GDT: 2023-24 season game 20 LA kings vs Washington Capitals @7:30pm 11/29/23

[SherVaughn30]

I think the team is really missing Lizzo and Arvidsson. I hope Arvy is a winger who can click with PLD whenever he returns this year.

I don't think there is any time table on Arvy's return. In fact, isn't his injury long term have something to do with his back?

 

[VILARGOD]

Unbelievable.

wtf is going on with the Kings schedule? Are they playing everyday in April?

January and February will be tough

I think the team is really missing Lizzo and Arvidsson. I hope Arvy is a winger who can click with PLD whenever he returns this year.

Arvidsson severely missed on PP1 as a right shot. I agree though, I hope him and PL can really click

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

I think odds are more likely Arvidsson never plays for the Kings again

 

[VILARGOD]

I think odds are more likely Arvidsson never plays for the Kings again

Really? Don't remember who said it but heard he was hanging around the team these days, up and walking about excited to get back in there. Of course that has nothing to do with him being traded, but it's nice to know he's closer than farther out

You think he'll be flipped before his return?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Just thought I might point out to you all that Charlie Lindgren now has the NHL's best SV% for an individual goalie now, @ .934 SV%. That is based on him qualifying for the league minimum requirement for games played. Kings just got beat by a hot goalie right now. When the Kings play the Avs, I don't think Gorgiev will play as good as Lindgren did. Kings will have to face an Avs team that is starting to serge up there with the top end teams like the Kings.

Yes BUT

Kings have to figure out these games. They're not going to win with overwhelming offense and odds are in the playoffs they're going to run into a .930 goaltender at some point. This is the stuff that keeps us up at night.

Smoking the Ducks is fun but beating hot teams is important. There are plenty of reasons/excuses for tonight depending on your level of optimism/pessimism but this is exactly the worry I have. And odds if it playing out again in the Avs game are high. If we lose these two in a row after running thru some random opponents it's gonna be a huge red flag no matter how cool the standings look. By the way, the Caps just lost to the Sharks.

No one should give a shit about the regular season at this point. It's fun and a division win would be nice. But I'm still not seeing a team that will get beyond the first round as they shit their pants when hitting adversity. Did anyone go to the net hard last night? Why did so many rebounds hang out near the net? Kings still aren't willing to get their makeup runny. This is the 2010s Sharks all over again until I see some moxie. beating the Ducks, Habs, Coyotes, and Blues then losing to the Caps and Avs? 4-7 at home? I want to be proven wrong but this movie is happening again. Right now this is a team that looks built for volume regular season wins and that's going to make the ownership happy. But I'm not seeing anything but a first round exit until we are regularly beating contenders and hot teams.

I'm not sure how to explain it, can't quite put my finger on it. The skill is certainly there. I think the hustle/hounding pucks is there too. But the will doesn't seem quite there. When they run into a little bit of trouble, they don't seem interested in pushing thru it. Can't bear down on the PP, too cute. Too many rebounds left around. Tom Wilson shooting the puck after whistle, and is welcomed with cuddles. Something is off despite the stats and standings, and it's rubbing me entirely the wrong way and giving me paper tiger vibes.

 

[bland]

The Kings may have dominated possession and shown some terrific recovery skills over the past few games, but they have really been fighting the puck. Lots of hope passes into the skates, just out of reach, quality opportunities turned into near misses, and some lazy reads mixed in as well.

They bullied Montreal into a shutout without being sharp, then were outworked in the trenches last night. Complain about the schedule all you want, but having a few days to practice right now is better than potentially picking up another L right away while trying to get back on track.

 

[chris kontos]

we dont have to look any further than last years president trophy winning, nhl record setting season by the boston bruins last season to see how much regul;ar season results count for in the playoffs.
when talbot returns to his career wins mean it'll show how hockey all comes down to goaltending. if blake doesnt upgrade at goaltender were cooked.
my question for blake remains: "Do you want to win a stanley cup or a participation award?" the playoffs this season will sure be interesting,

 

[Fishhead]

Yes BUT

Kings have to figure out these games. They're not going to win with overwhelming offense and odds are in the playoffs they're going to run into a .930 goaltender at some point. This is the stuff that keeps us up at night.

Smoking the Ducks is fun but beating hot teams is important. There are plenty of reasons/excuses for tonight depending on your level of optimism/pessimism but this is exactly the worry I have. And odds if it playing out again in the Avs game are high. If we lose these two in a row after running thru some random opponents it's gonna be a huge red flag no matter how cool the standings look.

No one should give a shit about the regular season at this point. It's fun and a division win would be nice. But I'm still not seeing a team that will get beyond the first round as they shit their pants when hitting adversity. Did anyone go to the net hard last night? Why did so many rebounds hang out near the net? Kings still aren't willing to get their makeup runny. This is the 2010s Sharks all over again until I see some moxie. beating the Ducks, Habs, Coyotes, and Blues then losing to the Caps and Avs? 4-7 at home? I want to be proven wrong but this movie is happening again. Right now this is a team that looks built for volume regular season wins and that's going to make the ownership happy. But I'm not seeing anything but a first round exit until we are regularly beating contenders and hot teams.

