-The Kings have played in 19 consecutive games without heading to overtime, the longest non-OT stretch since finishing 22 consecutive games in regulation time between January 27 and March 14, 2003.
-Phoenix blocked 25 shots; Los Angeles blocked nine. Lauri Korpikoski and Michael Stone tied with a game-high five blocks.
-Jake Muzzin has eight points (3-5=8) and a plus-8 rating in his last seven games. He logged a career-high 25:06 of ice time. His 4:25 ice time on the power play was tops amongst all defensemen. With his third period assist, he increased his point streak to three games.
-Slava Voynov has a three-game assist streak (0-5=5).
-In seven games in March, Rob Scuderi has registered a minus-6.
-Justin Williams and Dustin Brown each recorded six shots, which tied for the game-high.
-Anze Kopitar took 25 faceoffs and won 12; no one else on the Kings took more than 14 faceoffs. Mike Richards was 0-for-5 on faceoffs.
-Kopitar led all forwards in the game with 22:22 of ice time.
-Kyle Clifford tied for a game high six hits in 6:32 of ice time.
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Two things stood out to me. Scuds minus 6 stat, and Cliffy’s hit per minute rate. Rest up guys, and bring it next game.
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luc20rules Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 6:04 pm
@Belexes, Muzzin’s not ready for that many minutes on the back end of a back to back. 3 minor penalties when without Mitchell and Greene the PK is our achilles heel.
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We need to trade for a solid stay at home d man. Ellerby, martinez and dd2 will not cut it.
Voynov
DD
Scuderi
Muzzin
Ellerby/martinez
New stay at home stopper type d man
Defense is our problem, once that is solved, everything else will sort itself out.
[Reply]
Kings Fan In Temecula Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 5:04 am
@Kings x, i’m think so too, it all starts at home plate
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:25 am
@Kings x, Do you know what the word trade means? What do we give up that we have now for a stay at home defensemen??? People think these stay at home guys are a dime a dozen and we can simply trade for one?
Oh yeah let’s trade JB?!? No, that’s really dumb, especially with JQ and his inability to get his save% up. Though of course I would hope that would improve with a new stay at home guy.
It was a back to back against a good team/ good goalie.
WHY DS puts in quick on back to back has me question him….for once!
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shiny Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:40 am
@Lake Forest, I dunno, but Quick probably felt confident and Sutter probably felt like Quick had the best shot to beat Phoenix. We’ll never know if things could’ve gone the other way with JB in net or maybe worse than it ended up being. Blow out games like this serve a purpose. Kings will regroup and go out and get the next one.
In order for them to maintain their place they need to win this next game. Phoenix is 2 points behind and Kings are tied with Blues with the same amount of points. This of course will all change soon because there are still plenty more.games.to come
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Lake Forest Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:07 am
@shiny, Coyotes are 1 point behind us and the blues.
I get what you are saying, but when is a player like JQ ever going to say he is too tired? Never and same for players that played the night before. It’s a coach’s job to make that decision.
I understand hindsight is 20/20, so I am not holding anything against sutter and I will always be “In Sutter I trust”, but how many times did he use the same goalie on a back to back schedule. We have 2 really good goalies, both are outstanding, so why not rest your #1 guy on the second night of back to back. Why not put JB in at Calgary, which isn’t as important of a game like it is against a division rival?
Michael J. Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:33 am
@Lake Forest,
In reference to : “I get what you are saying, but when is a player like JQ ever going to say he is too tired?” Yup, this sure as hell isn’t baseball.
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:45 am
Not the old “tired” malarkey again…
Rest up boys go to a movie can’t win em all
Go Kings Go!
It will be ok
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We skated 2 1/2 lines.
4th line had ~ 4 minutes of ice.
3rd line had low teen minutes.
Scuds had less ice time than Whiskey and Elerby. Scuds getting old.
I would have hoped DS would bring in fresh legs for the tail end of a b2b. ‘ Fraid not.
King could’ve sat for Toff and Richardson could have gone 4C for Fraser. Make those two lines livelier .
[Reply]
Cliffie’s stock seems to have plummeted. He had little ice time on Monday and less on Tuesday.
We were severely lacking in overall physical play last night. What’s the deal??
[Reply]
seanster48 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 8:19 am
@Munchrat, pretty sure Clifford is playing through an injury suffered in the first game against Calgary! he was ran hard into the boards. i think DD8 is also, not to mention the Cryotes were a half step faster than us, GO KINGS GO!
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Late night post by jon….cause of the lockout this season is hard to judge….out of shape players in the beginning…rough schedule…lack of practice…
[Reply]
Gustavo Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:09 am
@neil,
Everything you mentioned evens out for each and every team.
