SoCal HockeyCast

When a team has 40 shots on net and scores five times, including one powerplay and one shorthanded goal, they normally win. However, the Kings, displaying terrible penalty-killing, poor goaltending, and mediocre team defense, lost 6-5 to the Phoenix Coyotes in overtime. The bright spot was Derek Armstrong who had a hat trick and sent the game into overtime with about one minute to go in the third period. Kevin Ballard, taking advantage of a bad line change and an even worse bounce, scored the shorthanded game-winner in overtime. The win for the Coyotes gives them two straight since Wayne Gretzky returned to the team from a ten-day leave of absence to be with his mother.

Jason LaBarbera didn't get much help from the team defense, but he also didn't help himself, allowing several soft goals enroute to his 20 saves on only 26 shots by Phoenix. The penalty-killers allowed three goals on six chances, and the powerplay units converted two goals on eight tries but also gave up the shorthanded tally in the end. The Kings continued to get scoring from different players with goals by Cammalleri and Avery (a shorthander) in addition to Armstrong's hat trick. Perhaps the worst news on the night was the loss of Eric Belanger who re-aggravated his groin injury and will be out indefinitely. Belanger, one of the Kings' most consistent players and a faceoff specialist, previously missed two games due to a groin pull.

With the salvaged point, the Kings remain one point ahead of Dallas for first in the Pacific Division. They now face the Stars in an important home-and-home series on Saturday and Monday.

In other news, Sandis Ozolnish took a leave of absence from the Mighty Ducks to help treat a substance abuse problem. The veteran defensman has only played in thirteen games this season due to injuries. Because this is his first offense, and because he is voluntarily undergoing treatment, the team and the league will not penalize Ozolnish further. Our thoughts go out to him in beating this problem.

The Los Angeles Kings went to Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche and their myriad of sub-standard "NHL" goalies. Next to St. Louis, the Avalanche sport some of the most inconsistent goaltending in the league. The Kings took advantage of this, scoring five goals enroute to a 5-3 victory, as they had a chance to see both Aebischer and Budaj.

Mathieu Garon showed the Avalanche what a good goalie can do, as he made 32 saves for the win. Demitra scored twice and three other Kings (Cammalleri, Visnovsky, and Kostopoulos) contributed to continue the recent trend in balanced scoring.

In Columbus, Ducks' goalie J.S. Giguere played one of his best games in recent weeks only to be spolied by a accidental tip-in by his own teammate Teemu Selanne. Giguere ended up making 42 saves to Denis' 40 as the Blue Jackets beat the Ducks 1-0.

Tonight, the Kings take on the Avalanche and the Ducks face off against the Blue Jackets.

Los Angeles, winners of five of their last six games, will try to win their second game in a row against a high-scoring but inconsistent Colorado club. The Kings need to continue their recent success on the powerplay (3-for-9 against San Jose) and get good goaltending from Mathieu Garon for their best chance at a victory tonight.

Anaheim, also an inconsistent but talented club, will face former Duck Sergei Fedorov for the first time since his trade to Columbus. So far, the trade has worked in Anaheim's favor. Fedorov, known for his solid all-around play has only one goal and six assists in eighteen games with the Blue Jackets. Meanwhile, defenseman Francois Beauchemin, part of that trade, has two goals and seven assists in fifteen games. Tyler Wright, the other player in that trade, has chipped in two goals and two assists along with solid, energetic play.

Laptop Update: Bad news... The hard drive couldn't be recovered, so I have lost the Holiday show. We hope to have our next Podcast up on New Year's Day or the day after. Thanks for all the continued support!

The Kings, 0-for-12 on the powerplay in their most recent game agains the Oilers, were 3-for-9 with the man-advantage against the Sharks to win 4-3 at the Staples Center.

Los Angeles showed a lot of jump in their step and dominated the first two periods and beginning of the third, staking a 4-1 lead. They showed heart and determination, holding off San Jose's third period onslaught and getting the victory.

With this victory, the Kings have won six of their last eight games and keep pace with the Dallas Stars for first in the division.

Thanks for your continued patience on the posting of our latest Podcast. Our dead laptop still has the latest episode, and we are currently writing this report from the Sacramento Apple Store as we await a free Genius to help us.

