GDT: 2020-21 season Game 7 LA Kings vs Minnesota Wild @5:00pm 1/26/21

[MBH]

never mindlol

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Kopitar: 19:59
Doughty: 23:32

Now tell me why the f*** Amadio got more time on ice than Vilardi and also why did he get 2:52 on the power play?

Rewarding him for good defensive play I'm thinking...Vilardi will get his ice time and his points

 

[The Pale King]

A Kings win and a Shorks self-destruction makes for a damn fine Tuesday evening.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Like to see Grundstrom or Lias with Kopi and Kempe!

NOt sure Lias is a good enough skater (speed) to play against top comp, wouldn't mind Grundstrom getting a try at all!

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

A Kings win and a Shorks self-destruction makes for a damn fine Tuesday evening.

7-2 at the end of the 2nd? Yuck.

Whatever went wrong it's probably Karlsson's partners fault.

 

[kilowatt]

7-2 at the end of the 2nd? Yuck.

Whatever went wrong it's probably Karlsson's partners fault.

Vlasic and Burns -3
Karlsson -1

Their team is so brutal.

 

[ru4reals]

So 3-2-2 in the Pre-season not bad. Now that the boys have gotten a few games in it's on!!!

 

[bland]

Kopitar: 19:59
Doughty: 23:32

Now tell me why the f*** Amadio got more time on ice than Vilardi and also why did he get 2:52 on the power play?

Because Amadio's line has badly outplayed Vilardi's.

 

[King'sPawn]

Roy easily the best defenseman tonight.

I thought Petersen played average. Obviously well enough. He's struggling with redirecting rebounds.

Would love to see Grundstrom moved up. Amadio's made it near impossible to defend him.

 

[yankeeking]

did anyone else watch the wild stream, not quite the caliber of the last two nights of st. louis

 

[FrozenKing18]

I caught a snippet of the game just when Grundy fired off that wrister. What a shot!

 

[KingTech]

Mac played a bit better tonight I am happy to be proven wrong on him for now

 

[KingTech]

did anyone else watch the wild stream, not quite the caliber of the last two nights of st. louis

I find it a nice change then faust and fox

 

[bland]

Roy easily the best defenseman tonight.

I thought Petersen played average. Obviously well enough. He's struggling with redirecting rebounds.

Would love to see Grundstrom moved up. Amadio's made it near impossible to defend him.

To be completely honest, I totally skip the puck and just watch Matt Roy on every one of his shifts. He does so many things right, especially away from the puck. I geek out for that dude.

The competitive nature of the team is improving by leaps and bounds, and the best is yet to come as that same intensity comes up to the top of the lineup.

Moore may not be everybody's cup of tea, but he is a real player.

I think it might be wise to start shifting Vilardi to the wing now. Yeah, his draws suck, but that will likely improve. My concern is that he has a very small area of ice around him that he has been influencing. Wouldn't surprise me to see him back with the Reign in a little bit if he keeps struggling in the 180 feet above the o zone circles.

Amadio, I can see what he is trying to do, and its very smart play, but his reactions just aren't up to NHL speed.

Hey, lets re-sign Athanasiou right now. Three years, $11 million.

 

[crassbonanza]

did anyone else watch the wild stream, not quite the caliber of the last two nights of st. louis

I did, definitely not as good as the Blues broadcast, but I still thought it was miles better than ours. I was watching their post-game and I thought it was funny how they were complimenting our team speed. We sWalz said we were the fastest team the Wild have played this season.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Good

• This is Kurtis Macdermid's world and the Wild are just living in it.
  
• Really though this is progress for Macd, I think in the past he'd have a bad game and would just lose confidence and deflate (still happens within game, as we saw last time). What a bounceback performance.
• Cal Petersen is an animal and I'm glad to see him back and more comfortable, there was never a point tonight where he looked like he was strugging to see the puck, the dudes play reads are insane. And the only goal against was a jam through him--I know he'll be strong on that.
  
• Losing control of the game and battling back was an encouraging change. We've watched this team go 'oh no' and flatline after an opposing team gains momentum so cracking that a bit tonight is great.
• Despite the puck doing some circus acts, the D looked tighter in general. Not great, but these guys are playing a modified man-to-man after years of zone...they're just figuring it out. And they'll have to figure it out some more again once it gets picked apart in scouting. But guys did a fantastic job of rolling off picks.
  
• Loved watching Clague get hammered time after time vs. Foligno and keep going after him. Spunk.
• Good battle all around tonight, everyone was working and that was nice to see.
• I've ridden Kopitar pretty hard so even though the line as a whole got caved in he made some stellar plays especially on faceoffs and defensively, they were collapsed a lot but not really giving up quality.
• MUCH better minute spread tonight, I could whine about certain players but just happy they pulled Drew down to 23 (and everyone else on D got roughly 18-22 minus MacDermid at 15:30) and Kopi to under 20 (lol 19:59).
• Grundstrom is earning a longer look isn't he?
  
• Can't even give individual props here because all the D were fantastic. Anderson bounced back with a great, great game. Roy is a 1D, I've seen enough. Clague is just soaking it up at an amazing rate, watching him disarm some bigger, stronger skaters tonight was important to see as he was physically overmatched all night. Walker was taking a beating but played nearly 20 min and the 2nd most time under Doughty/Anderson, including the 2nd most PP time among Kings dmen and THE most SH time on the team. Doughty was mostly Drew, outside of a few shifts in the third where he entered battery conserve mode. And I guess the last guy was pretty good too!
• Insert nightly Lias Anderson love letter here.

