GDT: 2023-24 season Game 5 LA Kings vs Boston Bruins @7:30pm 10/21/23

[Raccoon Jesus]

Both things can be true.

I protect byfield like he's my own child, but we need more from him

But he was also the best player on that line yesterday and has been almost every night. Kempe doesn't realize the season has started and Anze is suddenly looking his age.

I said on night one that looks like our third line and they're getting rolled nightly by elite players now.

 

[KingsHockey24]

I fell asleep in the 3rd because I was so damn bored by Swaymans lights out goaltending.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Anyone recall the last time the Kings defeated the Bruins in regulation? The big guns did not show up tonight.

I remember a 9-2 win @ Boston 8 years ago.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I fell asleep in the 3rd because I was so damn bored by Swaymans lights out goaltending.

That game should be exhibit A for the 'you just need replacement level goaltending' folks.

That's the kind of defense and goaltending that wins playoff rounds.

Yes, I know it didn't help them last yea.r

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Byfield was better than Kempe/Kopitar yesterday…

He did almost get a point again. Pretty sure he’s leading the team in almost points.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

He did almost get a point again. Pretty sure he’s leading the team in almost points.

Like I said above need and want more from him

but anyone looking at that game and going 'f***in Byfield' while Kopitar and Kempe are struggling, Fiala has 0 shot attempts in 22 minutes of icetime, and Talbot sunk right back down to where he's been over the last couple of years is just looking for him

Byfield cranking a couple of posts is better than anything his linemates did last night at the very least.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Like I said above need and want more from him

but anyone looking at that game and going 'f***in Byfield' while Kopitar and Kempe are struggling, Fiala has 0 shot attempts in 22 minutes of icetime, and Talbot sunk right back down to where he's been over the last couple of years is just looking for him

Byfield cranking a couple of posts is better than anything his linemates did last night at the very least.

Do we really need to shower Byfield with praise because he outplayed Kempe and Kopitar for one game in which none of them got points and the team lost?

Kempe is coming off a 40 goal season and will get going eventually. He has earned that benefit of the doubt.

And 36 year old Kopitar already has 2-3-5 in 5gp.

For how much he has struggled, Fiala has 7 assists in 5gp.

Byfield has scored 9 goals in 104 professional hockey games, and is off to another blistering start this season with 0 assists and 1 goofy deflection goal in 5 games. f***ing Carl Grundstrom has been more productive than Byfield.

I’m just annoyed with this player at this point, his absolute embarrassing lack of production, and the narrative surrounding him.

But maybe he gets hot and breaks out soon. Like always, he “looks” good out there on most shifts. So maybe it’s just a matter of time. We sure could use it.

 

[SmytheKing]

Byfield was better than Kempe/Kopitar yesterday…

Being better than two guys who were terrible isn’t good enough. Has there been ONE game in his career that you can say he was the best player on the ice? That’s what the kings need. They don’t need him to be better than some other guys in a bad loss.

He’s Robert Lang y’all.

 

[kinghock]

Being better than two guys who were terrible isn’t good enough. Has there been ONE game in his career that you can say he was the best player on the ice? That’s what the kings need. They don’t need him to be better than some other guys in a bad loss.

He’s Robert Lang y’all.

I believe, I can say he was one the best players on the ice for LA.
Yes, he did not score, but he was very aggressive and was very close to score.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Do we really need to shower Byfield with praise because he outplayed Kempe and Kopitar for one game in which none of them got points and the team lost?

Kempe is coming off a 40 goal season and will get going eventually. He has earned that benefit of the doubt.

And 36 year old Kopitar already has 2-3-5 in 5gp.

For how much he has struggled, Fiala has 7 assists in 5gp.

Byfield has scored 9 goals in 104 professional hockey games, and is off to another blistering start this season with 0 assists and 1 goofy deflection goal in 5 games. f***ing Carl Grundstrom has been more productive than Byfield.

