Game #40: Kings vs. Blackhawks - 12/30/13 - Regulation Loss, 1-0 Chi-Town Strokefest

[KingCanadain1976]

Chicagos big guns didn't do anything either. It came down to depth and where the kings have scrubs they have guys that can actually score.

The games only goal come down to one bad pinch by muzzin and a non play by richards(imo he should have cleared the puck to the corner) both not exactly our scrubs as you call them. Had Brown scored or the power play( all players on it arent scrubs as you call them) the blame is our top players not scoring not player playing under 12 mins a game.

 

[KINGS17]

When I think of players that might be a nice addition to the LW guys like Fleischmann, Tlusty, Glencross, Michalek, and maybe even Cammalleri come to mind.

It's going to have to be a deadline deal due to the cap, and I would be ok with pretty much any of those guys or one like them. Might prefer Michalek due to his contract expiring at the end of the season.

 

[Reclamation Project]

I'd like any player from a bottom feeder because their intensity would be much higher.

 

[etherialone]

The games only goal come down to one bad pinch by muzzin and a non play by richards(imo he should have cleared the puck to the corner) both not exactly our scrubs as you call them. Had Brown scored or the power play( all players on it arent scrubs as you call them) the blame is our top players not scoring not player playing under 12 mins a game.

I agree. I mean I don't think that Lewis belongs anywhere near our 3rd or 2nd lines but we didn't lose because of him or Clifford.

 

[damacles1156]

When I think of players that might be a nice addition to the LW guys like Fleischmann, Tlusty, Glencross, Michalek, and maybe even Cammalleri come to mind.

It's going to have to be a deadline deal due to the cap, and I would be ok with pretty much any of those guys or one like them. Might prefer Michalek due to his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Problem is I wouldn't give up Vey/Pearson. For any of that trash. Well maybe cammi .

I would only want fleisch or michalek if the cost is only picks.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

I agree. I mean I don't think that Lewis belongs anywhere near our 3rd or 2nd lines but we didn't lose because of him or Clifford.

Ty tg I really think we need to upgrade our pp somehow. If it was scoring it would so help take the pressure off this team. This is why i think vey and pearson recalls would be the upgrade we need. Having the kids ( pearson vey toffolli ) play the powerplay would spark this team imo. They have chemistry with each other from the ahl. It would rest / motivate carter richards kopitar brown william have this time to rest

 

[zac]

I was a big Sutter fan, but this certainly seems to be going the same way many Flames fans warned us. The guy is obsessed with grinders and low skill players, the use of stiffs like Lewis and Clifford just shows that.

The two highlights (for comedic value) were Lewis trying to stickhandle around Roszival and Keith catching Clifford. It was like watching a junior kid toying with a middle aged man at pickup.

The Hawks have support players like Saad and Shaw, while we have Clifford and Lewis. Kings did a good job against the big guns, but it's hard to shut down a team that rolls 3 lines capable of scoring, wish Sutter and Lombardi could see that.

If it makes you feel any better so does Q. He routinely plays Bollig (who actually played well tonight) and Brookbank over talented players that mesh better with their linemates/partners. He also plays those players in situations their talents are ill-suited for. It doesn't get talked about near enough (away from the Hawk boards) because the awesomeness of our roster masks many (of his numerous) poor decisions.

Even if a team is successful, it doesn't make it alright for a coach to keep making these decisions. I can definitely sympathize with your plight. I had to watch Brookbank get worked over all night in StL (in person) and watch my team blow a sure fire victory in the last 3.5 minutes.

This was a great game for us and the best 3rd period we've played all year. In other words it's about the only defensively responsible 3rd we've played all season. I'd rather watch my team win like this than the 6-5 games where we give up some REALLY bad goals.

 

[Winger23]

The games only goal come down to one bad pinch by muzzin and a non play by richards(imo he should have cleared the puck to the corner) both not exactly our scrubs as you call them. Had Brown scored or the power play( all players on it arent scrubs as you call them) the blame is our top players not scoring not player playing under 12 mins a game.