The Bad

• Wild were jamming away at Petersen all game. Not sure that was a new strategy/just getting pucks to the net or what, but really need to plant some dudes on their asses. Really too much of an escort service by our whole dcorps tonight. No anger in anyone's game.
  
• Even milk cartons have given up on Iafallo.
• As much as I appreciate the hard work of Lizotte, Carter, AA they have GOT to find a way to stop getting crushed game in and game out and if they're going to play pop-gun hockey they have to bury those chances at the end. But to be fair much like the first line they did a little of bend-dont-break and a whole lot better defending in the dzone.
• I'm not sure I'd say 'bad' and his minutes got slaughtered in favor of Amadio apparently but Gabe Vilardi wasn't much of a factor tonight. Had a couple of great shifts working dudes on the boards, but really need him to up his consistency. It will come with time. Brown wasn't doing him many favors.

The Ugly

• Whole everything was upside down last night--no goals against in the first period for the first time this season, we scored the first goal, didn't give up a two goal lead, and the lineup was upside down as well--1st line through 4th were upside down in CF% as well as GF%
• 1st line really has to figure it out vs. the Wild. First couple of games they got mostly dummied vs. Kaprizov and co, tonight they all got schooled by Eriksson-Ek/Greenway/Foligno.
  
• Your nightly post about Amadio's death passes at stupid times. As good as he is defensively, he's brain dead on timing.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

To be completely honest, I totally skip the puck and just watch Matt Roy on every one of his shifts. He does so many things right, especially away from the puck. I geek out for that dude.

The competitive nature of the team is improving by leaps and bounds, and the best is yet to come as that same intensity comes up to the top of the lineup.

Moore may not be everybody's cup of tea, but he is a real player.

I think it might be wise to start shifting Vilardi to the wing now. Yeah, his draws suck, but that will likely improve. My concern is that he has a very small area of ice around him that he has been influencing. Wouldn't surprise me to see him back with the Reign in a little bit if he keeps struggling in the 180 feet above the o zone circles.

Amadio, I can see what he is trying to do, and its very smart play, but his reactions just aren't up to NHL speed.

Hey, lets re-sign Athanasiou right now. Three years, $11 million.

I love watching Roy's reads. He's a great skater and hardly ever has to use it, he's just waiting in the weeds every time.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Pretty happy with the more even ice time distribution tonight.

All 3 games againt Minnesota we controlled the play until the Wild revved up their engine and climbed back into the game. Tonight we finally pushed back enough in the 3rd to hold on for a big regulation win.

Now 4-4 (I cant count) in points against one of our biggest rivals for that 4th playoff spot.

 

[KingTech]

Pretty happy with the more even ice time distribution tonight.

All 3 games againt Minnesota we controlled the play until the Wild revved up their engine and climbed back into the game. Tonight we finally pushed back enough in the 3rd to hold on for a big regulation win.

Now 6-6 in points against one of our biggest rivals for that 4th playoff spot.

3 win 2 loss and two ot points against the top 3/4 teams in our division Let that sink in people. 4th spot is not out of reach. This is a playoff team. Are we contenders yet no but i feel we can be in the hunt this year for playoffs for sure

 

[Steve Zissou]

 

[ru4reals]

Playoffs would be nice. I think we could be fighting for a spot but even with a shortened season anything can happen and wouldn't be surprised if we don't make it. Young kids getting a full season and experience is all I can ask for.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Love that Grundstrom has broken through...think there will be no more scratches or 6 minute icetime nights for him.
He's very strong on his feet, is a small tank, really moves his feet well and has 4th gear speed. He goes from first gear to
third gear in 2 seconds, skipping second gear. Not sure if I have seen him fall down or get knocked down lately.

He's smart too and gets into holes, in good position in all zones...and great release on his shot, that can beat any goalie.
Yes, wonder what he can do apart from Amadio and Moore. Grundstrom could do well on any line and with any linemate.

So, Muzzin for: Bjornfot and Grundstrom. Love it. If Durzi ever makes it, all the better. If not, its a great trade. Bjornfot
and Grundstrom are not even getting warmed up yet, but they are both going to make impacts.

 

[Fishhead]

Amadio wasn't good tonight again. That said, he does a lot that makes that line go. If he scores on one of his looks, we are probably singing a different tune. Some of his passes though, yeesh.

Great game by MacD, his best showing in quite a while. He looked quicker tonight for whatever reason.

Glad to see Grundstrom prove me wrong with some strong performances. He might be one of those players who are so-so in the AHL but do better in the NHL.

 

[bouncesonly]

As much as I appreciate the hard work of Lizotte, Carter, AA they have GOT to find a way to stop getting crushed game in and game out and if they're going to play pop-gun hockey they have to bury those chances at the end. But to be fair much like the first line they did a little of bend-dont-break and a whole lot better defending in the dzone.

Dang, they're in the bad column after AA's defensive board battle to break out Carter and McD for 56's 5th career goal?

 

[driller1]

Dang, they're in the bad column after AA's defensive board battle to break out Carter and McD for 56's 5th career goal?

I feel like that's the line other teams lick their chops at, especially on the road. TMac can dictate matchups at home, but other coaches are putting out firepower against that line and they've lost the possession battle the last few games, McD goal notwithstanding.