This is valid, and it's going to happen here and there. As long as it's not a habit, it's not a big deal.

More importantly, think about if we played the Capitals 7 times. If the game was similar to last night, would we win 4 out of 7? That's the key question. Half the time Lindgren's head was moving after he got hit with the puck, he literally didn't know where it was. There was also the offside goal. Great positioning, but there is some measure of luck involved and oing that in consecutive games would be quite the task. I certainly wouldn't be confident if the Kings won a game like that, mostly everyone would be bemoaning the fact that luck would never get us through a series against a good team.

And I would argue that the Kings have figured out how to win these types of games since the beginning of the year. The same thing happened in Ottawa, really lopsided chances. Korpi put up a .933 in that one. Same thing with Florida to a lesser extent, Bob put up a .955 in that one. They found a way to win both of those. But it is optimism/pessimism level for sure, I don't see how this team doesn't win a series or two. How many stinkers have they had this year, maybe 2 or 3? Sure they lost to Washington and the Avs, but they've beaten (and outplayed) the Knights. They beat Florida, they dismantled the Leafs and Winnipeg.

Serious question: Are there any teams that regularly beat contenders and hot teams? I mean, the Kings are near the top in winning percentage of the league with the toughest schedule played. Who is doing better? I know Kings fans always hedge their bets and don't like to get their hopes up, but looking at all the information things don't look bad in the slightest.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Jesus Christ, some of you guys watched a completely different game last night, you can tell.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Let's not overreact to last night's game yeah??

Kings dominated and win that game 99 times out of 100 with that effort. Everyone gets goalied sometimes - even the best teams. Kings are still a top team in the league. In fact, I see it as a positive that they looked THAT good in a loss last night.

But the will doesn't seem quite there. When they run into a little bit of trouble, they don't seem interested in pushing thru it.

Respectfully RJ, I'm not sure we were watching the same game last night? I haven't seen the Kings press like that in a LONG time. They completely dominated the 3rd period. The Caps didn't have a shot on goal in the last 14 minutes of the game (!!!!!!!) that's legitimately insane. The Kings were incredibly determined to push through being down a goal last night - It just didn't end up happening. Also, what about the Arizona game earlier in the season? When they were down 4-1 and came back to win 5-4 - Is that not an example of a team running into a bit of trouble and pushing through it to still come out with a win?

I do agree they need to be able to beat good goaltending / good teams - And I agree there might be some concern there. But they have also won some of those games. Couple weeks ago they came up against a VERY hot Florida team and won 2-1 in a low scoring game. There was also the DOMINANT win in Vegas on 11/8.

To your point, Sunday becomes even more important with last night's loss. If they come out with a chip on their shoulder and take it to the Avs, winning in convincing fashion - that's a BIG positive sign for this team. If they struggle and lose, the concern with how this team fares against top teams / good goaltending starts to build a bit.

All in all, I'm not looking into last night too much. This is still an incredible team we have.

 

[Schmooley]

The Kings may have dominated possession and shown some terrific recovery skills over the past few games, but they have really been fighting the puck. Lots of hope passes into the skates, just out of reach, quality opportunities turned into near misses, and some lazy reads mixed in as well.

They bullied Montreal into a shutout without being sharp, then were outworked in the trenches last night. Complain about the schedule all you want, but having a few days to practice right now is better than potentially picking up another L right away while trying to get back on track.

I get what you are saying but have to disagree about last night. They outworked the Caps. Couldnt score and it happens. Like you said they were sloppy.
Now if you wanna look back at that Philly loss they got outworked that night 100%.

 

[FrozenKing18]

Lindgren turned on God Mode. Not going to beat every goalie who's on their game like he was last night. Take the loss and move on to the next. Which is in 4 days. Seriously, fk this schedule!

 

[Little Psycho]

My uncle calls Lizotte lizard and now it’s stuck in my head. He’s lizard from now on.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Legit game, Kings played well and dominated

missed a few opportunities, it happens

Ovi playing less than 14mins is the secret sauce here

The Kings were outcoached, not really blaming McLellan but rather praising Spencer Carbery, he understands his team and his opponent - the way to beat the Kings is with an oldschool Jacques Lemaire trap system and it worked

you beat a team like the Kings with the Wilsons, Dowds, Fehervarys of this world

not with Ovi, Milano, Mantha (even if Mantha scored 2 pts)

Really good game, two different strategies applied and the Caps won it

(and yes PLD was horrible yet again)

moving on

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

The Kings were outcoached, not really blaming McLellan but rather praising Spencer Carbery, he understands his team and his opponent - the way to beat the Kings is with an oldschool Jacques Lemaire trap system and it worked

1 goal on 40 shots doesn't scream 'trap' to me -- it makes me think the Kings got goalied.

