GDT: 2023-24 season Western Conference Quarter Finals LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers Game 1

[Reaper45]

Rebuild back better.

In the 3rd he got like 2 shifts. I do think has some kind of injury going on.

Then sit him. He’s an anchor.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

In the 3rd he got like 2 shifts. I do think has some kind of injury going on.

Osteoporosis

 

[kingsfan28]

He was brutal. I mean Fox and Stoll quietly ripped him

Stoll wanted to say a lot more about our pp, but stopped short of saying "f-ing awful".

 

[fsanford]

Rebuild back better.

Then sit him. He’s an anchor.

I said Dubois needs to play top line with Byfield and Juice. You can actually generate some speed on the rush. But Kings will not have balls enough to try it

 

[ru4reals]

At least we didn't lead 3-0 and lose 5-3. Okay never mind we still have time to do that.

 

[Live in the Now]

This game swung on Arvidsson’s miss followed by Talbot giving up an easy one to Henrique. You can’t win with overpaid vets and a bunch of try hard, feel good story players.

The thing that gets me the worst is the lack of energy. It's one of the biggest signs that a team's rebuild has faltered. They wind up bringing in older players in lower line roles because they can't develop them themselves. That is what we have done here. It kills me to see the team play like this.

We are not going to outskill the Oilers. We do not have the cap to turn this roster over without making drastic changes. Lose to the Oilers every year for two or three more years until the Ducks and Vegas lock us out of the third spot and second WC spot is not a viable alternative for me.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

In the 3rd he got like 2 shifts. I do think has some kind of injury going on.

Hopefully it’s retirementitis.

 

[kingsfan28]

In the 3rd he got like 2 shifts. I do think has some kind of injury going on.

Or Hiller knew this game was over and was resting him.

 

[crassbonanza]

I said Dubois needs to play top line with Byfield and Juice. You can actually generate some speed on the rush. But Kings will not have balls enough to try it

Byfield and Dubois had some of the worst xGF% on the team that game. I know that doesn't mean much in a 1 game sample size, but that was while being matched up against the Perry line for most of the game. I'm not sure we want them handling line 1 minutes if we want to win.

 

[fsanford]

Or Hiller knew this game was over and was resting him.

Maybe...but if you have to rest your first line center game 1, you got lots of problems.

 

[Herby]

29 points in 14 playoff games vs the Kings the last three seasons.

 

[DoktorJeep]

The thing that gets me the worst is the lack of energy. It's one of the biggest signs that a team's rebuild has faltered. They wind up bringing in older players in lower line roles because they can't develop them themselves. That is what we have done here. It kills me to see the team play like this.

We are not going to outskill the Oilers. We do not have the cap to turn this roster over without making drastic changes. Lose to the Oilers every year for two or three more years until the Ducks and Vegas lock us out of the third spot and second WC spot is not a viable alternative for me.

The lack of energy is from the lack of winners. Williams, Quick, Brown, Richards, Mitchell, Scuderi, Gaborik, Regehr. All winners. All men who wouldn’t repeatedly lay down and get tooled.

Who are Blake’s big chess pieces? Danault, guy was a 24 year old rookie. Arvidsson was a guy lucky to make the NHL. Moore was undrafted and waiver wire fodder. Lizotte, again undrafted and a guy who wouldn’t play on any other playoff team.

The one guy who is a stud is Kempe and Blake did his best to screw that up before the bottom fell out and he was busy trying to spin the situation into a fake ass rebuild.

 

[fsanford]

Byfield and Dubois had some of the worst xGF% on the team that game. I know that doesn't mean much in a 1 game sample size, but that was while being matched up against the Perry line for most of the game. I'm not sure we want them handling line 1 minutes if we want to win.

Not sure if status quo is going to win you games
When your first line center cannot generate any speed on the rush it's a huge disadvantage. There is almost no pressure on your opponent.

You cannot keep trotting Kopi out there on your top line

 

[theMajor]

Akil should be in over Grundy/Lewis

 

[crassbonanza]

Not sure if status quo is going to win you games
When your first line center cannot generate any speed on the rush it's a huge disadvantage. There is almost no pressure on your opponent.

You cannot keep trotting Kopi out there on your top line

Well, Byfield had by far the most even strength minutes tonight and got caved in. Dubois got caved in as well, meanwhile Kopitar/Kempe had positive xGF% Rel while going up against Draisaitl for most of the game. I don't think Kopi generating speed was what was dragging us down.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

29 points in 14 playoff games vs the Kings the last three seasons.

