Joshua Cooper provides excellent hockey coverage for The Tennessean, and he has your Nashville-centric recap, along with videos and photos following last night’s game.
Nashville Predators edge Kings in eight-round shootout
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He’s Baaackk! Penner on the 2nd line this morning, Cliffy drops.
Brown (23) Kopitar (11) Williams (14)
Penner (25) Richards (10) Carter (77)
Gagne (12) – Richardson (15) Stoll (28) Lewis (22)
King (74) – Clifford (13) Fraser (24) Nolan (71)
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KingsFanFTW Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:26 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), yea hopefully he can do alot better
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:26 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), I think King might sit a game? What say you?
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Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com) Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:35 am
@Lake Forest,
I thought he’d sit the last game. At this point, its pretty clear to me he’s the odd man out for tomorrow night barring an unforeseen change. Cliffor > King right now.
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:42 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com),
Agreed. He wasn’t noticeable at all. I was thinking the same thing last night. Bring Penner back and sit King.
tornado12 Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:52 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), Interesting. I thought gagne would have gotten that spot on the “second” line. I thought he has been looking real good lately
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Bradapiller Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 12:05 pm
@tornado12, I was just saying Penner and Gagne should be switched on the last thread. He makes some good opportunities that Carter should be able to finish because Stoll has missed the last 3.
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goldielocks Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:54 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com),
Nothing against Cliffy but always thought he’s a power forward. Richards-Cater line doesn’t need a power forward but skilled and creative one. That leaves that position to Penner or Gagne. Hopefully, the 4th line regains production again with Cliffy back.
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 12:09 pm
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com),
Zone entry was a problem, as was net presence & avoidance of shot blocking…
Speed needed with size. If Penner is 100% effort & concentration, he can help with left wing entries & net presence…
Some of the pundits are saying, Kings just aren’t that good…
That’s a bunch of Schnabadibas, IMHO.
2 goals are better than one, 3 better than two…
They’ll get there.
Give it time…
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Gustavo Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 2:11 pm
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com),
Keep King in the line up. Sit Gagne. SG is a liability out there. No physical presence whatsoever. Made only one decent pass last night and got run over every other time he touched the puck.
King may not have had his best game last night, but he is a big body and goes to the next, unlike SG. Keeping King / Nolan or Frazer / Clifford in the fourth line. Or give Richardson those SG minutes.
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He’s not going down without a fight. Good to see.
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Sutter, Payne and Nicholls worked with a new unit consisting of Brown, Kopitar, Carter, Richards and Doughty. Easily the most intense power play work I’ve ever witnessed first hand. Video later.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:46 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com),
Why do we need a powerplay “unit”? Didn’t we try that all last season? Even when the playoffs started our PP was still struggling. When it finally started to improve towards the end of round 2, someone asked Brown why it was getting better. Brown’s reply was that DS said to just put the regular lines out their and rotate them as needed, keep it simple, take what they give you and just play hockey. I really appreciated DS’s aproach there, since it mirrored (dare I say it!) the approach used by the Casucks, the #1 powerplay in the league. We don’t need a “unit,” we need a team. GKG-Again!!
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bbb7 Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:58 am
@DesertKing, Agreed. Mixing the lines didnt create any chemistry last season, and I like Martinez or Muzzin or Voynov at the point more than Richards; his play at this point doesnt metir being on the PP point.
Another disadvantage of mixing the PP units is messing with the lines as you try to roll them AFTER the PP.
Several teams Ive seen that have been successful (especially on 5-on-3s) are going with the ‘I formation’ in the slot – one guy screening near the goalie and one higher up – and it seems to open up the perimeter for better passes, as well as creating more screens for the goalie. I dont think its the personnel as much as the super deliberate style the Kings use… PLUS the passing is NEVER in just the right spot and players have to always corral passes and cant shoot right away.
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Kenny44 Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 2:50 pm
@DesertKing,
Yes yes yes yes. Overthinking it AGAIN! This group has never displayed chemistry together. And what’s unit two but a motley crew?
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Robert R Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:49 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), It’s just not the same without Parros.
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I am just hoping that Richards gets caught up physically. He looked gassed on the shoot-out attempt.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:42 am
@DesertKing,
He’s looked out of shape the entire season so far. Then again, more than a few NHL players have.
I do find it a little strange his buddy Carter seems to be in great shape, tho.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:48 am
@Kingsfanone,
Looking at the “Day With The Cup” episodes, I noticed that Carter and DD shared a day together since they live in the same town. I think they shared quite a few workout days also. I don’t think it is coincientce that they both were in great shape to start the season.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:58 am
@DesertKing,
Agreed. Interesting still about Richards tho.
Lake Forest Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 11:47 am
@DesertKing, I didnt say it earlier but that was one hell of a shot from DB. I couldnt believe it, and when DB was picked to take it, I was thrown off. It was an awesome shoot out by him.
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monkeyboy Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 12:07 pm
@Lake Forest, as he stood at center ice before his shot…he looked to be thinking don’t worry….I got this
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 12:13 pm
@monkeyboy,
Exactly what I was thinking!
Betcha Brown goes on a run…
KC23 Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 1:16 pm
@DesertKing, Looks like Richards and Stoll enjoyed nice quiet walks on the beach during the lock out. Neither of them are skating worth a darn.
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I love it. This thread is about the view from Nashville, but from all of these posts you see that no one gives a flying buffalo turd about the Preds.
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IMO the best part of D.S. coaching was his lack of changing the lines up….this year he is turning into T.M. wrt lines. Evidence last season seem to be that the lines produced better when left alone…
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Amazing to me that a team with Kopitar, Brown, Carter, Richards and Gagne could once again be at the bottom on the league (29th out of 30 teams) in shooting percentage – and that doesnt even include all the shots they have blocked. As DS says, they just need to convert some of their chances, but this problem goes back to last season and before, even tho the team has had an offensive talent upgrade. As last year, I place the blame with the deliberateness of the attack (oh, and their inability to make a accurate pass that the receiver can shoot or pass off of quickly) … perhaps their defensive mind-set and positioning requires the attack to be so slow and predictable but I dont see why it has to be SO sluggish.
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I want to do the Ducks v Kings tomorrow. Gonna try and pull a @Duncanz and pay $1.74.
Any Takers?!?!
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kissmyblarneystones Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 12:54 pm
@kissmyblarneystones,
But seriously, I want to go tomorrow.
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Duncanz Reply:
February 1st, 2013 at 3:20 pm
The negotiating skills of @kissmybarrystix are worldly famous.
Be alerted, if he could nab you a ducat for $1.74, there must be another one just across the street for 87 cents!
(This assertion is scientifically proven and documented – in Jobing.com Plaza folklore)
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kissmyblarneystones Reply:
February 2nd, 2013 at 1:26 am
@Duncanz,
From now on, I will be deferring to your parking lot prowess, unless of course it is 109 degrees and said venture interrupts the time I intended to use for enjoying me libations.
It’s an Irish thing!
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Kings played a team that clogs up the nuetral zone. That’s why the play looked boring. Kings actually played it right. The shooters do need to get more seperation but I wouldn’t change much.
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