Fri, 20 October 2006  Playing their second game in two nights, the Los Angeles Kings left the "safe" confines of home and took on the struggling Phoenix Coyotes. Having scored a mere four goals in their four straight losses against the Dallas Stars (twice), Detroit Red Wings, and Minnesota Wild, the Kings entered the game struggling offensively, but looking slightly better defensively each game. So the Kings headed off to play the Phoenix Coyotes and face off against their back-up goalie, Mike Morrison. Apparently, this was the perfect recipe for creating a blow-out. The Kings took advantage of a very undisciplined Coyotes squad and scored four power-play goals to win 4-0. The three in the opening period chased Morrison from the nets.The win was Mathieu Garon's second victory this season and ninth career shutout. Garon was totally on his game, making all 40 saves. The only difficult period was the second where Phoenix dictated the much of the play of the game and outshot the Kings 13 to 10. Some of his better saves were definitely momentum-deflating saves for the Coyotes. The third period was even more lopsided for shots on with Phoenix doubling up the Kings 16 to 8, but Garon made everything look easy, and the Kings' team defense rarely left rebounds untouched or players unchecked. One only has to watch the steady, consistent play of Mathieu Garon to begin wondering when he'll begin playing an equal amount of games... if not take the #1 goalie job outright from Dan Cloutier. For the season, Garon is 2-1 with a 1.67 goals against average and .952 save percentage. Cloutier, on the other hand, has struggled with soft goals in all of his five games, going 1-3-1 with a 3.02 GAA and a .893 save percentage. The offense was supplied by Alexander Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Michael Cammalleri. Frolov, Kopitar, and Cammalleri all had multi-point games, each registering a goal and an assist. Rob Blake finally found the scoring sheet, in gathering two assists for the night. For Kopitar, this gives him three goals and six assists in only eight games this season (good enough to tie him for ninth in points around the league). The fact that all the young guns were contributing offensively was good news for the Kings who hope that each can supply more offense as the season continues. Patrick O'Sullivan even got into the action, getting some good chances, and clanging one off the post after beating the goalie. In my humble opinion, the plays and players of the game included:
We hope Marc Crawford sees the same patterns, because he can do something about one of those two patterns... Category: Kings -- posted at: 1:21 AM Comments[0] |
Thu, 19 October 2006  The Los Angeles Kings played their best game of the year, but it still wasn't good enough against the Minnesota Wild. They played the Wild even for 60 minutes, but it only took a mere 25 seconds of overtime for Marian Gaborik to put the Kings back into their place. All it took was a bad turn over by Sean Avery in the offensive zone, and Gaborik and the Wild notched another win. The Wild remain undefeated in six games, and Los Angeles drops to 2-4-1. The good news is that the Kings do eke out a point after this match.The truth is, the Kings looked very good throughout most of the game, playing a hard-nosed game without making poor choices. They generated great chances in several rushes, but just weren't able to capitalize on them. Patrick O'Sullivan scored the lone goal for the Kings (his first career NHL goal). That goal tied the game at 1-1. Brian Rolston had scored a few minutes earlier for the Wild. Although Anze Kopitar didn't score, he played a solid game, making some great plays, generating chances, and winning plenty of key face-offs. It was actually a game of bests. Craig Conroy was also very active offensively and won the majority of his face-offs as well. O'Sullivan also played a very smart game, capitalizing on one of his many opportunities. On defense, Brent Sopel also had a very good game, keeping Gaborik in check throughout regulation, and even single-handedly breaking up a partial break-away by the speedy forward. Rob Blake, who has looked a little tight and nervous in the first few games, made great choices, and even saved the game by sweeping the puck to safety after it got behind Dan Cloutier. Unfortunately, Blake was still unable to register his first point of the season. Cloutier was decent. He allowed only two goals, but both were soft ones yet again. He faced 27 shots and turned away 25 of them. Throughout the game, Cloutier actually looked solid on several good chances by the Wild, but his poor handling of a rebound led to Rolston's goal. Cloutier's goaltending opponent, Manny Fernandez, made 34 of 35 saves and faced much more difficult scoring chances throught the game. For the Kings, this may have been their fourth straight loss, but the point was well-deserved, and Los Angeles will look to build upon this effort tomorrow night against the Phoenix Coyotes. Don't forget, our latest podcast, dedicated to William "Digital Bill" Douthett is available for download or playback on this page. Category: Kings -- posted at: 1:32 AM Comments[0] |
Tue, 17 October 2006  There was good and bad news at the Staples
Center on Monday night: the bad news was that the Los Angeles Kings suffered another
loss (their third in a row), but the good news was that the Kings
played with more intensity and effort against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't
enough, as the Kings fell 3-1 to the Wings. However, Los Angeles
