GDT: WCQF Game 4, (1) Vegas Golden Knights vs (WC1) LA Kings @7:30 VGK lead series 3-0

[KingTrouty]

Let's not sound like Rangers fans after 2014. The scores were close, play really wasn't. We got swept, there's really no way to put spin on this.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Well, that ride ended faster than I thought. I do think that this was a good season for the most part. Great seasons from Brown, Kopitar and Doughty. Quick, Muzzin, Amart, Lewis and Forbort all had solid seasons. Folin, Kempe and Iafallo stepped in and had good seasons. Could of used a full season of Carter, but poop happens. A lot of positives happened this season for players that there were many question marks about. A handful of players with career seasons. A season where there were more positives than negatives. Heck, we lost 2 games 1-0.
Going out in 4 blows, and it's disappointing. Thought they played hard, but you can see why Vegas led the Pacific. I think all season we needed the younger guys to step up. Kempe did for a stretch. Toffoli somehow got 24 goals, even though I remember only a few. Our bottom 9 needed to step up this playoff series. We needed a Toffoli or Pearson to step up. We needed a Kontos.

Should be an interesting Summer. Curious what tweaks will be made.

Nice post. The Carter injury was so key. Because due to it the Kings lost the early season margin they had established and hit several walls during the season as the go to players on the club were exhausted and the kids like Iafallo and Kempe had probably contributed as much as they were able to in a season. Kempe particularly had the look of a very promising young player that just had never played this many games before. Rookie seasons are tough like that. You could still see last night that it was his best game of the post season. He really had little left but dug deep to try to make a difference. I think Kempe has been exhausted for two months, just spent.

To see Kopitars spectacular possession play with 12mins left was incredible. Heart of a lion and again trying to bend a result by himself. Gains the line having to clear 3 Knights to do that, wins a puck battle with two of them on the boards, cycles back with the puck to the blueline, goes around a Knight, and then jukes a defender out of his jock strap to move wide open into the slot and only Fleury prevented that laser shot from going in. That was a possessed 25 secs of sole puck control by Kopitar. Its things like that which tell me that the leaders on this team left everything they could on the ice. He's probably playing with a broken jaw and who knows what other injuries.

I agree as well that the Kings had to have some younger guys stepping up. But they needed guys like Pearson to rediscover some support scoring. I think Lewis willed every effort out of his tired body but that the Kings lacked that couple of really solid depth players. this series was lost in the trenches. Vegas has better depth.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

You can argue the same, if not for Fleury, game 3 is a win, if not for Fleury, game 4 is a win, if not for fleury, game 2 is a win in OT,

It goes both ways....that's why it was a competitive, close, hard fought series.

Eh, not really. 2 of the games were close, and even then, Vegas still had more scoring chances and high quality shot opportunities.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

The skaters in front of Fleury were better on a more consistent basis than the skaters in front of Quick. In 4 of the 6 periods in LA, Vegas was either even or better than the Kings. That's not good enough as the home team, and it was an issue all year long.

Definitely not going to argue that, we agree on that. That however has nothing to do with how close the games actually were

 

[Drivesaitl]

Let's not sound like Rangers fans after 2014. The scores were close, play really wasn't. We got swept, there's really no way to put spin on this.

I haven't read all the posts but I thinks its different. Rangers fans were saying all kinds of "we should've won, we were better etc" I'm not getting that feeling here. Instead I'm getting some sadness that the Kings weren't good enough to score in this series and to pull out results as one would think a playoff savvy club could.

The Kings got a lot of individual efforts but concerted play was rare. Even in the 3rd Iafallo cycles back in own zone, buys time, gets two Knights chasing him, and makes the pass for the break out which the Kings nearly score on. This is the type of play I was mentioning earlier in the series. The Kings were cheating offense on that play, Iafallo beat contain, made the breakout play, and only Fleury prevented it from being a goal. That's how you trap the Knights and Kings could have used more strategy in figuring that out.

The Knights play a risk/reward game of cheating on puck pressure. if you break contain you get good chances. But you need a guy jumping the zone early. The Kings rarely did that in the series.

Kempe is the closest dragster the Kings have to break contain but he was exhausted. McD toys with the Knights because he can break them down all night. They have no answer for his speed. They have to keep D back all the time he's on the ice and cannot pressure adequately as well. McD alone breaks down the whole Knights system.

Knights might do well against SJ but when they hit Nashville their run will be over.

 

[KINGS17]

Might wanna try again,

Top 5 in points
Top 4 in Goals for
Top 8 in Goals Against
Top 6 in Differential

Tell me again how they aren't a top team please

No need to try again. Vegas feasted on the Pacific Division.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Things to look forward to now that the Kings are out...