Our apologies for the delays on our latest Podcast. We had a hard drive failure that contained this week's episode all ready to go. We apologize for any inconvenience and are working hard to get everything up and running again. Until then, there may be a small gap in our blog and Podcast. Thanks!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, or the Winter Solstice... the staff of the SoCal HockeyCast would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday!

Two teams with four-game winning streaks met... and, of course, only one could walk away with a five-game streak. In an ironic turn of events, the Kings allowed their opponent to come from behind and win the game. The Oilers, 5-3 winners with an empty-net goal, were able to dominate the Kings in the third period, tie the score at three and go ahead with about five minutes to play.

Playing the last game of a three-game roadtrip, the Kings looked decent in the first period, dominated the second, and seemed to run out of gas in the third. Andy Murray, with an injury-depleted line-up, again relied on two main lines to take most of the skating duties, and the penalty-filled game seemed to sap those lines of the necessary energy to create any momentum.

The Kings also continued to have problems on the special teams, going 0-for-12 on the powerplay and allowing three goals during penalty killing. The winning goal, scored by Ales Hemsky, was a controversial one as he moved his foot forward and changed the angle to deflect the puck past Garon. After video review, it was deemed a goal, and the Kings had lost the lead and the game.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, the Los Angeles Kings looked like a team that had lost their direction and identity. Mired in their worst losing streak of the season, they were playing with little energy or determination. Inconsistent play throughout the middle and end of November caught up with them as they lost seven out of ten games through the beginning of December. "Hard to play against," a motto they used in coach Andy Murray's first season, had become, "Hardly playing again."

Fast forward to their final game before the holiday break... the Kings are looking for their fifth straight victory, a season high. Their 45 points puts them in a tie for 1st in the Pacific and 7th most points in the league. Perhaps the biggest things they've discovered are distributed scoring across their team and a solid goaltender in Mathieu Garon.

The Kings recently beat two of the top home teams (Vancouver and Calgary) with a mix of timely goal-scoring, grit, and solid goaltending. They will need all three to beat the Oilers tonight in Edmonton. The Oilers are also winners of four straight and have beaten Vancouver and Calgary with convincing performances.

The visiting Kings won their fourth straight game 5-2 against the Calgary Flames. This was another come-from-behind victory for Los Angeles who spotted the Flames two goals in the first period. Thereafter, it was all Garon and the Kings, as Cammalleri, Giuliano, Demitra, and Kostopoulos scored five straight goals. They also played good team defense and showed heart and determination by not giving up against a Calgary team that had only lost two regulation home games this season.

This makes two straight games the Kings have won against strong home teams. In their previous comeback victory, the Kings beat Vancouver who were 13-1-2 at home this season. Down 2-1 after two periods, Mike Cammalleri and Jeff Giuliano scored 27 seconds apart to help unravel an otherwise steady Calgary team. In all, player-of-the-week Kiprusoff allowed four goals on just 17 shots.

With this win, the Kings stayed tied with the Stars for most points in the Pacific Division. It was an especially rewarding victory for the Kings who were without regulars Roenick (broken finger), Conroy (flu), and Belanger (groin). The Kings finish off this pre-holiday road trip with a visit to Edmonton on Friday.

In Anaheim, the Ducks took on the last place St. Louis Blues and rebounded from their loss to the Sharks by winning 6-3. After playing to an even score for almost eight minutes, the Ducks scored three goals in a little over three minutes and never looked back. The penalty-laden, fight-filled game saw Anaheim score shorthanded, four-on-four, even strength, and on the powerplay. They got two goals from Andy McDonald and another strong performance from Petr Sykora who had two assists. The Ducks took advantage of the fact that the Blues lack an NHL goalie... Bacashihua and Divis both allowed three goals. Here's what our on-location correspondent, Adrienne, had to say about the game...

Teemu was really on the ball. At one point, Giggy had let the puck get behind him but it didn't go into the net. Teemu jumped behind him and swept it away. Lots of near misses. Giggy is looking sloppy. His wins are almost due to luck now, not skill. The first two St. Louis goals were sloppy and should never have happened. I think Giggy knew it too because he threw a mini tantrum.