 

[Fripp]

What an insanely frustrating game.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

1 goal on 40 shots doesn't scream 'trap' to me -- it makes me think the Kings got goalied.

how many of those shots were caliber? how many were from far, the blueline, how many blocks? every time the kings entered zone, the caps had 4 players collapsing in the middle

you do need a good goalie to play such a system and Lindgren is absolutely an underrated goalie

but i don't feel like debating this

anyway all good

 

[BigBrown]

"It’s not always whether you win or lose. It’s whether you’re winning or losing."
-Sensei Darryl Sutter

 

[King'sPawn]

The Kings may have dominated possession and shown some terrific recovery skills over the past few games, but they have really been fighting the puck. Lots of hope passes into the skates, just out of reach, quality opportunities turned into near misses, and some lazy reads mixed in as well.

They bullied Montreal into a shutout without being sharp, then were outworked in the trenches last night. Complain about the schedule all you want, but having a few days to practice right now is better than potentially picking up another L right away while trying to get back on track.

Washington played terribly and were not outworked in the slightest. A couple breakdowns from uncharacteristically sloppy players led to both goals. Beyond that, there might have been a handful of shifts of sustained pressure from the Capitals was all they had. McMichael's line was the only line one would argue to be dangerous at all.

Lindgren was a wall.

 

[Fishhead]

how many of those shots were caliber? how many were from far, the blueline, how many blocks? every time the kings entered zone, the caps had 4 players collapsing in the middle

you do need a good goalie to play such a system and Lindgren is absolutely an underrated goalie

but i don't feel like debating this

anyway all good

Here is the heat map:

Lots of prime opportunities, most shots were in the goalie's faces on both sides. The Caps did a great job trying to protect home plate, but the Kings were still getting chance after chance from that area. It was a combination of getting goalied and a well-played strategy, but there isn't much doubt the Caps were hanging on for dear life and were fortunate.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

how many of those shots were caliber? how many were from far, the blueline, how many blocks? every time the kings entered zone, the caps had 4 players collapsing in the middle

you do need a good goalie to play such a system and Lindgren is absolutely an underrated goalie

but i don't feel like debating this

anyway all good

A shit ton of them were high caliber, go look at the game cast from ESPN I count out of the 40, 24 from the dots in, in the house, 12 were in the circles, and 17 or so from the points....

Yea, you got one thing right, there is nothing to debate, the Kings outplayed WSH by a LARGE margin and ran into a very hot goalie

 

[kingsholygrail]

Just thought I might point out to you all that Charlie Lindgren now has the NHL's best SV% for an individual goalie now, @ .934 SV%. That is based on him qualifying for the league minimum requirement for games played. Kings just got beat by a hot goalie right now. When the Kings play the Avs, I don't think Gorgiev will play as good as Lindgren did. Kings will have to face an Avs team that is starting to serge up there with the top end teams like the Kings.

Now you've done it.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Here is the heat map:

View attachment 775558

Lots of prime opportunities, most shots were in the goalie's faces on both sides. The Caps did a great job trying to protect home plate, but the Kings were still getting chance after chance from that area. It was a combination of getting goalied and a well-played strategy, but there isn't much doubt the Caps were hanging on for dear life and were fortunate.

Beat me to it lol

 

[funky]

I will look at this in a different way.

Even if it was frustrating, the game was extremely fun to watch. We had chances and I bet you everyone that was watching hit the roof when Kopi scored we dominated not an easy thing to do after such a long layoff.

The one thing that I kept noticing was our fourth line definitely needs Lizotte back. I know one goal game it’s not the fourth line that we depend on the score but we sure are missing their edge game that they had earlier in the month. Small as he is, Lizotte is a buzz saw that provides even more energy to his line and the team.

The other little tweak, I’d make is changing Doughty and Spence on the PP. Spence just shows a little more unpredictability. He’s also willing to shoot a little more often.

It was one game that we lost by one goal after a long layoff in which we outworked the opponent for most of the game and the game wasn’t lost by our goalies.

Can’t wait for next game as it should be a great game against a great opponent

 

[bland]

Washington played terribly and were not outworked in the slightest. A couple breakdowns from uncharacteristically sloppy players led to both goals. Beyond that, there might have been a handful of shifts of sustained pressure from the Capitals was all they had. McMichael's line was the only line one would argue to be dangerous at all.

Lindgren was a wall.

No, KP, the Caps played their asses off and let the Kings do whatever they wanted to on the outside for low percentage plays but kept the middle of the ice jammed. Very, very few shots required Lindgren to do anything other than just hold his position as the puck was hoped into him.

Kings were shooting wide and into shin pads all night. They were lucky that Washington's offense was so anemic because apart from the first and last 5 minutes of the game the Kings were badly outworked.