There's considerably better hockey being played if you are a fan of the sport, plus, the Sharks could sweep the Ducks tonight. All of the other series this post season have been quite exciting as well, including the Avs-Preds who play tonight, and Flyers-Penguins games are always fun to watch.

Oh and I'm sure a few Kings players will be joining their respective nations at the World Championships. Although if those teams are looking for offense, I'm not sure they'll find them on the Kings...

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Let's not sound like Rangers fans after 2014. The scores were close, play really wasn't. We got swept, there's really no way to put spin on this.

The series wasn’t close. I don’t know why people are trying to spin it as a close series. A sweep is not a close series.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The series wasn’t close. I don’t know why people are trying to spin it as a close series. A sweep is not a close series.

And the Kings only had the lead once this entire series. If you scoreboard watch, I guess you can say it was close, but in just about every third period (and OT), this team sputtered and failed to sustain any offensive pressure.

Just look at how often they struggled to gain entry in the offensive zone, whether it was carrying the puck over the offensive blueline or when they attempted to dump and chase and got beat to loose pucks. They didn't have the foot speed to get to pucks, they lacked the strength to impose their will on their opponents, they failed to do anything to hamper Fleury's vision or make life difficult for him in his crease.

Anyone who is trying to convince others that this was a close series is fooling themselves.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

No need to try again. Vegas feasted on the Pacific Division.

Wasn't just Pacific, they feasted vs the Atlantic, 10-4-2, the Central 13-7-1,

You keep telling yourself Vegas isn't good

 

[Little Psycho]

He may be a dick on the ice but he sounds like a humble guy

 

[KingsFan7824]

Definitely not going to argue that, we agree on that. That however has nothing to do with how close the games actually were

I'm just saying that "if not for Quick" and "if not for Fleury" are fairly different statements in this series. If not for Quick, this series looks far worse. If not for Fleury, this series might still be going, but it's also possible it's still 4-0 Knights, because the 18 skaters they had each night played better more often.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I'm just saying that "if not for Quick" and "if not for Fleury" are fairly different statements in this series. If not for Quick, this series looks far worse. If not for Fleury, this series might still be going, but it's also possible it's still 4-0 Knights, because the 18 skaters they had each night played better more often.

Disagree to a point, where if not Fleury, Kings win game 2, now you can say the same, if not quick etc, I get that, but to discount what Fleury did in this series is disenguous to him, and Vegas as a team, but agree with if not for Quick this series look worse, but Fleury made some outstanding moments, at critical critical times, he lets in 1-2 of those, we are playing again Thursday etc

 

[KingsFan7824]

Disagree to a point, where if not Fleury, Kings win game 2, now you can say the same, if not quick etc, I get that, but to discount what Fleury did in this series is disenguous to him, and Vegas as a team, but agree with if not for Quick this series look worse, but Fleury made some outstanding moments, at critical critical times, he lets in 1-2 of those, we are playing again Thursday etc

And I'll agree with that, to a point. They had one or two chances to win Game 2, but they were not competitive in Game 2. Without a bunch of defensemen on the road, it's not necessarily fair to expect them to be, but they barely made it out of their own zone for 4 of the 5 periods. That's not competitive. That's hanging on and hoping you don't get scored on.

We're looking at the same thing and emphasizing whatever makes our point of view. Even the definition of competitive changes the look of Game 2. They were out there, shorthanded, on the road, against a good team, they had some sort of strategy, and they were looking for one mistake to take advantage of. They even almost got it. A certain definition of compete fits that story. Another definition doesn't. It comes down to, do you want to be optimistic, or pessimistic?

 

[KINGS17]

Wasn't just Pacific, they feasted vs the Atlantic, 10-4-2, the Central 13-7-1,

You keep telling yourself Vegas isn't good

Well, you're right because in the regular season Vegas was 8-4 against the teams I listed.

Vegas must be the cup favorites. If I'm making book, I would make San Jose a 3 to 2 favorite in the next round.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Disagree to a point, where if not Fleury, Kings win game 2, now you can say the same, if not quick etc, I get that, but to discount what Fleury did in this series is disenguous to him, and Vegas as a team, but agree with if not for Quick this series look worse, but Fleury made some outstanding moments, at critical critical times, he lets in 1-2 of those, we are playing again Thursday etc

You are f***ing delusional, mate. Win game two? That was the Kings worst game of the series by a significant margin. The Kings were terribly outchanced, outshot, and out-possessed.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

20-3 in odd man rushes. Twenty...to THREE. In 4 games.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

You are ****ing delusional, mate. Win game two? That was the Kings worst game of the series by a significant margin. The Kings were terribly outchanced, outshot, and out-possessed.

And yet, they took it to double overtime, where all they needed was a bounce,

Not sure why that's so hard to comprehend, they had chances to win that game once it hit OT, you realize that right?