Overall, the team as a whole chipped in again on this game, as they have been doing in many games we've seen. Everyone contributes, which is obviously, what makes the difference.

St. Louis was haphazard and chippy. They're fast, I'll give them that. The speed was turned up a bit, but I found that they couldn't necessarily control the puck for an extended period of time. Lots of hotheadedness and fighting erupted all the time. I agree with you about the lack of leadership. They seem really immature and unsure of what direction they're going!

Jonathon Cheechoo will probably never be known for his dance moves, but he's making quite a name for himself with his goal scoring. After his first career hat trick, the Sharks' forward now leads the team with 16 goals (nine since the arrival of Joe Thornton). His two third period goals (30 seconds apart) turned a close game against Anaheim into a 4-2 win for the Sharks. San Jose was looking to avenge a 5-4 loss on Sunday to the Ducks (their first in the Joe Thornton Era), but they actually didn't look convincing in their win.

The Ducks held their own for most of the first two periods in the 4-2 loss, but they had defensive lapses that cost them dearly. J.S. Giguere was shakier than normal, allowing four goals on 18 shots before giving way to back-up goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

Although Giguere wasn't spectacular, more of the blame should be put on the team defense that did not clear out players crashing the net or looking for rebounds. The two bright spots for the Ducks were Petr Sykora, who played another strong game, and Teemu Selanne, who has been re-energized by the addition of Sykora to the first line.

The Kings, hoping to win four straight games, take on the Calgary Flames tonight at the Saddledome. They'll try it without Jeremy Roenick, one of the stars in their win against Vancouver on Monday. JR has a broken finger and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks.

Three games... three wins... three styles of play. The Los Angeles Kings who have now won three in a row were 4-3 winners in a shootout game against the Vancouver Canucks. The impressive thing about their recent winning streak is the fact that Los Angeles has shown that they can play a diverse style and are able to win when they show patience and good effort.

In the game against Anaheim, the Kings matched the Ducks' intensity and skating, displaying a run-and-gun style. Against the Coyotes, the Kings played a slower, more careful game that they won by capitalizing on their few opportunities. In last night's game, L.A. beat the Canucks by coming from behind 2-0 and 3-2. In all three of these wins, the Kings have shown much more effort and intensity, winning the battles for loose pucks and keeping their legs moving.

Jeremy Roenick, playing another game on a line with Pavol Demitra and Craig Conroy, played his best game of the season. His effort and skating were apparent as he registered a goal, an assist, and several big hits. Conroy also had a goal and an assist in the win.

The big story was the shootout, the Kings' second in three games. As with the Anaheim game, Mathieu Garon stopped all the shootout attempts he faced, Alexander Frolov scored, and the Kings won. With this win, and the Stars' loss, Los Angeles climbs back into a tie with Dallas for first in the Pacific. The Kings hope to keep the momentum going when they visit the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

In other news: Ed Belfour, after five unsuccessful attempts, now has sole possession of second in all-time career wins for a goalie! The Maple Leafs rebounded from their 8-2 loss to Ottawa and helped Belfour make history by beating the Islanders in a wild 9-6 game. In the end, nobody will ask Belfour how he did it... just how many. Congratulations on moving past Terry Sawchuk for career win 448!

Also, Phyllis Gretzky, the mother of Wayne Gretzky passed away last night from lung cancer. Our best wishes go out to the Great One, his father Walter, and the rest of his family in this tough time. He's a class act and always has been. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree there. She and Walter were always generous of their time for their family, fans of Wayne, and the world of Hockey. We'll miss you.

This week's episode has a Ducks' Report and Kings' Report provided by our two expert anaylsts, Zoe and Genevieve. We also salute the Players of the Week, Martin Biron, and the Little Guys who make a big impact (like Martin St. Louis, Paul Kariya, Petr Prucha, Jason Blake, Mike Cammalleri, and more)! In our feature of the week, we talk about three of the Terrible Teams in the league.

We have a new phone number that you can call and leave messages on! Call us at 206-600-6216 and leave comments or questions!

Have a great week of hockey!