I’m just annoyed with this player at this point, his absolute embarrassing lack of production, and the narrative surrounding him.

But maybe he gets hot and breaks out soon. Like always, he “looks” good out there on most shifts. So maybe it’s just a matter of time. We sure could use it.

Sure, find me ANYONE showering him with praise and we'll have a real conversation.

Until then, I'm gonna put the blame on last night's game where it belongs, the 5-6 of you looking to pinata Byfield have at it

 

[SmytheKing]

I believe, I can say he was one the best players on the ice for LA.
Yes, he did not score, but he was very aggressive and was very close to score.

Not on the ice for la. On the ice. Again, being maybe one of the best guys on the ice for your team when you get beaten fairly badly isn’t good enough.

Sure, find me ANYONE showing him with praise and we'll have a real conversation.

Until then, I'm gonna put the blame on last night's game where it belongs, the 5-6 of you looking to pinata Byfield have at it

No one is blaming him for the loss RJ.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Being better than two guys who were terrible isn’t good enough. Has there been ONE game in his career that you can say he was the best player on the ice? That’s what the kings need. They don’t need him to be better than some other guys in a bad loss.

He’s Robert Lang y’all.

Right, and this illustrates the problem with the conversation--we're letting those guys who were terrible skate so we can hammer on the guy who didn't actively hurt us. "those two guys were terrible--but BYFIELD" is the narrative right now.

Yeah, absolutely, in the grand scheme of things we need much more from Byfield.

In both the meta and microdiscussions of last night's game, we need to get Kopitar and Kempe off milk cartons and Fiala passing to the correct team, none of these guys appear to know the season has started yet. And Drew isn't putting in the work. And of course goaltending isn't good enough. Those are our near-future biggest problems.

 

[Schmooley]

That game should be exhibit A for the 'you just need replacement level goaltending' folks.

That's the kind of defense and goaltending that wins playoff rounds.

Yes, I know it didn't help them last yea.r

Yea goes to show you dont necessarily need 25 million $ center depth and can have Lucic on the top line if you invest in defense and goaltending.
There is a coaching element to it as well. Boston seemed to always have a safety valve on their breakout no matter if Kings defense pinched and a forward dropped back.
If the play wasnt there instead of turning the puck over Boston was happy just to ice the puck. They never turn it over and scramble while losing coverage.
Good coaching.

 

[bland]

We know this by now. Feast on the poor teams, a pretty damn good record against good teams, but hammered by contenders. Same 100 point team, winning and losing for the same reasons - just fewer assets and less cap space to address the real problems which were incorrectly identified.

 

[tny760]

Right, and this illustrates the problem with the conversation--we're letting those guys who were terrible skate so we can hammer on the guy who didn't actively hurt us. "those two guys were terrible--but BYFIELD" is the narrative right now.

Yeah, absolutely, in the grand scheme of things we need much more from Byfield.

In both the meta and microdiscussions of last night's game, we need to get Kopitar and Kempe off milk cartons and Fiala passing to the correct team, none of these guys appear to know the season has started yet. And Drew isn't putting in the work. And of course goaltending isn't good enough. Those are our near-future biggest problems.

i noticed that tape-to-opponent's-tape fiala pass too. horrible.

there were some real quitter plays from kempe and fiala in that game

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Watching Voynov play for Ak Bars Kazan this morning made me realize the Kings have never replaced him and MRoy is not a Top 4 D-man,kind of Sucks really

 

[funky]

Being better than two guys who were terrible isn’t good enough. Has there been ONE game in his career that you can say he was the best player on the ice? That’s what the kings need. They don’t need him to be better than some other guys in a bad loss.

He’s Robert Lang y’all.

hw looked pretty good the first two games of the year. I would put him in the top two performers of those games. Points will start coming. In reality he has a goal and 2 assists to start the year and a ton of close calls. It wouldn't suprise me in the least if he goes off and has a 4 point night and it wouldn't suprise me if he stays snake bit a bit longer.

He is looking better and more aggressive all the time.