What I find infuriating is the miserable lack of game shape the ref corps brought in after the lockout. The league did a piss poor job keeping these guys as sharp as they could possibly be during the lockout. They ignored the issue and treated the ref as if there was never going to be hockey again.
The massive amount of blown calls all over the map is another blatant example of the league’s lack of foresight and leadership. The refs need help (technology) and leadership, just like teams do.
[Reply]
Ashykon Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:59 am
@Gustavo, at least the refs weren’t stealing jobs like most NHL players. Don’t blame the refs for owners/players greed. They too didn’t get a real training camp and preseason.
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They play 2 classless teams in a row. Boy I don’t know if even the Kings’ class is enough to.overcome so little classiness
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Keep calm and carry on.
We just lost the 3rd game of a 3 games in 4 days stretch (plus travel). I am sure the players are beat up and tired. The first period reflected that, very lackluster and losing almost every puck battle. Phoenix were a rested team, just sitting at home waiting for us to get off the plane.
Cries for a trade seem very premature. I think we’ve played pretty good hockey so far this season, all things considered. We know from last season that the name of the game is make the playoffs, and we are still on the right track to do that.
[Reply]
shiny Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:22 am
@ForumFan, park and ride?
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Kings x says:
“Defense is our problem, once that is solved, everything else will sort itself out”.
I agree with this statement for the most part. There were several defensive breakdowns last night. Having said that, the JQ of last year would have overcome those breakdowns and “saved” the day. Bottom line is last year there were less breakdowns due to the fact that WM and Greenie were in the lineup consistently so JQ wasn’t forced to come up with huge saves as he is being asked to do this season. Just goes to show how good those 2 guys are and how much we miss them. Pretty remarkable that Kings are where they are WITHOUT those 2 guys.
Amazing to think that the boys are, for the most part, winning games this year because of their offense and not the usual stellar goaltending and defense.
[Reply]
Lake Forest Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:26 am
@SpencerMaze, we are in 4th place half way through the season and with a TERRIBLE start, which says a lot about what we have done recently.
No need for a trade, we can have a breakdown every once in a while.
We are 1 – 1 against Coyotes and I thought we split the series last year.
[Reply]
Munchrat Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:54 am
@SpencerMaze, Last season our best defenseman was Quick. Not so this year. If Muzzin and Voynov are the best we have, we will have a rough go of it as the games get tougher. Defense starts with gaoltending. Once JQ starts to stand on his head again we will be closer to where we need to be to repeat.
[Reply]
Mazed & Confused Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:37 pm
@Munchrat, all good points fellas. And yes JQ was indeed our best D-man last year. But he had a lot more help last season also. The combination of himself, WM and Greenie, DD, Marty and Scuds along with a solid offense led to a championship.
If we are relying on offense to get us deep into the playoffs then it’ll more than Likely be a short run indeed.
[Reply]
I think I’ve seen enough of King for a while. I can accept his lack of offense on the stat sheet but he has become a liability on defense now. He was a step behind his man on two goals against last night. He’s not even being effective on the forecheck anymore. Last season he brought size and intensity to his game, right now he just seems to be chasing the play around. Again, the lack of scoring isn’t the problem, but he’s not currently playing to his own strengths. Maybe he should sit for a couple and let Toffoli play a bit. If nothing else, maybe it will light a fire under him a little. Just a thought.
[Reply]
fsd1 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:37 am
@Batfan13, everyone was a step behind last night, everyone
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:49 am
@fsd1, King’s been ineffective for quite some time.
[Reply]
mask0425x Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:09 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?,
…and he only averages about one hit a game which had always baffled me.
What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 7:57 pm
@ mask0425x, Yeah, no kidding. He should be having the sort of impact Clifford does.
We still got this. There are 20+ other teams who would love to be in our position and playing our level of hockey.
[Reply]
Michael J. Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:31 am
@DesertKing,
I am very happy with the current state of the Los Angeles Kings.
[Reply]
wobsse6 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:58 am
@Michael J., look at where we were last year at this time…we are in much better shape.
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It is really funny to read comments such as: “We need to trade for a solid stay at home d man. Ellerby, martinez and dd2 will not cut it”
People must think:
1) GM’s all over the league are waiting by their phones hoping other teams will take their stay-at-home defensemen off their hands.
2) DL is willing to give up assets, both present and future, for a short-term fix.
3) Other teams want to give the defending Stanley Cup champions exactly what they need to repeat as champs – I’ll call it the “Yah, lets give LA just what they need, we don’t really want to win that bad” strategy. Ask Scott Howson how that worked out for him.
4) That other teams will actually part with their good players. Think of it this way- had Steve yzerman called up DL last February and asked him for Greener, Scuderri, or Mitchell what would DL have said? He would have said something like “If this deal doesn’t somehow inclide Mr. Stamkos I need to change my calendar to April 1st.
