokti who replaces Clifford.
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PakiFan Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
@furrylats,
Lokti will get flattened every shift of the game. He is not ready for NHL Playoff hockey. Either play Westgarth, who was pretty decent last year against San Jose, or bring up Zeiler.
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prisly Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
@PakiFan, Zeiler is not in a Kings organization anymore. I think he plays somewhere in germany.
Kissmyblarneystones Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@furrylats, Richardson out with Surgery issues. Cliffy out with rund bell. Would you prefer westy?
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
@furrylats,
I’d hope Westgarth gets in. He’s obviously a bigger body and doesn’t play much different than Clifford. He just doesn’t have anywhere near as much skill as Clifford, and Clifford is a third-liner at best. But they need size and presence, not skill and perimeter play like Lokti brings. If a top line guy went down, i’d be ok with Lokti.
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40YearKingsFan Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
@FKA PakiFro, I concur. Under these circumstances Westy is the right call. Westy the hockey player, not Westy the enforcer.
anybody else think Luongo is a scumbag for taking a swipe at Stoll in the final seconds? whatta bum!
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:41 am
@Shuchuk, I was so happy when he lost his balance and fell like the turd he is!
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Michael J. Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:53 am
@Stuart,
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16,005 Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:43 am
@Shuchuk,
I thought he was a bum long before that
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toemas_sandstrom Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:45 am
@Shuchuk, Saw that. Boo-ongo, like the rest of that team and their crap fans, are scumbags! Wanted to throw the remote at him but the looked at the score! And then got the tweet from the team. Ahhh, felt good!
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TerryCrispsTie Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
@Shuchuk, At least he ditched that ugly-ass dirty white mask he used to wear. Don’t get me wrong–I still hate him.
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Mars Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:34 pm
@Shuchuk, I missed that.
Cant say I am shocked, they rarely get to vent any frustrations at someone.
Even Quick does it once in a blue moon.
Its good cause we got in his head. Handy for us for sure.
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
@Mars, Initially, I was kind of worried that they were getting in Quickie’s head… I don’t know that I’ve seen him go toe-to-toe like that, chirping right back and stuff!
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Stoll can’t even win faceoffs! Sit him for a game. We need Stoll to get going. Every player on the team needs to play well. Not one player can be left behind.
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:44 am
@Subby, No need to worry about Stoll’s faceoffs. He’ll be just fine. He’s one of the best in the entire NHL.
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furrylats Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Why would you sit the best faceoff guy we have? I question your logic, sir.
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Mars Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
@furrylats, he has been drawing too many, FAR too many penalties as of late.
Not sure if sitting him would help, but slow his OIT a bit. Smack him on the helmet a bit.
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Why does Greeners helmet fly off so much more often than any other player’s? It drives me crazy!! Tighten those straps dude!!!
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Subby Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:44 am
@thecupinLA, Intimidation factor?
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KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair) Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:47 am
@thecupinLA,
You have a guy like Willie who knows how important it is to have that helmut on right. You’d think Greene would take notes knowing how devastating concussions can be. Guess not. He wears his helmet like it’s part of a Halloween costume.
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:48 am
@KingsNewsDaily (formerly wavesinair), helmut!! Schultz!!
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Wish I was in LA now to hear Bob & Jim call the game, I was stuck watching the NBC feed and was forced to listen to Brian Hayward. He was highly critical of the Kings at the beginning of the game and of course former Suck Sammy Pahlsson is the best pickup Van could have made. He also referenced the 2007 Stanley Cup numerous times, ugghhh.
At least by the end of the game he was giving some props to the Kings.
Anyway, let’s enjoy this playoff run. During the national anthem singing it reminded me of 1993 when the Kings ran through Canada and almost beat them all–Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal.
Glad to see them start in Canada, only one Canadian team to beat this time unless Ottawa gets to the finals.
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mash-ola Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
@NMKingsFan, I was wondering who called the NBC Sports Net game… SERIOUSLY? Hayward was the color commentator? Who called the play-by-play? Anyone?
Thanks for the heads-up!
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NMKingsFan Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
@mash-ola, The play by play guy was John Forslund who seemed to give an unbiased call of the game, no problems with him. Looks like Hayward won’t be the “behind the glass” guy for Game 2, the schedule shows a CBC simulcast. I usually enjoy Canadian broadcasts becsuse most are fairly unbiased since all teams no matter where they are based are made up of predominantly Canadian players and Canadians broadcasters really seem to know about the players since they have followed them since Junior and some even before.
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Bradapiller Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
@NMKingsFan, Hayward was horrible. I cant believe his penalty analyses, saying the spray on quick was a dumb penalty to call and Stoll’s “hold” was just so obvious. Really hope they have that d-bag for every game if I’m forced to watch it on NBC Sports.
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Off-topic, but it’s crazy to me that the NHL is addressing the missed offside call in the Pennsylvania game yesterday but never gave any real response to the horrendous missed call against Ryane Clowe:
“NHL unhappy with missed offside call of Flyers goal”
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=392947
There’s something wrong with this league.
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jp Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:54 am
@jp, I especially like the bit where they might not let the linesman work any more games while three of the four officials who were on the ice for that SJ game are working the playoffs.