fans got to see quite a few improvements in this game.For the majority of the game, the Kings actually played evenly with the Wings. The lone goal for the Kings was scored by Sean Avery off of assists by Anze Kopitar and Aaron Miller. Kopitar actually started the play in the defensive zone by controlling a puck, waiting patiently, and putting a perfect, stick-to-stick pass to Miller who was rushing up ice. Miller, with speed, let rip a low, hard slapshot that Chris Osgood was able to block but unable to control. both Avery and Kopitar crashed the net, and Avery was able to get his blade on the puck to shovel it in. The Kings' 1-0 lead was enjoyable, but it didn't last long. The Wings stormed back with three straight goals. The first and third were essentially breakaways that were the result of defensive lapses for the Kings. On the first one, Rob Blake made a poor choice during a 2-on-2 rush. Although Mattias Norstrom had his man covered, Blake skated out of his way to lay a bone-crunching open ice hit on the Wings' Franzen. Unfortunately, what could have been an inspiring play, turned sour for the Kings as Franzen was able to make the pass prior to the hit. The Wings' blah blah was able to go in on Dan Cloutier alone and deke him enough to open the 5-hole where he scored. Speaking of the 5-hole, Cloutier allowed all three goals between his legs. Although he can't be blamed for the first and third goals, the second one, the go-ahead goal by Robert Lang, was scored at an extremely sharp angle. The bad news is that this was yet another soft goal allowed by Cloutier. The good news was that it didn't come on the first shot of the game! Cloutier ended up with XX saves on XX shots while Osgood made XX of XX saves. The Kings continue their rough homestand against the high-flying Minnesota Wild on October 18th. This marks the return of ex-King star Pavol Demitra whom they traded for Patrick O'Sullivan and a 1st round pick. Category: Kings -- posted at: 3:24 PM Comments[0] |
Sun, 15 October 2006  In the blink of an eye, the Kings were facing off against the Dallas Stars. It was at the Staples Center. They lost 4-1... hey! Wait a minute! Didn't this just happen?Playing in a homestand that featured a rare two-game match-up with the same team, the Kings were again dominated by the Stars, allowing three power play goals and losing the majority of individual battles for the puck. However, there were a few differences in this game. For example, Mathieu Garon was in goal instead of Dan Cloutier, the Kings didn't allow a goal on the very first shot, Michael Cammelleri scored the Kings' lone goal of the night (instead of Raitis Ivanans), and, unlike Thursday, the Kings actually came out and played hard at first. The first ten minutes of the game were one of the Kings' few highlights of the night. Although the Kings didn't score, they matched Dallas' intensity and looked much better than Thursday night. Then the penalties started coming in. With four penalties called on the Kings in a row, the Stars capitalized, scoring their first two goals. The Kings couldn't seem to get any bodies into the right places to block the shots of Stephane Robidas. They were late covering Brendan Morrow twice, leading to two goals. The whole game was one big penalty-fest with 19 power play opportunities but the Kings only partook of the special teams party once. There were a few bright moments for the Kings. They included a beautiful shot by Cammelleri, steady play by Lubomir Visnovsky (who made a beautiful behind-the-back pass on Cammelleri's goal), and the intensity of Scott Thornton (whose energy-line cycled well). Garon wasn't spectacular, but he couldn't be faulted on any of the goals by Dallas. There were several screens and deflections... and, ultimately, the Kings need to do a better job of playing team defense in front of him. The Kings' home schedule doesn't get much easier as they take on the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Category: Kings -- posted at: 10:16 AM Comments[0] |
Fri, 13 October 2006  When tough-guy Raitis Ivanans scores the only goal for the Kings in a game, you know that they're in trouble. Taking a note from the Ducks' playbook, and skating without any urgency or passion, the Los Angeles Kings lost 4-1 to the Dallas Stars. Virtually every battle in the corners was lost to the Stars. Rookie-phenom Anze Kopitar was held off the scoresheet for the first time this young season. Dan Cloutier, still trying to play himself into game shape, looked less-than-spectacular in allowing four goals on only 29 shots.Stars goalie Marty Turco was superb, stopping 32 of 33 shots and making key saves during the few moments of semi-sustained pressure by the Kings. Eric Lindros registered three assists and Brendan Morrow and Mike Modano (the captain and the ex-captain) both had one goal and one assist on the night. The one bright spot for the Kings (other than the bad bounce that resulted in Ivanans' fluke goal) was the play of Patrick O'Sullivan who worked hard to get open and registered five shots on goal. Kopitar, seemingly shadowed at every turn, ended up with only one shot on goal was a non-factor. All in all, it was an effort to forget about... unless it inspires the Kings to play harder; and they will get a chance to show their mettle on Saturday in a re-match against the Stars at the Staples Center. Category: Kings -- posted at: 6:01 PM Comments[0] |
