Key Moment?

[Statto]

After our great start things started to get a bit shakey. For me the key to making sure we made the play offs was the Phaneuf trade. It gave us some extra experience on the blue line and I get the impression it gave some needed presence in the room. Obviously there were lots of other factors and Blake made some nice decisions with bringing the likes of Mitchell and Rieder in. However the Phaneuf trade was a fairly big call, and he seems to have gotten it spot on.

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[KingsKnight]

I Phanuef that has a lot to do with it. The more I watch him, the more I see how calm he is on the back end. I haven't really seen his shortcomings besides being a touch slow with his speed. But our system works without a ton of speed. And hearing how he's good in the locker room is always a positive.

 

[bouncesonly]

Drew Doughty's meltdown during the Chicago game. Kings could have shit the bed with his antic. Instead they went 7-3-3 for the rest of the month.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Drew Doughty's meltdown during the Chicago game. Kings could have **** the bed with his antic. Instead they went 7-3-3 for the rest of the month.

Oddly, this may have had the side effect of focusing him too

 

[LAKings88]

Agreed on both.

Dion standing up to Zadorov sealed my fandom of his.

He’s not a one off like Vinny and Iggy but he Is in that category of glad to have them for me.

 

[johnjm22]

Carter returning from injury.

Since Carter's return there's literally been 4 or 5 games the Kings wouldn't have even gotten a staindings-point in if it wasn't for him. That makes a massive difference.

Kopitar was carrying the team on his back, but it wasn't sustainable. No Carter = No Playoffs.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Phaneuf...Carter's return..Doughty's meltdown. All happened pretty close together.

 

[damacles1156]

Carter coming back, and Kopitars Career best season

 

[Bandit]

Key moment is yet to come.

 

[KrazyKings]

Tying up the game late in Minnesota and getting 3 out of 4 points on the Minnesota-Winnipeg b2b

 

[Herby]

Kopitar's goal late in regulation against Vegas.

 

[Statto]

Key moment is yet to come.

Brown agrees

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Winning both Vegas games helped me believe we’d make it.

Phaneuf trade didn’t really spark our record, but we got loads better.

Carter returning as well.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Nick Shore playing 0 minutes a night. Blake deserves one of those Real Men of Genius beer commercials.

 

[KINGS17]

The back-to-back wins vs Vegas.

 

[RONNIEC]

What is our record with and without Carter??

No Carter no playoff... his return was the KEY

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

15-7-3 record since acquiring Phaneuf, who also has 10 points in 25 games.

The Kings badly needed another dman who could log top 4 minutes, and Phaneuf has provided them with that.

And to think some thought he wouldn't be able to help the team. And that also included Kings fans who questioned the trade.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

15-7-3 record since acquiring Phaneuf, who also has 10 points in 25 games.

The Kings badly needed another dman who could log top 4 minutes, and Phaneuf has provided them with that.

And to think some thought he wouldn't be able to help the team. And that also included Kings fans who questioned the trade.

I will be honest, I liked the trade, but didn't think it would pay off as well as it has, I thought it was gonna be 50/50 how Phaneuf fit in etc

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Phaneuf is just happy that he finally gets to work in the States after 3 teams and 13 years in the NHL.

 

[Little Psycho]

15-7-3 record since acquiring Phaneuf, who also has 10 points in 25 games.

The Kings badly needed another dman who could log top 4 minutes, and Phaneuf has provided them with that.

And to think some thought he wouldn't be able to help the team. And that also included Kings fans who questioned the trade.

I questioned that trade. So glad to be proven wrong.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Kopitar's goal late in regulation against Vegas.

I would agree that would probably have to be the singular moment.

Overall, their record with and without Carter is pretty significant. 28-23-4 without him, which is 89 points in 82 games. 17-5-4 with him, which is 120 points. Even if you take the more realistic 12-5-3 since he got back, that's 111 points.

This is why MVP talk is always so damn subjective. Kopitar kept the team afloat, but look what they do with Carter added to the mix. Those two may be good, but look at the difference Brown has made. Quick was basically out all year last year. He's back, having to save more shots, and more difficult shots, but without the combined 12-1-5 record/.930sv% from Kuemper and Campbell, things could be different.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Oddly, this may have had the side effect of focusing him too

I haven't seen any outbursts from him since then. Haven't even really seen him yell at the ref since then. But he also hasn't gotten any penalties since that incident I don't think.

 

[fsanford]

Phaneuf's wife probably is also happy he is now living where she makes her living.

Blake in less than a year has made some very shrewd moves.

I also like Nate Thompson on the grinder line, a playoff tested guy.

Oh Brickley had some nice passes last night as well, a few mistakes but that is to be expected. You can tell he was doing some of the stuff he did at college and the NHL vets were picking his pocket or taking away the simple pass.

 

[TradeMadeMeSignUp]

Obviously the key was when Jake Muffin acted like a girl and tried to duck a check he should have absorbed, 3-0-1 since! Thanks Jake.

Fine, the key is Jeff Carter, it's always Jeff Carter. They probably win the division if he's healthy all year.

 

[Rorschach]

Kings have a solid core. Any sagging vet has a real good chance to find success here.

And good things happen when you add Carter around deadline time.