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Mars Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
@jp, Like I said, if that happened to any other team in the League, it would STILL be front page news.
I have no doubt in my mind that it was overlooked and had no action because it was us.
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:56 am
@jp, I wonder if anyone ever sent e-mails to Kerry Fraser about it?
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Michael J. Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
@Stuart,
I just did
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
@Michael J., nice! keep me posted. or does he only respond en masse on his blog?
Michael J. Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 11:57 am
@jp,
I posted on a different board that if the Clowe incident happened while Crosby had the puck that he would have been suspended for ten games. People called me all kinds of names for my remark, yet it seems that when something goes against Pittsburgh the NHL does make a bit of a stink.
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pr0cess Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
@jp, This is why i have no respect for the League..
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Eric K Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
@jp, To be fair, Colin Campbell did call it a “missed call.” No question those comments got nowhere near the publicity that his comments on the Pens did.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-clowe-reach-reaction20120406,0,5739743.story?track=rss
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Bitz hearing at 12:30pm….
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Let’s not get “jacked” so fast all.
We could be minus Cliffy and Richie now.
Kings did not score first. (Interference or not.)
Kings gave up 2nd period tying goal that should not have happened.
Bobby Lu looked real good and Casucks are not going to be intimidated. (Yet.)
Game was penalty filled. (This has GOT to stop.)
IF Casucks win Game 2, Game 3 winner probably takes the series.
Power Play could have PUT game 1 away and did not.
Y’all know I’m not a hater, but I ain’t drinkin’ the kool-aid yet.
On the plus-side… we flat-out can out play this team and DS is looking like the man right now.
Just sayin’.
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Jeff_R Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
@Kman, I’m not coming out and saying the series is over because it is not. There are still 3 more wins the Kings need to win this series. The only thing this win has done is made it so we don’t have to win in Vancouver again, as long as we win our home games. Also if Vancouver wins Game 2 then game 4 will be the decider on who wins the series. Remember back in 2010 we were up 2 games to 1 after winning games 2 and 3 and then came within 1 period of going up 3 games to 1, but we lost game 4. The best thing for the Kings to do, based on there lack of home advantage the last 2 years, is to win game 2. Going back back home up 2-0 would really help the Kings and make Vancouver panic. Last year they were never behind in a series, so this would show what mettle they have. Also the confidence of the Kings will be sky high and they can strike a dagger into the Canucks heart by going up 3-0.
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goes to eleven Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
@Jeff_R, This series ain’t over til it’s over. Nobody knows that better than Vancouver who came a post from blowing a 3-0 lead last year to Chicago.
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GREAT WIN! Npw that the excitement is over from last night time to see what’s the status on Cliffy, and hope Stolli pulls his head out of his rear!!!! All things considered this is a nice start but there are 3 more wins needed before we can truly say goodbye to the Cansucks AND the monkey on the Kings back. Keep up the strong offensive play and the Cansucks WILL fold like oragomi, especially the sisters and their boytoy Luongo!!!
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Quick did his job. Not a ton of action but still. Neither of those goals were on him. Stay confident main man.
I’m very happy that the game wasn’t high scoring. To me, that shows control.
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
@LA_1968, Actually, I thought Quick was better than Luongo. They had similar save percentages, Quick didn’t give up a bad goal, and Luigi’s first goal was a bad goal, and Quick won the GAA…so I guess what I’m saying is WTF did Luigi get the second star? Oh, yeah. The game was in BC.
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According to Matthew Barry, who has been spot on when it comes to injuries, Clifford doesn’t have a concussion and will be a game time decision.
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JoeKing Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
@Jeff_R,
Good news. Fingers crossed.
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Last nights intensity was amazing.
I have to say, if we play like that all the time, I will be happy win or lose. That was some exciting Hockey to watch. Loved the FULL 60, loved we were in their zone more. Happy with all the shots on goal, everything.
DS or whomever got their motor going, KEEP IT UP!
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@Tony in Denver, they are… in their hearts… and souls…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Looking at those numbers, I’m not surprised that the Nuks targeted Doughty like they did. He held up pretty well. I hope he goes in to the next game with a purpose, to show those Nuks why they fear him.
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UglyinLA Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
@Kenny44,
The Kings need to target ginger Sedin like the nucks are targeting DD. The message is “lay off DD.” Even though DD maybe not be playing like $56M, he is still better than anyone else not currently playing. I think we need to make sure DD stays in. I read previous that the Kings played well with DD out of the line-up. That may be true, but DD’s replacement was Voynov. If DD gets smashed, his replacement is DD44.
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Duncanz Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
@UglyinLA, You sir, are no Adam M… but close.
LMAMO
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We’ve never been up 2-0 in any series ever. This would be a nice series to accomplish a first!
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
@Restore the Crown, Yup…made it well over 2/3 of the way into game two in Montreal before the curved stick incident.
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Has there been any media coverage of the supposed goal Richards scored that was ignored by the refs?
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Stuart Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
@JoeKing, they showed a replay in the game, and it hit the elbow of the pipes and out… quite a few folks here have posted links to video of it, but it’s still debatable whether it went in or not. I thought it had not, personally…
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