The Ducks, once again displaying their wild inconsistency, handed the Sharks their first defeat in the Joe Thornton Era. Getting goals from Kunitz, Fedoruk, Marchant, and both Niedermayer brothers, the Ducks held on to defeat the Sharks 5-4. The scoring was back and forth with San Jose battling back to tie the game four times, but Anaheim prevailed on Rob Niedermayer's tip-in with about ten minutes left in the third period.

The relatively wide-open game saw J.S. Giguere get one more save than the Shark's Evgeni Nabokov and several saves on end-to-end rushes. Each team had 34 shots on goal. The Ducks hope to gain some momentum from beating one of the hotter teams in the league... a knack the Ducks seem to have this season with wins against Nashville, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and the current Sharks team. San Jose will have to wait until Tuesday to see if they can begin a new winning streak.

For the first time since November 22nd, the Kings have won two games in a row. Facing off against the Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles was able to grind out a 4-1 victory with Joe Corvo netting the game-winner. The Coyotes, playing without coach Wayne Gretzky (who took a leave of absence to be with his mother who's suffering from Lung Cancer), played well on the powerplays, but were unable to convert their five-on-five chances.

Garon was less spectacular in goal against the Coyotes, but he didn't need to be amazing because the Kings played much more solid team defense, only allowing 26 shots on goal. Garon earned his second straight win through great positional play and just being steady. With this win, the Kings are in a tie for first in the Pacific Division with the Dallas Stars... but before we break out the champagne or sparkling apple cider, just remember, the Stars have five games in hand.

In the "Terrible Teams" Match-up, the Atlanta Thrashers, 11th in the Eastern Conference played against the Florida Panthers, 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Thrashers, who have played better of late, narrowly beat the Panthers 2-1 on solid goaltending by Michael Garnett. Who? Just kidding, I'm sure everyone knows that he's the most used of the five Thrasher goalies who have played this season.

New Podcast up by tomorrow!

The Kings and Ducks faced off last night at the Arrowhead Pond. The wide open game ended with a 4-3 win for Los Angeles but featured two lead changes, intense hitting, a shootout, and some incredible goaltending by J.S. Giguere and Mathieu Garon. The Kings, who have been mired in a deep, listless funk for much of the last month, played with an intensity that they seem to always have when facing off against their cross-freeway rivals. Anaheim, on the other hand, have seen a general upward trend in their playing, but have also had some inconsistency. The Ducks played with intensity and good effort.

The Kings dominated the first period scoring with two powerplay goals by Dustin Brown and Derek Armstrong. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the Ducks came back with a goal in the first by Petr Sykora and two in the second by Marchant and Lupul.

The third period mostly belonged to the Ducks with shots on goal (16-7), but Garon shut the door and the Kings made the most of their scoring chances when they picked up their intensity during that period. Rookie Petr Kanko scored a goal off the skate of Keith Carney after a superb forechecking effort by fellow rookie Jeff Giuliano. With intense pressure, Giuliano knocked the puck away from Carney toward Kanko who quickly protected it from the Ducks' Joe DiPenta. With his quick centering pass out front, Kanko banked it off of Carney's skate and past Giguere for the equalizer. Playing for Robitaille (a healthy scratch), Kanko demonstrated how effort, skating, and determination can create chances. Although some may call his goal a "fluke" or "lucky," it would have never happened without the intensity of Giuliano and Kanko on their shift.

The goalie duel continued with amazing, acrobatic saves on a number of odd-man rushes, and the teams had to decide the game in an overtime shootout. Pavol Demitra and Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings while Garon stopped Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer. Garon's last save was especially incredible as he stayed with the defenseman and kicked out his right pad to smother Niedermayer's stuff-in attempt. The 4-3 score didn't tell how much of a goalie duel it was as the netminders faced a total of 82 shots total. Garon turned aside 42 shots enroute to the well-deserved victory.

Meanwhile in our report of the terrible teams, Pittsburgh lost their first game under new coach Michel Therrien 4-3. They were facing the high-flying Buffalo Sabres. Goalie Martin Biron is the first goalie in eight years to record 12 straight wins. In other terrible teams, St. Louis lost 5-1 to the mildly better Chicago Blackhawks.

In this week's expanded coverage of the leagues teams with poor records, we take a look at the shocking victory enjoyed by the Panthers. The Detroit Red Wings were surprised by a strong Panthers' effort and lost 2-3 in overtime on Olli Jokinen's powerplay goal. Florida, tied for fifth least points in the league, have actually won four of their last five games at home.