It would’ve taken prime 2012 Kopitar, Doughty, and Quick to even remotely control him. He’s just that good.

 

[SherVaughn30]

Just wondering about something when the score was 6-2 and I think there was just under 14 mins still left in the game. Cam Talbot is 36 and I think you could somewhat argue he played too many regular season games. Would it have been better to put in Rittich to get him some playing time then have Talbot labor through 44 shots? I just feel they need to keep Talbot fresh and not overworked if an opportunity presents itself(which I felt was the case at that point in the game).

 

[DryIslandBartender]

The lack of energy is from the lack of winners. Williams, Quick, Brown, Richards, Mitchell, Scuderi, Gaborik, Regehr. All winners. All men who wouldn’t repeatedly lay down and get tooled.

Who are Blake’s big chess pieces? Danault, guy was a 24 year old rookie. Arvidsson was a guy lucky to make the NHL. Moore was undrafted and waiver wire fodder. Lizotte, again undrafted and a guy who wouldn’t play on any other playoff team.

The one guy who is a stud is Kempe and Blake did his best to screw that up before the bottom fell out and he was busy trying to spin the situation into a fake ass rebuild.

Unless the Oilers sweep and in an embarrassing fashion take out the Kings, I think Bluc is retained one more season. AEG is probably happy with Bluc as they are more malleable and not demanding, unlike their predecessor.

The other thing is Kopitar and Doughty would either retire or request a trade, I don’t think they would want to be a part of a rebuild.

What’s funny is AEG was all about winning cups and cited that as the reason for canning DL, and here we are about 8 seasons in…not a single playoff series won.

 

[kingsfan28]

Akil should be in over Grundy/Lewis

This! Carl was not noticeable at all, even though it was his first game back. He looked out of shape and really couldn't keep up. There really need to be an energy infusion.

 

[tny760]

Just wondering about something when the score was 6-2 and I think there was just under 14 mins still left in the game. Cam Talbot is 36 and I think you could somewhat argue he played too many regular season games. Would it have been better to put in Rittich to get him some playing time then have Talbot labor through 44 shots? I just feel they need to keep Talbot fresh and not overworked if an opportunity presents itself(which I felt was the case at that point in the game).

was it the prudent thing to do? probably

generally speaking, do the kings do the prudent thing? no

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

There is not a single King any opponent is intimidated by. What is the point of Englund in the lineup if he isn’t going to punish opponents?

Not only did the Oilers outshoot the Kings, they also blocked a lot more shots than them, which goes to show you how badly one team wants to win and how the weaker team is probably scheduling their tee time for next weekend when this series is over.

 

[bouncesonly]

Well shit, who's the dumb dumb that said the Kings were gonna sweep

 

[SherVaughn30]

Regarding the PK, for a team that had the 2nd best PK in the regular season, how could they continue to take a dump like this being 1 for 4 and playing the Oilers PP so soft. It seemed like the PK was standing around waiting to react instead of putting pressure points on the Oilers PP. Why not put more emphasis on the Oilers two most dangerous players(McDavid, Draisaitl) by collapsing on them to reduce their space and maybe put sticks in the passing/shooting lanes on them? There is that saying, "pick your poison". Well try to neutralize McDavid/Draisaitl and force Bouchard/Hyman/RNH/whomever else they have out there, to beat you? Also, McDavid is the catalyst for generating so much speed starting from his own end to create the zone entry on their PP, so why not put a fast PK guy to slow down McDavid so he doesn't get such a long generated start to gain his speed?

 

[BigBrown]

Well this certainly feels familiar. The Oilers scoring on every other power play, McDavid supercharged and fresh doing whatever the hell he wants, Kings flatfooted and scrambling... they picked up right where the last series left off.

 

[bouncesonly]

Well this certainly feels familiar. The Oilers scoring on every other power play, McDavid supercharged and fresh doing whatever the hell he wants, Kings flatfooted and scrambling... they picked up right where the last series left off.

Absolutely idiotic PK strategy against the Oilers, giving up that goal line. f***in' idiotic.

Power play is equally dumb. Why are the Kings waiting to pass on the power play when the Oilers are playing absolutely aggressive towards the puck carrier? Spending all that time, letting the defender skate up to you, thinking about what you're going to do and then passing. Since the Kings love passing and not shooting, they should at least one touch pass everything before the defender is even halfway there. At least the Oilers will be equally confused as the Kings on where the pucks going.