GDT: GM#1 LA Kings vs San Jose Sharks @7:30 10/5/18

[kingsfan28]

Just got home from the game, just wanted to comment on the live view of some things.

Little did we know that the Kings' solution to their scoring was to change the boards. 4d chess there.

Doughty was mostly crap tonight and while I know getting hit in the side of the knee with no padding stings don't be a ****ing ***** and go to the locker room.

Glad more people saw 'average' EK tonight. Getting beat to the net by Tyler Toffoli, playing turnstile all night. Abused by rookies, etc. Guy has no concept of team defense. Phenomenal offensive player, great at making offensive plays, good at one-on-one D if he sees it develop...but my god did he look absolutely lost live. Funny all three Norris winners were mostly trash with some good offensive plays.

Kempe looked like our best player not named Kopitar, from the stands, he looked SUPER engaged and pissed off, trying to hit everyone, great forechecks, etc. HM to Iafallo and Wagner, both were flying, and Amadio, who looks like he played like...5 minutes? Am I close?

I've said enough about Stevens in the last few days but jesus ****ing christ the amount of talk over the summer about putting Kovy in the Ovy spot to help our PP then sending him to the front of the net in Brown's spot is just about the dumbest thing I've seen in hockey. And don't get me started on the lines again. They were unacceptable to begin with, but getting stuck with the 4th line and Fantenberg and Forbort out there, at home, vs. the Sharks top players, after a TV timeout? There is literally zero reason for that. Aaaand surprise, they got scored on in short order. I'll stop there because I'd fill up a post with very obviously bad decisions from the bench.

Overall had the intensity of a rivalry game with the hockey of a preseason game, guys are obviously still a mess on both teams. Some real volatile potential there with the Kovy-Kopi-Iafallo line but the rest of the forward lines as configured suck as badly as we thought they would.

Props to Wagner on a great debut, that speed is literally undefendable. Someone mentioned they wondered what it would be like when teams adjust...well, all they can do is back the hell off opening up ice for others. win-win. If Erik freaking Karlsson can't keep up, no one can.

That one breakaway, he had two steps on Karlsson and EK was at top speed. Really wished he'd have buried that one. He's going to be fun to watch.

 

[mrkolice]

it could be worse. not impressed, still a lot of work to do, but it could be worse.

 

[The Tikkanen]

When Brown returns I'm dreaming of a 3rd line of Wagner-Kempe-Iafallo.

 

[King'sPawn]

I know part of managing young players is managing minutes to let them keep their tempo, but I still think Wagner/Amadio were controlled too much.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Kings looked old, soft and slow. Exactly how everyone on NHL radio over the summer said they would be. (except soft)

Was at the game, only players that stood out were Kempe, Quick, Wagner and Muzzin.

Kings D is very slow at getting the puck out or moving it up ice - there is just no speed back there except Doughty.

The only excitement was Wagner and his two breakaways.

Thinking about that Phaneuf trade now too since Gabby is hurt and might be done.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Kings looked old, soft and slow. Exactly how everyone on NHL radio over the summer said they would be. (except soft)

Was at the game, only players that stood out were Kempe, Quick, Wagner and Muzzin.

Kings D is very slow at getting the puck out or moving it up ice - there is just no speed back there except Doughty.

The only excitement was Wagner and his two breakaways.

Thinking about that Phaneuf trade now too since Gabby is hurt and might be done.

How does a team look old? Our system is old.

We also out hit San Jose 34-21.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Kings looked old, soft and slow. Exactly how everyone on NHL radio over the summer said they would be. (except soft)

Was at the game, only players that stood out were Kempe, Quick, Wagner and Muzzin.

Kings D is very slow at getting the puck out or moving it up ice - there is just no speed back there except Doughty.

The only excitement was Wagner and his two breakaways.

Thinking about that Phaneuf trade now too since Gabby is hurt and might be done.

Besides the OT, I thought the Kings were better than I was expecting. SJ is supposed to be the cream of the crop of the Pacific and that game could have gone either way.

 

[KingsFan7824]

the boards at Staples have a lot spring in them this year. Team is gonna need to learn how to take advantage of that.

I'm figuring Quick will need to do less of the wild side to side stuff he does where he ends up outside of the crease, then has to twist around and scramble back. Feels like he'll get caught doing that a few times. Still had his usual trouble handling the puck behind the net.

Tough way to lose with Toffoli caught inbetween changing or not, and got burned. Worst ot in a while as far as getting the puck back. Had the one chance early on, and that was it. They seemed to chase the puck around most of the ot and both lines got caught out there for more than a minute.Kopitars line was out for about 1:45 before everyone could get changed.

Didn't Toffoli get caught in the same situation last year once or twice? It just sounds familiar.

I get Toffoli being out there for OT. You can't worry about defense in 3v3, he's one of the better goal scorers on the team(although he only has 2 OT goals), and even though he's slow, it was more about him being out there too long and the Sharks making a quick turn.

They're 9-8 since the start of last year in OT. They're much more coin flip than almost guaranteed point lately.

Self suffocating only works if you have a fast skating team. The Kings are still not that. Stevens had better offensive players in Philly. This roster needs to be coached more to go on offensive attack. Stevens reminds me of Barry Trotz with team structure and rely on a heavy fore-check to create offense. The Kings need to learn how to execute quick/touch passing to counter teams that are quicker than them.