Penguins' coach Ed Olczyk, was fired on Thursday for failing to take a star-studded line-up much past the cellar of their division. He'll be replaced by Michel Therrien, the former coach of the Montreal Candiens who was running the Penguins' minor league team in Wilkes-Barre. Fans with good memories will recall the emotion that Therrien brought to the game. Penguins' GM Craig Patrick had better hope Therrien can transfer that emotion to the players or it'll be his job next!

In really important news: The Kings travel to Anaheim to take on the Mighty Ducks. The Kings hope to break out of a listless funk that has seen them drop from the third most points in the league down to a tie for 13th. Meanwhile, the Ducks have steadily improved and are a mere two points out of a playoff spot after initially playing like they were hoping to have the first pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Tonight's game marks the first of 13 straight for the Kings against Western Conference teams... a stretch of games that will see them come out with a strong identity as winners, losers, or (most likely) somewhere in-between (it's called parity in the league.

When you're at home and facing the the worst road team in the league (also the worst team in the Eastern Conference), it's expected that you will win. Kings's fans left the game shaking their heads at this latest pathetic display of lack of effort against the Washington Capitals. The score was 3-2, but the Kings were outplayed for 2 full periods and never truly looked in the game after the first period.

Although the whole team played terribly, the goalies were the difference. Ollie the Goalie looked sharp and made many difficult and routine saves. Jason LaBarbera, starting in the place of an ill Mathieu Garon, looked shaky and allowed three soft goals, including Jamie Heward's game-winner with about a minute to play. The Kings need a shake-up on their team... perhaps not to the extent of the Thornton Trade, but they need something to shake-up their ranks.

Down the freeway from the Kings game, the Mighty Ducks looked extremely sharp in their 4-2 win of the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning. They did everything that a good hockey team wants to. They finished their checks, skated hard, fought for loose pucks, buried their chances, and got solid goaltending.

New addition, Francois Beauchemin, had two assists and scored the game-winning goal. J.S. Giguere put in another solid performance as he and the Ducks ended John Grahame's nine-game winning streak.

Next up for the Kings and Ducks is a face-off this Friday night. The Kings hope to take a firmer grip on their meager hold of second place in the Pacific Division while the Ducks hope to give themselves some breathing room above .500.

Our next enhanced Podcast will have a feature on Who's the Worst of the Worst? In preparation for that Podcast, we will be covering a few of these teams in our daily blog (in addition to our usual coverage of the SoCal Hockey teams).

Last night, the inconsistent Penguins faced off against the even lower Blues. The Blues, losers of the last three, produced 41 shots against the Pens and won 3-0. Curtis Sanford, a former defensive player of the week this season, earned another shutout. He only has three wins total this season, but two of them are shutouts.

Tonight the L.A. Kings take on the Eastern Conference's worst team, the Washington Capitals. The caps come in with 4 losses in their last five games. Their one bright spot has been Alexander Ovechkin, their rookie of the year candidate.

Meanwhile, the Ducks face off against the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. They hope to avoid a two-game losing streak after Monday's lackluster effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs. If Giguere gives the same solid performance, he will keep the Ducks within striking distance if they come out with a solid effort.

The Toronoto Maple Leafs, trying to break out of a four-game slide and help Ed Belfour become the goalie with the second most career wins, was able to gain a win against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim by a score of 3-2. However, Belfour, nursing a sore groin missed the game and the chance to make history.

The Ducks, who lacked energy for the most of the match, were kept in the game by J.S. Giguere who was started his second straight game since returning from injury. Giguere looked sharp and saved the Ducks from being totally embarrassed.

The Ducks take on a resurgent Tampa Bay team on Wednesday and hope to face the Lightning with more energy than they displayed last night. Meanwhile, the Leafs have a break until Saturday when they take on the Ottawa Senators. If Belfour returns by then, the Leafs will need an outstanding effort because the Senators will want to continue to prove that their recent two-game losing streak was nothing more than a fluke.

Good luck, Eddie! We're rooting for you!