 

[kovacro]

20-3 in odd man rushes. Twenty...to THREE. In 4 games.

I had mentioned this in one of the posts during the series. Vegas is a disciplined team with regards to their system, they just don't give up odd man attacks, it is very rare for them to do so.

A well coached club with the players buying in 100%.

 

[Drivesaitl]

^The vast majority of those are 3 on 2's Not sure where you got that stat because the link didn't direct to that for me.

But distinction should be made between 2 on 1's which are inherently dangerous situations vs 3 on 2's which are more amenable and subject to backcheck.

Next, a great deal of the odd man situations would be score effects counters as the Knights had Fleury in net, never needed a goal, and the Kings played much of the series from behind as Fleury was god in this series. You simply won't find a better goaltending clinic than that in any series. The Knights could over pressure because they know they have Fleury back there stopping everything.

Thing is if Kings win game 2, which went almost 5 complete periods and in which only one goal, one shot would have made all the difference, the series is tied and the whole verve of the series can switch.

Hockey, being a team sport is very subject to confidence, feelings, "we got this" etc and so is often a results based system. If Brown scores an easy tap in in an empty net its possibly a completely different series. If you look at the close games (all of them) the Kings had the edge in play 2 home games and the Knights had the edge in play 2 games. Anything other than that is that momentum can roll one way and one team feeling it and the other team isn't. Confidence has that effect.

Kings had plenty of push back in games 3 and 4. Nothing was going in. You can't make a better play than Kopitar did in the 3rd. It was the best play in the series. You can't place a shot better than Toffoli did in 3rd, Fleury got his mitt on it anyway. He was making very difficult stops look routine throughout the series.

Especially in game 3 the Kings have the lead, in the 3rd period and Quick gives up tying goal, than a weak goal, and a third. With Fleury in net the Knights win that game. 1 goal is all they ever needed. Imagine the kind of confidence you get as a team when you have out of this world goaltending. (Apologies to Quick who was great except game 3)

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

20-3 in odd man rushes. Twenty...to THREE. In 4 games.

Did the Kings even have any shots on their odd man rushes? I remember one yesterday and nothing happened.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

20-3 in odd man rushes. Twenty...to THREE. In 4 games.

I pointed that out in my criticism of the team, which was met by a response that the team did just fine offensively in creating opportunities, they just failed to convert...

It really stands out how little opportunities this team created due to their inability to connect with passes. They really did look like a disjointed, fragmented team that appeared to run out of gas every single game.

 

[BigKing]

Lots to unpack in this thread.

Regarding the theory that "Kings Hockey" is dead, nothing could be further from the truth. What we are seeing the last four years is definitely "Kings Hockey" with 2012-14 being a ridiculous outlier in a 50 year history of ineptitude. Now, if you actually believe that "Kings Hockey" is represented by 2012-14, that shit was dead a while ago, kept alive only by machines until Luc pulled the plug on it last off-season.

To those saying you are done with the Kings, how the hell were you fans prior to 2012? I can understand stepping away from the entire sport due to what it has--and continues--to become, but the 2018 Kings not doing well is the straw that breaks the camel's back? If you are really a Kings fan, you'll be back so, yes, you will definitely be back.

As for the future, Blake is out of his "no judgment" phase and the "Lombardi screwed it all up so what do you expect him to do" meme is over with. He's had a full year with this team and his coaching staff to evaluate what this team needs and what the course of action should be. If all they do is run the same team back, hand Doughty all the money and just kind of tinker with the last 4-5 spots on the roster, you will have the answer that these guys are just going to go full-legacy mode and ride the memories of 2012-14 as long as tickets keep getting sold and the Kings can make claims of being a contender.

In regards to Vegas, I hope they are crushed by San Jose. I've been to nearly every home game from the 2002 season through now and it took until 2012 to see one playoff series win and these dipshit yokels that don't know anything about hockey and couldn't be bothered to go see any of the Frozen Fury contests just waltz in and seemingly get everything? Nope. f*** them. It took years of suckage for the Avs for me to stop hating their fans; it will be the same for Vegas if they continue to get positive results.

 

[Reclamation Project]

tl;dr

Kings got swept, spin it all you want, but they scored 3 goals and won 0 games. Pretty pathetic. The only worse result would have been less goals scored, which probably isn't physically possible.

 

[SFKingshomer]

All things considered I'd say it was a successful season and management now has a better idea of what we are lacking. Blake has done a great job focusing on recouping some assets and the young kids got some valuable playoff experience. Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, and Quick had good to great seasons and still have some life left. They really need more balance throughout the lineup so players aren't exhausted after 1 period. We are in a lot better shape than before Blake took over...