GDT: 2/16/15 - 10:30PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Los Angeles

[IdealisticSniper]

We will lose a lot more games than we win when a team is allowed to play 1998 style clutch and grab hockey all game without getting penalized for it. It was absolutely insane how much LA was hooking holding interfering and just downright latching on to players with or without the puck all night long without a penalty.
We didn't lose because of the officiating, our PP sucks. I'm just saying it was amazing to see that style for an entire game and not a single call.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

Hanging with top teams and beating them are far from the same thing. Physical teams like LA don't pull away until later in the game when they've worn you down. Which is exactly what Cooper mentioned in the postgame. You have to take advantage of PPs and not have lapses on D that put you in the hole against teams that are built to outplay/outphysical you late.

I'm not more worried because of this game. I'm just still worried. We could easily fall to 6th-7th before the regular season is all said and done. And at that point we better hope we can hang with the big boys because we might be facing the top teams in the East come playoff time. I'm not really scared of any particular teams, but without a semblance of a PP, defensive consistency/health a major concern, and Stamkos not playing great... it's hard to think this team is a legit contender for a Stanley Cup run. Yes, things could change. But until we acquire a D-man and get the PP jump started, color me concerned.

Might be facing the top teams in the east come playoff time... We are a top team in the east.

 

[Werewolf]

Drouin saw one shift on Stammer/Callahan line and Kings score. Stammer turns the puck over on the offensive rush...and all of a sudden it is Drouin's fault and gets sat down because of it. #Cooperlogic

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Kings play clutch and grab hockey and get away with everything. I noticed 4 blatant calls in the last two minutes all go uncalled. Two within seconds of each other in the corner, one in front of the Kings net with around 15 seconds left and Killorn getting hooked on the wall with seconds left. Also watched 1.5 seconds tick off after Johnson's goal and they didn't even check the clock. Bush league.

Came here to say this and I usually don't complain about it but officiating was a disgrace in the last 10 minutes. I thought interfering with a player without the puck was worth 2 minutes... No wonder it's so tough to score in this league nowadays, I blame the refs though, LA is right to exploit this permissive officiating.

 

[LightningStrikes]

I'll echo on what others have said about Witkowski. Not a good game for the kid after playing 18 minutes last night. On the Nolan and Carter goal, he really backed off the attacker. No gap control. What I think happened is he gave himself an extra step because he's afraid he'll get beat with speed.

Ice time distribution among our defensemen pretty much tells the tale:

Hedman 24:32
Garrison 21:48
Sustr 21:18
Stralman 20:54
Nesterov 17:13
Witkowski 10:25

Sure he missed parts of the game after the hit but that's not all of it. That's at least three guys playing (a lot) more than they're supposed to in a perfect world. Now imagine the TOI splits with Carle back (16-20 minutes) and maybe another top-4 addition. Our D will make less mistakes and be more fresh. Good times ahead!

 

[Leonardo87]

Drouin saw one shift on Stammer/Callahan line and Kings score. Stammer turns the puck over on the offensive rush...and all of a sudden it is Drouin's fault and gets sat down because of it. #Cooperlogic

I missed the 3rd period . Says palat was on the ice when that goal was scored ? Well if what you say is true there goes a chance of a Drouin - Stamkos - Callahan line. But the again it seems players get swapped on that top line but nothing changes because Stamkos has these string of bad games. They were excellent again San Jose, excellent against Anaheim, but against both Kings games they were not good at all that line . I think people just underrate the kings D which is how they won the cup. Their offense has been decent but nothing to write home about.

 

[nhljohnson]

Drouin saw one shift on Stammer/Callahan line and Kings score. Stammer turns the puck over on the offensive rush...and all of a sudden it is Drouin's fault and gets sat down because of it. #Cooperlogic

I really don't think it's anything more than his being a first-year pro.

Think to how Kucherov was handled as last season wore on and in the playoff (and the after-the-fact explanations about how his play tailed off, or how the defensive side of game was lacking or whatever...even though he was still racking up chances largely skating with J.T. Brown and Nate Thompson. What strikes you as more likely: Kucherov making tremendous strides physically and in terms of "Hockey IQ" over a few summer months or that he's pretty much the same player doing pretty much the same things, with better linemates and usage? If you're like me and see the latter as the better explanation, how do you then explain the reduced minutes and the late-season/playoff scratches? Either the coaches were punishing him for reduced production or he was getting some proverbial 'rookie treatment').

Put simply, I wouldn't really wouldn't read much into how much Drouin does or does not play, and with or without whom, right now; this is, as I understand it, pretty standard fare for clubs that either think they have the depth to bring kids along slowly or for who it's just an outright mandate.

 

[The Macho King]

I missed the 3rd period . Says palat was on the ice when that goal was scored ? Well if what you say is true there goes a chance of a Drouin - Stamkos - Callahan line. But the again it seems players get swapped on that top line but nothing changes because Stamkos has these string of bad games. They were excellent again San Jose, excellent against Anaheim, but against both Kings games they were not good at all that line . I think people just underrate the kings D which is how they won the cup. Their offense has been decent but nothing to write home about.

Kings D did a great job of clogging up lanes and stuff, but holy **** they do a lot of holding/hooking/interference. It's never the guy with the puck, which is why I think they get away with it so much. I don't know how many times on the breakout I saw the guy pass it to a forward on the wall, skate up to join the rush but practically dragging a guy in a black sweater behind him.

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss, but they let so much **** go it looked like 2003 out there, and I don't think it's a surprise that because of that we ended up with like 25 shots. That wasn't fun hockey to watch, which fed right in to the Kings play style.

 

[Leonardo87]

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Kings D did a great job of clogging up lanes and stuff, but holy **** they do a lot of holding/hooking/interference. It's never the guy with the puck, which is why I think they get away with it so much. I don't know how many times on the breakout I saw the guy pass it to a forward on the wall, skate up to join the rush but practically dragging a guy in a black sweater behind him.

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss, but they let so much **** go it looked like 2003 out there, and I don't think it's a surprise that because of that we ended up with like 25 shots. That wasn't fun hockey to watch, which fed right in to the Kings play style.

There are games that TKO gets shut down also, this is why we need these 3 scoring lines. It's going to happen, but if we had a stronger and deeper D core, and Stamkos not making these bad turovers we win this game maybe 2-1? This is also why we need to fix this PP now.

Like I said Kings are not a high scoring team they just grind their opponents down, slow down the game, and really close the gaps. You play down to their game, and you will lose.

I'm not too worried right now, this was certainly a step up from the last LA game.

 

[LightningStrikes]

[nhl]755418[/nhl]