Our latest enhanced podcast covering the Sharks, Sabres, Lightning, Kings, Ducks, and "other" notable rookies playing who aren't named Ovechkin or Crosby.

Genevieve and Zoe let you know which rookies they think are impressive and why. We also have more news and rumors. Enjoy!

Go Kings! Go Ducks!

While you all eagerly await my next Podcast, enjoy a good edition of Facing Off with David Amber. His subject is a Q&A with Bryan McCabe. Amber writes entertaining, informative specials for a little news agency called ESPN. McCabe has been spectacular this season while leading the Leafs and all defenseman in scoring. Combined with his toughness and solid defensive play, I think McCabe is a definite candidate for the Norris Trophy this year. You can find the article here.

Podcast up later today after my Birthday celebrations!

"Hard to Play Against" is a mantra that Andy Murray would like the Kings to remember. If the Kings hope to rebound and begin winning again, they should take this saying to heart. They face the Florida Panthers (fifth worst in the league) tonight at the Staples Center and hope to avoid a three-game home losing streak. If they can produce the same effort that they did in the second half of their recent game against the Hurricanes, and if they can get more consistent goaltending, and if they can improve their special teams, then they have a good chance of winning. Wow, lots of 'if's. Against the Panthers, they've got as good a chance as any!

The Ducks continue their Eastern roadtrip by facing off against an oft-injured but well-rested Montreal Canadiens team. The Habs last played against the Kings on December 3rd. The Ducks need to get back to their fast-skating, hard-playing, team-defense-first, great goaltending strategy they had in their four-game winning streak. It would also help if their big guns (Selanne, McDonald, and Lupul score).

The Los Angeles Kings, facing the Southeast Division leading Carolina Hurricanes, played one horrible period, one decent one, and one dominant one, but it wasn't enough to overcome a three-goal deficit, and they fell 3-2. Martin Gerber, coming off a great game against the Mighty Ducks on Tuesday night, faced 37 shots for the second straight game and turned aside 35 of them. Especially in the third period, when the Kings outshot the Hurricanes 18-6, Gerber made spectacular saves and was easily the primary reason Carolina won.

Carolina dictated the pace of the game in the first period and jumped out to a two-goal lead. The Hurricanes added another goal in the second to go up by three goals, but the Kings began playing much better in that period. Although the Kings dominated the third period, and were able to make it closer with goals by Belanger and Cowan, their not-very-special teams sealed their fate once again. They failed to score a powerplay goal and are now 3-for-53 in the past eight games (an abysmal 5.7% success rate). In that time, they've also allowed two shorthanded goals. The Kings hope to rebound against a struggling Florida Panthers team on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Mighty Ducks faced off against a hot Buffalo Sabres team and failed to protect a lead, eventually losing 3-2 in overtime. J.S. Giguere, in his first start since November 20th when he injured his hamstring, looked unstoppable before allowing a Thomas Vanek penalty shot almost mid-way through the second period. Maxim Afinogenov scored the game-winning goal on a powerplay with the Ducks' Todd Marchant off for hooking.

The Ducks looked much better than their previous game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Giguere provided extremely solid, sometimes spectacular goaltending, but the team was unable to stop a determined, confident Sabres squad who are now 5-1 in overtime games. Losers of two straight, the Ducks need to regroup and show some more determination in close games. The call on Marchant was debatable, but a player with his speed should be able to use his skating to get in a better position to avoid a hooking call... but that takes consistent effort and determination.

The Kings hope to gain some momentum by winning their second straight game tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Led by a strong effort in goal by Mathieu Garon, the Kings ended their recent road trip and losing streak by beating the Leafs.

The Ducks' four-game winning streak was ended in convincing fashion as the struggling Carolina Hurricanes beat Anaheim 6-2. It was a triumphant homecoming for former Duck Martin Gerber, the Hurricanes' goalie. Gerber faced 37 shots and turned aside 35 of them. Some of his saves were spectacular, displaying the reflexes and flexibility he was well-known for while with the Ducks.

Gerber and the Hurricanes only needed the three straight goals scored by Kevyn Adams. His previous three goals this season were also scored in a hat trick back on November 17th.

