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

Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
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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?

Yes, because that was one moment in a 3-4 game trend of medocrity at best. Hell if anything MacD salvaged yet another broken play by that group, they're not connecting on anything.

Over the last 3 games they're our worst possession and goals against players. AA and Lizotte are 42, 43% CF, worst on the team, Carter 47. 16% high danger shot percentage. 25% goals for percentage. And though they defended better tonight those numbers sure match what I saw. And my other criticism was they had two chances to cure that by creating odd man breaks late in the game (though they also had them come back against) that they completely missed the net on...that could have put the game out of reach early.

One goal doesn't cure that, they've been miserable as a group.

Everyone can flash a moment, I'm looking at game trends, it seems a lot of people don't like that, but it is what it is.
 

bouncesonly

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Yes, because that was one moment in a 3-4 game trend of medocrity at best. Hell if anything MacD salvaged yet another broken play by that group, they're not connecting on anything.

Over the last 3 games they're our worst possession and goals against players. AA and Lizotte are 42, 43% CF, worst on the team, Carter 47. 16% high danger shot percentage. 25% goals for percentage. And though they defended better tonight those numbers sure match what I saw. And my other criticism was they had two chances to cure that by creating odd man breaks late in the game (though they also had them come back against) that they completely missed the net on...that could have put the game out of reach early.

One goal doesn't cure that, they've been miserable as a group.

Everyone can flash a moment, I'm looking at game trends, it seems a lot of people don't like that, but it is what it is.

Except they haven't been miserable against Minnesota the first two games. That line scored in both games, and ended up in the plus for +/-. And they did the same again tonight. While they may have been "miserable" in the two games against St. Louis, they've done well against Minnesota and Colorado.

I feel the Kings were lucky to get a win seeing how Minnesota pretty much played in the Kings zone all night with the exception of the first 5-7 minutes of the first period and the goal from Grundstrom. Any other scoring opportunity was off a rush, with the most dangerous chance being AA's stick flub at the crease. Kings couldn't sustain anything in the Wild's zone. Peterson also played well with good position on the cross ice one timers.

If you want to set the trend just based on two games vs St. Louis, then I guess it is what it is.
 

Sparky206

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As much as a dumpster fire that AA's line has been in the last few games, its a pleasant surprise to see him not come as advertised as a defensive burden and the next Kovalchuk. He hustles in defense and I haven't seen him miss a read yet. Also uses his body and speed really well to separate the opposition from the puck like he did for MacD's goal tonight. Not a bad nights work considering they mostly looked horrible but he makes the defensive play that leads to the first goal.

Might just have given up playing on that horrible Detroit team and decided his only way out of there was to score a shit tonne of goals at the expense of defense because no one else on that team was playing it.
 
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Fat Elvis

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After being able to watch my first game of the new season, I came away with a few thoughts.
It was good to see them win.
Amadio is not good. Would like to see JAD for a few games instead.
I'm glad they traded a late 2nd for Andersson.
The 3rd line (LA+GV+CG) is our most consistent.
LA has gotten solid goaltending so far this season.
Carter feels healthy and seems to click with AA.

But my main observation is that Kopitar and Doughty skipped "leg day" more often than not. It looks like both are playing in their 60th straight overtime game.

It was great to see them win.
 
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BigKing

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RE: Doughty and Kopitar, these guys are playing huge minutes after a COVID off-season and joke of a training camp. It also feels like they are playing a lot of time in their own zone which is even more tiring. I might be wrong about that but it does feel like they are--like usual--getting the harder minutes and Kopitar's line seems to be in the D zone a ton. The top line has been a disappointment so far and it isn't because of #11...I'm looking squarely at Iafallo. I've always been a proponent of him not being a Top 6 player on a good team but more of a real nice 3rd line player. The counting stats look okay but he is averaging 20 minutes of ice time a night. I know he scored 17 last season but--again--19 minutes of ice on a bad team while getting to play with its best player and on the PP. I'll say it again: give Trevor Lewis that many minutes a night with Kopitar at the same age and he'd put up the same numbers. You wouldn't want to do that though because that means you have a bad team, something we've had with Iafallo playing 20 a night. I can't wait for Kopitar to play with a legit scoring winger before he loses effectiveness.

