Waking up with the Kings: December 30

There’s not much to read into the Los Angeles Kings’ 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames other than they failed to pick up two points in a four-point December swing game. It’s beginning to sound like a broken record at this point, but the Kings attacked the opposing net – with good consistency over the final two periods – worked pucks deep and created traffic in front of Jonas Hiller. Even in these halcyon offensive days in which the Kings have averaged three goals a game for over a month, there are still the occasional nights in which the bounces don’t happen to go their way, the opposing goalie doesn’t let in anything questionable and there are limited opportunities on the power play. It’s a similar script to the previous six losses in which Los Angeles was at the very least break-even in the run of play (and frequently dominated it):

Date / Loss / Shot Attempts For-Against
12-6 / 1-2 vs PHI / 69-29
12-9 / 0-1 @ BUF / 70-23
12-12 / @ MTL / 92-41
12-14 / @ TOR / 80-57
12-16 / @ STL / 41-42
12-22 / vs CGY / 78-60
12-29 / @ CGY / 69-34

The Kings are checking well and giving up very, very little in these losses. Similar to last night, they’ve been done undone by key power play goals (@ BUF, @ MTL, @ TOR, @ STL, vs CGY) and quick bursts of offense by the opposing team (@ MTL, @ STL, vs CGY, @ CGY). I see those quick strikes against as more of a footnote of the team’s late first half play than any fundamental issue. In the bigger picture, this remains a team that continues to work the puck up ice quickly and control the run of play.

Can Dustin Brown finally get rewarded? I’ll inquire with the coaches, but I don’t see anything about his play over the last 11 games (0 goals, 2 assists, minus-7 rating) that suggests he’s been struggling, and on many of those nights, he’s been among the Kings’ best forwards. Last night he was once again strong on the puck while drawing both of Calgary’s minor penalties (he’s tied for 20th in the league in penalties drawn per 60 minutes amongst players with at least 20 games played) and logged nine successful zone entries (and on most nights leads the Kings in that category). The numbers don’t quite catch up with the eye test, and it’ll be interesting to get Darryl Sutter’s interpretation of his recent play – and of course Brown’s importance goes beyond his statistics – but he seems like a player who deserves better than what numbers have been spouted recently.