At times, the Ducks looked like they were being out-worked, however, they were still able to out-shoot the Hurricanes overall 37-31. In the end, the big difference was in goal. As solid as he looked in the previous four games, Bryzgalov looked tentative in the 14 shots he faced prior to being replaced by J.S. Giguere. The Ducks avoided a shutout by out-shooting the Hurricanes 15-8 in the third period and scoring two goals.

The Ducks hope to rebound against the hot Buffalo Sabres (9-2 in their last 11 games) this Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Kings successfully broke out of their longest losing streak of the season by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1. With this win, the Kings also denied Ed Belfour in his attempt to gain sole possession of second on the career win-list for goalies. The Kings generally played a smart game with consistently hard work. They managed to kill off 8 of 9 penalties, allowing a single powerplay goal while two men down during the second period.

Facing one of the best powerplays in the league, the Kings were able to stand-up to the Leafs' attack and stop them time and time again. The team effort centered around the extremely strong play of Mathieu Garon who played his finest game of the season. Garon, who appears to be making a convincing bid for the starting goalie position, made some spectacular saves by displaying good positioning and excellent agility. One big difference in Garon's play tonight was his ability to control the rebounds. The few times he didn't smother or clear a rebound, the defense was there to help carry it out of harm's way.

Although the Kings were outshot 13-4 in the third period (and 37-23 for the game), they were consistently able to stand-up to the rush and control the neutral zone with timely checks and quick stick work. Both goals were scored by Dustin Brown, his first two-goal game. Brown, like many of the Kings, had an extra jump in his step and attacked loose pucks with a vengeance.

Despite the fact that this was the lone victory on their four-game road trip, the Kings have progressively improved their play and finally were rewarded for their effort. They now come back home to play a three-game homestand against Carolina, Florida, and Washington.

The Kings, losers of four straight games, hope to rebound and topple the Maple Leafs. In their quest to end their longest losing streak of the season, the Kings also hope to deny Ed Belfour in his third attempt to surpass Hall-of-Fame goalie Terry Sawchuk in career wins.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Ducks hope to continue their hot streak and give ex-Duck goalie Martin Gerber a rude welcome home as the Hurricanes visit Anaheim.

Join us for our Podcast on the action from week ending December 3rd. Not only do we have a new Podcast, we also have a new logo! The new logo is the fine work of Osato Design out of Los Angeles. If you want information how you too can get a rocking logo like this one, then please email me at technologyted@mac.com

This week's Podcast features our expert guest analysts, Zoe and Genevieve, as we discuss the big Thornton trade and answer E-mail. We also have a new Good, Bad, and Ugly in the NHL.

Enjoy, and have a great week of hockey!

Despite being competitive for the majority of the game, and continuing to make some gains toward the level they played at in the beginning of the season, the Kings fell to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. Breaking out of a four-game losing streak, the Habs extended the Kings' losing streak to four.

Both goalies made 28 saves, and it all boiled down to the special teams. The Kings allowed one powerplay and one shorthanded goal on the night while missing out on their only three attempts.

The Kings hope to snap out of their losing streak on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Kings showed signs of breaking out of their funk in last night's game against the Senators, but still ended up with a 5-1 loss. Unlike the last few games, the Kings actually dominated almost an entire period, scored on the powerplay with their first unit, and looked like they wanted to win.

Unfortunately, the Senators and some truly horrendous officiating proved too insurmountable for the Kings. The turning point of the game was in the third period when the Senators killed a major penalty and came back to score two goals in 15 seconds.

Among the terrible calls by the referees in last night's game were an altercation with Avery and the Sen's McGrattan and a penalty on Conroy.

In the Avery incident, McGrattan, a career goon with 1 goal and 72 PIMs this year, attacked Avery with a cross-check to the face. Although it was clearly a cheapshot hit with an intent to injure, the referees did not call a match penalty on McGrattan and even penalized Avery on the play!

The Conroy incident involved a Senator player clearing Craig Conroy out with a hit from behind. Conroy, falling down uncontrollably, accidentally clipped Hasek on the mask with his foot. He was guilty of "goalie interference." Hopefully the league officials will review these incidents, but it's doubtful that they will make any changes in the Avery incident. He's been a marked man for the season by teams, players, and officials.

The Kings, losers of three in a row, hope to get back to the win column against Montreal tonight.