As for last night, I'm still not getting carried away with the final results but am enjoying the process. Not going to win many games 2-1 while relying on MacD and the 4th line to score. The process though is seeing better breakouts which leads to a faster team. That all starts on the backend which continues to impress. I feel that was a big part of the streak at the end of the season. Kings are 9-4 with Mikey Anderson in the lineup. Been making smart plays since Game 1. Roy just crushes it and can absolutely anchor the 2nd pairing and allow Clague to make mistakes as he gets comfortable.

When the Kings were good, they weren't burners but the puck moved up the ice quickly because they broke out cleanly. The toughest thing about watching them the last few seasons is how poor that aspect of their game was. Now, it isn't all on the D as forwards need to be in the right spot and have to be able to cleanly accept passes. That's where the better talent in the bottom lines is coming in to play so it isn't only Kopitar being able to get out of the D zone. @bland mentioned it earlier but there is a bottom up rise going on and that is the process I'm enjoying. 11 & 8 are still the best players on this team but the roster as a whole is improved and we are seeing those guys that help you win Cups start to establish their careers. Get these guys established, have some of the top-end prospects pan out, Blake figures out the major need at that point and fixes it...now we're cooking with gas, Baby.

Hat tip to MacD. Forget the goal, but that is the "good" MacDermid game that has him signed to an NHL deal and in the lineup. He is still going to have some turnovers but the puck did not look like a grenade on his stick last night. There are going to be some ugly looking plays but you'll take 15 minutes, three blocked shots and a +2 rating.

Doesn't Maata can sit around until an injury or if one of these guys' play goes in the tank.
 

Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Oct 30, 2008
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Except they haven't been miserable against Minnesota the first two games. That line scored in both games, and ended up in the plus for +/-. And they did the same again tonight. While they may have been "miserable" in the two games against St. Louis, they've done well against Minnesota and Colorado.

I feel the Kings were lucky to get a win seeing how Minnesota pretty much played in the Kings zone all night with the exception of the first 5-7 minutes of the first period and the goal from Grundstrom. Any other scoring opportunity was off a rush, with the most dangerous chance being AA's stick flub at the crease. Kings couldn't sustain anything in the Wild's zone. Peterson also played well with good position on the cross ice one timers.

If you want to set the trend just based on two games vs St. Louis, then I guess it is what it is.


To be clear yes, I was talking about the last three games, not the season series.

3 games of getting crushed isn't a trend in the season sense, but it's the kind of thing that gets lines broken up all the time.

In the 2nd line's case, the other lines woke up over the last few games while they sunk into not just not scoring (fixed that part tonight a bit) but also bleeding chances and GA.

I'm not rooting against them or anything, I'd love to see tonight as a step in a positive direction for them, but facts are facts.



I think we are over analyzing every player after each game.

If you don't want to talk about stuff after the game, feel free to...not.
 

Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Oct 30, 2008
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RE: Doughty and Kopitar, these guys are playing huge minutes after a COVID off-season and joke of a training camp. It also feels like they are playing a lot of time in their own zone which is even more tiring. I might be wrong about that but it does feel like they are--like usual--getting the harder minutes and Kopitar's line seems to be in the D zone a ton. The top line has been a disappointment so far and it isn't because of #11...I'm looking squarely at Iafallo. I've always been a proponent of him not being a Top 6 player on a good team but more of a real nice 3rd line player. The counting stats look okay but he is averaging 20 minutes of ice time a night. I know he scored 17 last season but--again--19 minutes of ice on a bad team while getting to play with its best player and on the PP. I'll say it again: give Trevor Lewis that many minutes a night with Kopitar at the same age and he'd put up the same numbers. You wouldn't want to do that though because that means you have a bad team, something we've had with Iafallo playing 20 a night. I can't wait for Kopitar to play with a legit scoring winger before he loses effectiveness.

As for last night, I'm still not getting carried away with the final results but am enjoying the process. Not going to win many games 2-1 while relying on MacD and the 4th line to score. The process though is seeing better breakouts which leads to a faster team. That all starts on the backend which continues to impress. I feel that was a big part of the streak at the end of the season. Kings are 9-4 with Mikey Anderson in the lineup. Been making smart plays since Game 1. Roy just crushes it and can absolutely anchor the 2nd pairing and allow Clague to make mistakes as he gets comfortable.