I just don't know if he has the mind set to try and take over vs letting Kopitar be the Alpha. Its time for Byfield to be the Alpha. Who knows what the coaching staff is telling him, they may be neutering him as well.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

The goaltending is what it is. We got two real good games out of Talbot, you can't expect that to continue.

A lot of high priced players on this roster are having really rough starts to the season. Kempe looks like he's just going through the motions, Kopi looks like he's lost another half a step, and Fiala has a ton of assists but can't stop turning the puck over.

On top of that, this coaching staff continues to overuse Doughty, especially on the power play.

Nothing really surprising so far this season, this team will go as far as they can outscoring their problems in high scoring games, because that's how they are built. . When they get goalie'd or some of the skill has rough nights/stretches (which is more likely to happen against good teams) they will struggle. When they get great goalie performances, those will be the exception, and can't be counted on.

 

[KingsHockey24]

We need to start discussing how bad Quinton Byfield actually is. He's literally just a big body that can skate.

Doesn't protect the puck well, his shot is arguably worse than Trevor Lewis, he just floats around the ice for 16 minutes a night.

Jordan Nolan without the physicality and a worse shot.

 

[chris kontos]

That game should be exhibit A for the 'you just need replacement level goaltending' folks.

That's the kind of defense and goaltending that wins playoff rounds.

Yes, I know it didn't help them last yea.r

exactly.
offense might sell tickets but defense wins championships.
meanwhile, i get to be a fan of another season of winning a participation award, a number 2 overall draft pick floating around the ice like a lost puppy and management continuing to cash those sweet sweet aeg paychecks.
im out

 

[Kurrilino]

@Kurrilino thinks Kopitar should be sitting in the press box. Anyone else agree?

The record is most games played means nothing.
What happens during those days at work counts

 

[kilowatt]

The record is most games played means nothing.
What happens during those days at work counts

I mean, come on. He’s not the player he once was, and he’s not worth $10 million anymore, and you can argue that we should have traded him some years ago, but he is at worst a low-end 1C right now. You’ve got hot takes and I appreciate your right to have them but this one is just out of touch with reality.

 

[KingsHockey24]

The record is most games played means nothing.
What happens during those days at work counts

Kings fans in shambles right now that a 40 year old Kopitar is still 2nd in the team in points.

Yes lets scratch him; sounds like a great idea.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Sure, find me ANYONE showering him with praise and we'll have a real conversation.

Until then, I'm gonna put the blame on last night's game where it belongs, the 5-6 of you looking to pinata Byfield have at it

Like I said, I’m just deeply frustrated with this player right now, and he’s going to be an eyesore for me personally. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong or fair or unfair. If Byfield actually capitalized on one of his two golden chances last night, the game looks very different.

Does he deserve to be singled out for that when other players, like his own linemates, failed to produce, as well? Probably not. But to me it’s just further evidence of the Byfield Problem in general. He CAN be the difference between winning and losing some of these games. He SHOULD be the difference. He has the talent to be the difference. But he isn’t a difference. In fact, outside of some solid advanced metrics, he’s generally a total nonfactor. Byfield hasn’t won this team a game ever, whereas Kempe and Kopitar have.

That’s why I single him out even if he has a “good” game relative to his teammates. A good Byfield game to me at this point needs to be actual goals and assists at crucial moments in games. Kempe and Kopitar have already proven they can provide that. Byfield hasn’t.

Again, maybe that’s all super unfair. I don’t know. But my Byfield patience has run out.

 

[Trash Panda]

Kings fans in shambles right now that a 40 year old Kopitar is still 2nd in the team in points.

Yes lets scratch him; sounds like a great idea.

Absolutely should not scratch him, and the wagon is obviously hitched to him for this season and two more.

There is a pretty damn good argument to be had that LA had no business continuing the relationship at 7 million dollars a year though.

The team is going to be forever stuck until it’s no longer paying 20 million a year to the aging stars of yesterday.