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In huge news this week, Boston's Joe Thornton was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart (one player for each of Thornton's All-Star selections). In this week's Podcast, we will take an in-depth look at that trade. Hats off to the Bruins' and Sharks' General Managers to have the guts to make a move to shake up their underperforming teams!

The theme of tonight's big match-ups is "Elite vs. Elite?". We have Ottawa versus the Los Angeles Kings and Carolina against the Dallas Stars. These are all teams that have been bandied about when discussions of "Elite" teams come up. Are the Kings an elite team? Ottawa is for sure. Let's see how they do against each other. The Senators are a bit battered and bruised and played on the road the night before (losing to the re-tooled Bruins). The Kings, highly inconsistent recently look to rebound.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes, looking to maintain their own consistency, face off against an extremely hot Dalls Stars team. Carolina, full of young talent, hope to establish their place by beating the 1998-99 Stanley Cup champs who are seeking to regain their lost glory. Which of these teams is truly elite, and who will come out on top?

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The Kings have finally lost two straight, and they looked terrible doing it. With another lackluster, but slightly better performance than Monday's game against Detroit, the Kings lost 3-2 against the Chicago Blackhawks. After getting outplayed for the majority of the game, the Kings scored two goals in the last 4 minutes.

The main bright points for the game were the play of Mathieu Garon and the ending of their powerplay goal drought. Ironically, and perhaps due to a stroke of genius, the one powerplay goal was scored by their checking line (hard-working Eric Belanger) that Andy Murray had put on the ice after the first two powerplay units had failed to convert with the man advantage in their previous 28 tries. Garon was excellent, facing 35 shots and turning away 32 of them. Khabibulin, on the other hand, faced a mere 21 shots, and very few were quality scoring chances.

Next up: Ottawa, the best team in the league. Will the Kings wake up and at least be competitive? Or are they set-up for an embarrassing loss? If they want to make a better impression, they truly need to break out of this funk that has grasped them for the majority of November and begin winning one-on-one battles, crashing the front of the net, and playing like a team.

In other news, the Ducks are winners of three straight after soundly defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 6-1. Selanne continues his hot streak and Ilya Bryzgalov only allowed 1 goal on 17 shots. Perhaps the Kings should take a look at the way the Ducks are playing team defense.

Hoping to begin their road trip on a positive note and looking to avoid two losses in a row for the first time this season, the Los Angeles Kings will take to the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks (losers of the last three games). With George Parros injured, the Kings may bring up a player from their minor league team, the Manchester Monarchs. Jeff Tambellini, the Monarchs' leading scorer and sixth overall in the league, looks to be the likely call up. Tambellini, the rookie out of University of Michigan has been lighting up the league, with 25 points in 18 games (technically in 14 games because he didn't score in his first four games).

The Mighty Ducks will face off against the Phoenix Coyotes tonight. Both teams are looking for their third win in a row. Todd Fedoruk, recently suspended for three games because of his cheapshot hit of The Coyote's Petr Nedved, returns tonight... talk about dramatic irony!

Just like the rest of the league, the Ottawa Senators have faced adversity. The beginning of the year trade of veteran Marian Hossa for Dany Heatley could have wreaked havoc with team chemistry. Talented winger Martin Havlat was suspended for 5 games after a groin kicking incident. Dominik Hasek's age was a question mark. Wade Redden, the fourth leading scorer among D-men, suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss a week so far.

However, the Senators haven't missed a beat at all and lead the league in points, goals for, and goals against. Hasek has silenced critics by being one of the top goalies this season. Heatley has fit like a glove with the rest of while helping form one of the most dynamic lines in the league (along with Spezza and Alfredsson). Of the Senators' three total losses this season, two have come against the Carolina Hurricanes. One of the many amazing statistics in this incredible season for them (so far), is the steady play of untested back-up goalie, Ray Emery. In six starts, he has six wins. Going back to the last season, he has nine wins total, a record for wins at the beginning of a career.

Added: Martin Havlat was injured in the game. His dislocated shoulder will result in him missing at least one month. With the Senator's depth, I think they will continue to flourish.

Hats off to Ray Emery and the rest of the team. There hasn't been any other team this season to play with their consistency, domination, poise, and teamwork.