When the Kings were good, they weren't burners but the puck moved up the ice quickly because they broke out cleanly. The toughest thing about watching them the last few seasons is how poor that aspect of their game was. Now, it isn't all on the D as forwards need to be in the right spot and have to be able to cleanly accept passes. That's where the better talent in the bottom lines is coming in to play so it isn't only Kopitar being able to get out of the D zone. @bland mentioned it earlier but there is a bottom up rise going on and that is the process I'm enjoying. 11 & 8 are still the best players on this team but the roster as a whole is improved and we are seeing those guys that help you win Cups start to establish their careers. Get these guys established, have some of the top-end prospects pan out, Blake figures out the major need at that point and fixes it...now we're cooking with gas, Baby.

Hat tip to MacD. Forget the goal, but that is the "good" MacDermid game that has him signed to an NHL deal and in the lineup. He is still going to have some turnovers but the puck did not look like a grenade on his stick last night. There are going to be some ugly looking plays but you'll take 15 minutes, three blocked shots and a +2 rating.

Doesn't Maata can sit around until an injury or if one of these guys' play goes in the tank.

Re: MacD, he also made some killer defensive plays, especially on the PK.
 

YP44

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I'm sure it was debated in this thread at the time of occurrence, but why the hell would LA challenge that goal. Was not flagrant enough, and I don't think the puck was frozen with the pad. Could have been disaster if the Wild scored on the resulting PP
 

tny760

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Mar 12, 2017
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I'm sure it was debated in this thread at the time of occurrence, but why the hell would LA challenge that goal. Was not flagrant enough, and I don't think the puck was frozen with the pad. Could have been disaster if the Wild scored on the resulting PP
yeah i don't think there was really anyone onboard with the challenge itt. to be completely honest i thought it was toronto checking it out, i didn't even notice it was a tmac challenge until they said so

i can KIND OF see the reasoning, to "back up" your goalie but that PP is a big big risk. that didn't feel like enough of a coinflip to justify it imo
 

lumbergh

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I'm sure it was debated in this thread at the time of occurrence, but why the hell would LA challenge that goal. Was not flagrant enough, and I don't think the puck was frozen with the pad. Could have been disaster if the Wild scored on the resulting PP
I imagine the beef was with the stick pushing Petersen's pad back. Low probability of winning that one, but the Kings won anyway.
 

YP44

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Jan 30, 2012
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I imagine the beef was with the stick pushing Petersen's pad back. Low probability of winning that one, but the Kings won anyway.

I know what the beef was but as you said low priority. Just made no sense to challenge and risk the PP there. Has the Wild scored on that and won the game we all would be dumping (rightfully so) all over Todd.
 

TwzKing

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the reverse retro game (think on the 27th) will be very very sexy looking. Maybe the Top two reverse retros

Ive never considered buying another teams jersey before but those wild, and avs ones are sexy.
 

Statto

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yeah i don't think there was really anyone onboard with the challenge itt. to be completely honest i thought it was toronto checking it out, i didn't even notice it was a tmac challenge until they said so

i can KIND OF see the reasoning, to "back up" your goalie but that PP is a big big risk. that didn't feel like enough of a coinflip to justify it imo
TM will have been responding to advice from someone. There will be video analysts looking at incidents or someone on the ice will have felt it was a good one to challenge. It’s highly unlikely he’d have based the challenge on his own view from the bench.
 
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Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
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TM will have been responding to advice from someone. There will be video analysts looking at incidents or someone on the ice will have felt it was a good one to challenge. It’s highly unlikely he’d have based the challenge on his own view from the bench.

It's true, that's probably someone else's call.

And I was I think the only one in the GDT who called for review immediately, I could see why they'd ask for it at first glance, but once I saw the replay...yeahhhh we're gonna lose that one haha. I had thought the puck was frozen under his pad and got pushed into the net, especially when the second stick came in to can opener him (was the Wild strategy all night), didn't see it under his skate.
 

Token

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TM will have been responding to advice from someone. There will be video analysts looking at incidents or someone on the ice will have felt it was a good one to challenge. It’s highly unlikely he’d have based the challenge on his own view from the bench.
TM did however look at his goalie blowing a fuse ...

Id wager that also adds to the reasoning.
 

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