Wed, 11 October 2006  The Los Angeles Kings continued their home stand against the New York Islanders and their 15-year-contract goalie, Rick DiPietro. Despite an up-and-down first period that saw some good offense and soft goals, the Kings overcame a hard-skating Islander team to win 4-2.Brent Sopel, giving more evidence that two good knees are better than one, registered an assist to go along with his game-winning goal on one of the many power plays on the night. There were 19 total power plays for the game (12 for the Kings), and Sopel was willing to capitalize on the man-advantage. Except for a huge mistake in the first period that resulted in a the Isles' second goal of the game, Sopel played a strong game and helped stimulate the offense. Dan Cloutier looked rusty in the first period, failing to hug the post on the first goal and mis-judging the speed and movement on the second goal, but he got steadier as the game went on, shutting down the Isles for the final two periods. In fact, he made some very solid stops in the third period to preserve the Kings' one goal lead. In the end, it was a much better outing than Cloutier's first game against the Ducks... which essentially was his first game in a year after he missed the majority of the 2005-2006 season. Michael Cammalleri, possibly the best forward on the ice in this game, added his second goal of the season with a quick wrist shot off of a fast rush. Tom Kostopoulos, playing in his first game of the season also added a goal. Kostopoulos' goal came off of a superior cycle with tons of pressure that broke down the Islander's defense. It was a great example of creating chances with hard work. Alexander Frolov rounded out the scoring for the Kings, converting another power play goal with less than a minute left in the third period. Another impressive King was Oleg Tverdovsky who registered two more assists and made some outlet passes that resulted in good opportunities for the Kings. Rookie phenom, Anze Kopitar was more tightly checked and didn't seem to find as many openings, but he still was able to get an assist in the end. For a team that was supposed to be struggling offensively, the Kings have been scoring by committee and have 11 goals in three games. Although it is only three games in, they don't look like a team that has been chosen to finish near the bottom of the standings. Of course, rank in the standings can change quickly and drastically... as the Kings found out in the second half of last season... but it's important for their confidence to begin the season with strong effort. The Kings continue their current homestand on Thursday against the Dallas Stars and new captain Brendan Morrow. Category: Kings -- posted at: 1:34 AM Comments[0] |
Sun, 8 October 2006  Coming off of a tough but predictable loss against the Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 at the Staples Center. Apparently, Mathieu Garon is unwilling to concede the #1 goalie status to newcomer Dan Cloutier. Garon came up big, stopping 35 of 36 shots and looking very positionally sound between the pipes. Much criticized for his lack of willingness to shoot the puck more, Alexander Frolov registered three shots on goal and ended the night with one assist to go along with his game-winning goal. Patrick O'Sullivan, the key player in the Demitra trade registered his first NHL point with an assist on the game-winner. Lubomir Visnovsky, Brent Sopel, and Michael Cammalleri each had a goal for the night. Cammalleri's goal was a beautiful one-timer from an extremely sharp angle that seemed to find the smallest hole left open by Manny Legace. The Blues Martin Rucinsky netted the lone goal for the Blues in the second period... a period in which St. Louis out-shot the Kings 19-8, but the Kings ended up leading 2-1 in that period. On a side note, this was also the first game for Oleg Tverdovsky in a Kings' uniform. He had a number of fine outlet passes that resulted in good chances for the forwards. Perhaps the biggest story of the night was the rookie superstar-in-the-making, Anze Kopitar. After netting two goals in the loss to the Ducks, Kopitar was held off the goal sheet against the Blues, but ended up with three assists (including one on Frolov's game-winner). He was constantly skating hard and creating chances throughout the night. A great example of that was his assist on the Sopel goal. After beating the defense, Kopitar got in too far and passed Legace. Somehow, knowing where Sopel was, he whipped a quick pass back for an easy tip in. The bad news for Kopitar is that he is not on pace to score 164 goals on the season anymore. However, with two goals and three assists after two games, he is on pace to score 82 goals, 103 assists, and 205 points for the season... which he probably won't get, but it's fun to think about his potential impact! Definitely the real deal! The Kings continue their homestand on Tuesday against the New York Islanders. Category: Kings -- posted at: 7:12 AM Comments[0] |
Sat, 7 October 2006  The Los Angeles Kings opened strong against the Anaheim Ducks. In the first two periods, they even outshot the Ducks 36-19, but the superior offense of the Ducks eventually wore away the Kings. Anaheim won 4-3, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stood tall in net ending the night with 41 saves. Chris Kunitz was the offensive hero for the Ducks, getting an assist on the game-tying goal and scoring the eventual game-winner. The loss for the Kings wasn't all bad news. They played even with the Ducks (a pre-season favorite to win the Stanley Cup) for about fifty minutes, and rookie phenom Anze Kopitar scored two goals. His first goal made Chris Pronger look downright silly. Although the Kings are predicted to end near the bottom of the standings, their future looks bright if they can build a solid team around a potential superstar. Corey Perry, Andy McDonald, and Ryan Getzlaf rounded out the scoring fo the Ducks while Lubomir Visnovsky netted the Kings' only other goal. The game was fast-paced, but seemed to have some fits and starts as new head coach Marc Crawford tinkered with the different line combinations throughout the game. One thing was apparent, no matter whom he was placed with, Kopitar's line seemed to produce the best pressure. The Kings and Ducks continue their schedule tonight against the Blues and Coyotes. Category: Kings -- posted at: 10:49 AM Comments[0] |