What is it about some people that makes them think that other teams will simply give the Kings their valuable assets that they have spent years developing?
C’mon people! We already have Patrick O’Neal asking stupid questions and making dumb statements on live TV. Enough with checking our brains at the door.
[Reply]
Howe9 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:34 am
@Michael J., Good sensible post. Thanks for that.
[Reply]
fsd1 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:36 am
@Michael J., fantasy leagues……..
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King Alex Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:47 am
@Michael J., You mean we cant get Chara for Bernier straight up. Maybe we can throw in Richardson too!
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Duncanz Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 11:44 am
@King Alex, He says, only half jokingly..
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Duncanz Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
@Michael J., Your posts are usually right on point and logical, but I cannot agree with you today.
After all, and by your own admission, if CBJs can find Dean Lombardi and take him for all he is worth (JMFJ) then KINGS CAN find some susceptible GM out there in the hockeysphere who’s willing and equally as maleable.
A shining example is getting TBL to take an underperforming, low upside depth player like Teddy Purcell off our payroll.
Apart from the odd goal, he hasn’t done too much in the game or two I’ve watched of his.
So WRT expedient deals done in the past, don’t be so pessimystical and don’t think that the New World can’t ever be rediscovered!
After all, who said that lightning isn’t allowed to strike twice?!!
[Reply]
Michael J. Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
@Duncanz,
Unfortunately Craig Button has not been pumping up any Kings of late in the same manner that he did with a certain player (JWTFJ) for four years prior to Howson biting that night crawler draped over Deano’s treble hook.
[Reply]
Michael J. Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
@Duncanz,
BTW, great TP reference. I don’t know if there was a player on the team that this blog wanted shipped out of town faster than Stamkos’ current caddy.
[Reply]
Belexes Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
@Michael J.,
TP was an absolute zero on this team and moving him out allowed us to fill out our cup winning roster.
all is still well in the Kingdom…this loss is bearable do to the crazy stretch of games and back2back and all. We have a day off to regroup and reset and Im sure we will come out strong against SJ…Guppies are going down and we will maintain our seeding!
[Reply]
The blocked shots stat tells a lot of the tale IMO.
Yotes were solid in front of their net whilst crashing ours.
Their “25″ blocked shots tells me that we were too busy playing the perimeter.
Our “9″ blocked shots tells me that we weren’t taking care of our end.
Yeah I agree we should’ve started Bernier, but that is not why we lost this one IMO.
[Reply]
King Cobra Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:29 am
@jess, “we were too busy playing the perimeter”
Nailed it!
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How many of you think Toffoli is the second coming but think Bernier is just trade bait?
[Reply]
wobsse6 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 9:57 am
@Munchrat, I am with ya.
[Reply]
shiny Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:06 am
@Munchrat, I’d say at least 60% of the people on here think both and at least 60% think JB needs to be traded before the deadline. I’m in the wait-and-see camp because I’m no GM and the season ends in 5 1/2 weeks.
[Reply]
You knew there was a good possiblity of the Kings being flat last night in back to back, and quick’s game has been improving lately. If Bernier plays, probably still lose with the way we played. But if Bernier played, now Thursday you would go with a rested quick who’s play is on a up trend…because quick played last night it is now a step back in his progress (and another hit to his save %, right?).
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Ah panic and chaos late (well it’s not early) in the morning. And the debate rages on. I wonder what people are going to freak out over when the NHL goes back to.it’s regular 82 game season and games aren’t as close together (even with 82 games there are still back to backs and long road swings)
[Reply]
Batfan13 Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 10:14 am
@shiny, Don’t you just love that??? After a win everything is perfect and all players should be nominated for end of season awards. After a loss, everyone from DL on down should be worried about their jobs. Makes for an entertaining season, right?
[Reply]
At least we didn’t lose any significant ground in the playoff hunt with the Sharks and Stars losing. Gonna be hard to catch the Ducks for the Pacific but the most important thing is making the dance.
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Actual excerpt from last night, after game:
” I’m not going to give them any credit …. I don’t think they were a hungry team … I thought we Stunk …. I will give their 3rd line credit …. they outplay our top players and that can’t happen …. I couldn’t be more disgusted and disappointed with the way our top guys played ….
the way we handled ourselves …. that team was ripe to be beaten …. we simply did not play the way we’re supposed to play …. I don’t know what to tell you …. did you ask [the players] questions …. what did they say …. you should ask them …..
occasionally about what happened …. did they answer your questions …. what did they say …. let me ask some questions here what did they say ………….. anyone else got a question …. I’m sure you do, Sam …. I’m not going to pick it apart, we Sucked ….. we Sucked at a time that you can’t Suck …. I don’t know what else to tell ya …. ok? ” [interview ends abruptly]
[Reply]
Michael J. Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
@Duncanz,
Medication must have kicked in.
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