It's more than that. I haven't checked the time on ice for the game, but I believe Chicago doest have to play their top lines as often, being able to spread the time around keeps players fresh, more energy. During the recent success, while Lewis and Fraser were out, and matinez in on D, kings were getting these support goals. Now they are back and all of a sudden the team can't score again. It's more than just a coincidence.

 

[KINGS17]

Problem is I wouldn't give up Vey/Pearson. For any of that trash. Well maybe cammi .

I would only want fleisch or michalek if the cost is only picks.

That's kind of why I identified those guys. I would hope to land one as a rental with a pick and a player that isn't Vey or Pearson. I would be ok with including Clifford in the deal.

 

[damacles1156]

It's more than that. I haven't checked the time on ice for the game, but I believe Chicago doest have to play their top lines as often, being able to spread the time around keeps players fresh, more energy. During the recent success, while Lewis and Fraser were out, and matinez in on D, kings were getting these support goals. Now they are back and all of a sudden the team can't score again. It's more than just a coincidence.

Moving carter to kopitars line has done most of the damage , it makes the kings easy to defend.

Need to balance out that top six agian , Sutter is making it easy for opposing teams defenders.

Brown and richards playing like trash is also not helping.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

It's more than that. I haven't checked the time on ice for the game, but I believe Chicago doest have to play their top lines as often, being able to spread the time around keeps players fresh, more energy. During the recent success, while Lewis and Fraser were out, and matinez in on D, kings were getting these support goals. Now they are back and all of a sudden the team can't score again. It's more than just a coincidence.

I am the first person to say that i would like to have martinez in over even yes muzzin. Imo the kings d was pinching in to much and to early Muzzin was the worse of the offenders. Yes i will agree the hawks have a very well blanced team and dont play there top players as often and can use there bottom players more often. This would be a good reason /excuse for us losing if we gave up the goal against fatiged line playing to much but the only goal was scored 7 mins 5 secs into the game if our players are fatiged this early we have more problems then a couple of 4th line players for sure. I am not a fan of Lewis playing any where but the 4th center or rw spot. I was mostly defending the attacks on clifford who played 9 mins and takes alot of abuse from posters like herby who are putting blame on him where none is needed imo.

 

[zac]

It's more than that. I haven't checked the time on ice for the game, but I believe Chicago doest have to play their top lines as often, being able to spread the time around keeps players fresh, more energy. During the recent success, while Lewis and Fraser were out, and matinez in on D, kings were getting these support goals. Now they are back and all of a sudden the team can't score again. It's more than just a coincidence.

We don't. The third and 4th lines get plenty of minutes, and our 4th line might be near the league lead in ice time for a 4th line. Q trusts them, sometimes overly so, and they play a lot when we have the lead late in the game. If you didn't notice they were out there an awful lot in the last 5 minutes of the third.

It helps when you have a center that has IMMENSELY, and this might be one of the biggest jumps in NHL history, improved his faceoff % from 46.2 % to 58.2% in just one off-season (the Hawks brought in Yannic Perrault to help with faceoffs and he did one hell of a job). Keep in mind this is a PK1 pker and a player that takes most of his draws in the defensive end. That's huge. Then we have Ben Smith, who is really a 3rd line player and a guy with offensive talent that busts his ass 24/7. Then there's Bollig, our weak link, but he's improved enough since last season to at least be a serviceable player (tonight he played really well). There's not many, if any, 4th line that is as skillful as ours. I'm thankful for that luxury.

 

[HolyShot*]

This thread is hilarious. Let sutter get some time with our A prospects when they're ready: zykov, pearson, vey, toffoli. These guys need to be in the top 6.

We need a skilled player on the top line that's not afraid to go into the corners.

Sutter is still influencing the philosophy of this team. Let him get the most out of the players.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

Our pp is 21 st in the league . This is why we lose games. Has nothing to do with players in our bottom six.

 

[DocWest]

We are creeping close to oh **** time with all these losses piling up.

 

[etherialone]

Our pp is 21 st in the league . This is why we lose games. Has nothing to do with players in our bottom six.

I wouldn't go that far and believe that if we were able to add a perfect fit to our 3rd line regardless of where they came from that it could help us in a bunch of ways.

That said I completely agree that our PP is pure garbage and we should really be in the top 6 with the team we currently have. It is an embarrassment that we aren't.

 

[The Butcher]

Time to blow it up.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Worst team in the league.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

I wouldn't go that far and believe that if we were able to add a perfect fit to our 3rd line regardless of where they came from that it could help us in a bunch of ways.

That said I completely agree that our PP is pure garbage and we should really be in the top 6 with the team we currently have. It is an embarrassment that we aren't.

Well maybe my cold is influencing my thinking but I seem to recall that when all the kids were up they got a some pp time together and they looked really good to me. Something needs to happen on our power play or as i think of it now power kill. Its pretty embarassing to see us struggle with the players we have. I would love to see the 3 of them play first pp mins and leave them as a 3rd line. I think they have alot of offensive skill and could spark it. I honestly think this is our probelm. If we would score or two every other game on the pp it would take the pressure off the 5 on 5 offense. This would result in better efforts where we may have leads instead of playing from behind.

imo this would be a good lineup in the near future
king kopitar williams
brown richards carter
pearson vey toffolli
clifford stoll nolan

 

[ukyo]

Coach doesn't appear to be concerned:

Jon Rosen ‏@lakingsinsider 39s
Sutter: "I'm not going to lose any sleep over how we played."

I'm ok with the game. It was a better effort than the last one against Chicago. I would not tinker a whole lot. The Kings play very well against every team in the league, including Chicago, just that Chicago has that extra gear that other teams don't have and that is enough for them to beat the Kings.

Its the best team in the league , I mean Sutter watched the same game.

Kings aren't beating this Hawks team with this roster. Scotty Bowmen could be coaching the Kings probably still lose.

Now I know how Blues fans feel

Aw, come on, it's not even close. The Blues are 1-7 against the Kings in the regular season dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 season. Over the same period, the Kings are 4-5 against the Hawks. And on top of that, the Kings haven't had the same sort of spectacular meltdowns against the Hawks that the Blues have had against the Kings.

I'm looking forward to a best of seven against the Hawks in the playoffs. I think that if the teams had switched paths last season (and Chicago went through those two meat grinder series), the WCFs would have been completely different.

For now, I would say don't change a thing; LA meets Chicago just one more time this season. Pulverize the rest of the teams in the league, then figure out the Chicago conundrum at the trading deadline. Nelson Emerson and staff will have three games worth of video to dissect. Hell, call up Vey and Deslauriers for the playoff run. No point in showing the secret weapons until then.

Now, the whole losing against weaker teams does bother me. The Kings better wipe the floor with Dallas tomorrow.

 

[etherialone]

Well maybe my cold is influencing my thinking but I seem to recall that when all the kids were up they got a some pp time together and they looked really good to me. Something needs to happen on our power play or as i think of it now power kill. Its pretty embarassing to see us struggle with the players we have. I would love to see the 3 of them play first pp mins and leave them as a 3rd line. I think they have alot of offensive skill and could spark it. I honestly think this is our probelm. If we would score or two every other game on the pp it would take the pressure off the 5 on 5 offense. This would result in better efforts where we may have leads instead of playing from behind.

imo this would be a good lineup in the near future
king kopitar williams
brown richards carter
pearson vey toffolli
clifford stoll nolan

I like(d) those lines a ton and would like to see them again and soon. If not them then a version of them for certain. I agree with everything else.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Worst team in the league.

Pretty much

And that sarcasm emoticon isn't needed, some people might feel that way.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Pretty much

And that sarcasm emoticon isn't needed, some people might feel that way.

It was disappointing they got shutout, but they held the 3.7GFA team to 1.

 

[kingsfan28]

Now, the whole losing against weaker teams does bother me. The Kings better wipe the floor with Dallas tomorrow.

There's no excuse not too. The Kings should be pissed about the last 3 games and take it out on the Stars and their AHL defense. If they pound the Stars like they did the Hawks they'll win.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

We all expected a loss before this game. The Kings indeed lost and now this team is lacking several things.

The Kings have done exactly what most of us thought they would do.