Agreed, most things come down to execution. You can lead a horse to water, etc.

Self suffocating as in Stevens killing the Kings offense by forcing the system down their own throats. That wasn't the case last night. When he actually put Amadio on the ice, he was flipping passes to Wagner, not just dumping the puck in like a good rookie should. Stevens allowed him to try something, a few times. As far as I know, he didn't say never do that again after the first one. They were trying things in the offensive zone. Kopitar went to the middle a few times. They just didn't finish those plays. There was no killing the offense. They were stuck in their own zone a lot, but this isn't Sutter's "possession" Kings anymore. They weren't even that last year. They're averaging over 30 shots against under Stevens. That's 3, 4, 5 more per game than in the Sutter days, which is anywhere from about 250 to 400 more shots against per year. Those add up, there will be more goals against, and yes, the Kings will need to execute better when they have the puck as a result.

Again, in the 27 games Carter played last year, the Kings averaged over 3 goals per game, which would've been in the top 10. That's a small sample size, but then the 4 playoff games where nothing worked was an even smaller one.

 

[Waterbuf]

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

 

[KingsHockey24]

What's with John Stevens putting Kovalchuk in front of the net on the PP?

He was brought in to be the point guy and rocket one timers. Stevens is an idiot.

 

[Basilisk]

You know what? Karlsson looked very, very good out there. Blake not trading for Karlsson might have effectively ended our Cup window. Who would we have had to part with? Muzzin? Vilardi? A couple of 1st round picks? True, Karlsson would have been very expensive to keep, but a player who plays that well on the D, you make room for that player.


If Vilardi becomes healthy & scores 20-30 goals this year, then maybe it's a wash. But, as of now, we're not getting by San Jose in the playoffs.

 

[tny760]

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

we did? care to go back to your cave?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Agreed, most things come down to execution. You can lead a horse to water, etc.

Self suffocating as in Stevens killing the Kings offense by forcing the system down their own throats. That wasn't the case last night. When he actually put Amadio on the ice, he was flipping passes to Wagner, not just dumping the puck in like a good rookie should. Stevens allowed him to try something, a few times. As far as I know, he didn't say never do that again after the first one. They were trying things in the offensive zone. Kopitar went to the middle a few times. They just didn't finish those plays. There was no killing the offense. They were stuck in their own zone a lot, but this isn't Sutter's "possession" Kings anymore. They weren't even that last year. They're averaging over 30 shots against under Stevens. That's 3, 4, 5 more per game than in the Sutter days, which is anywhere from about 250 to 400 more shots against per year. Those add up, there will be more goals against, and yes, the Kings will need to execute better when they have the puck as a result.

Again, in the 27 games Carter played last year, the Kings averaged over 3 goals per game, which would've been in the top 10. That's a small sample size, but then the 4 playoff games where nothing worked was an even smaller one.

I think the offensive zone play is ok, frankly. It's the puck retrieval and breakouts that I'm worried about. Not 'defending,' but when we actually get the puck and start a controlled breakout. That's where we get destroyed arguably more than all but the worst teams in the league. And that's coaching decisions like putting everyone on their backhand, inexplicably rolling out Forbort and Fantenberg, continually forcing the most predictable system in the league, etc. Lots of times we make the 'safe' play and glass and out too which is ok in my old-school mind but that play is often made because a d-man 1. has his passing lanes already clogged, see predictable 2. no one is keeping the defense honest by ever flying the zone or doing anything different 3. the defenseman can't get the puck to his forehand to make a strong pass. I could go on all day but there's no areas in which our coaching decisions are more clearly hampering than lines, breakouts, and power play.

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

We did plenty. It was garbage. I'm betting youre coming here looking for us to excuse him so you can take it back to whatever fanbase and say 'lol what a bunch of homers' but if you actually opened your eyes and read in good faith he was getting blasted for it throughout the thread.

 

[johnjm22]

The Kings, like last year, are still having problems breaking out of their own zone. Lots of turnovers trying to get out of their own end.

Overall I liked much of what I saw. We lost, but you get a sense that the team has upside. That's a good sign.

I am a little concerned about Carter though.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Just need to have stronger 1st period and special teams(PP).

 

[redcard]

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

I'll be holding a press release at midnight. Kid Rock's gonna perform after, you won't want to miss it.

 

[Telos]

They need to adapt. They are a solved puzzle right now. Everyone knows they love to force things, especially through the point and that they don't move the puck swiftly, and love to have time. Every team in the NHL just calls for a blitz and the Kings scramble and panic.

 

[kilowatt]

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

Can I dislike a comment?

He dove. No one liked it. It’s a shitty thing to do. More news at 10.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I guess I'll silver lining it too after a little reflection.

With stupid injuries to start the year, and in spite of the coaching, and whether or not you care to account for the random stuff like our record in openers at home and vs. the Sharks at home, we went to a coin-flip OT with a team everyone has picked to win the division. And they found a way to make OT boring and stupid. The "literally just hold the puck until someone has to change" strat is ugly.

 

[KingsHockey24]

You know what? Karlsson looked very, very good out there. Blake not trading for Karlsson might have effectively ended our Cup window. Who would we have had to part with? Muzzin? Vilardi? A couple of 1st round picks? True, Karlsson would have been very expensive to keep, but a player who plays that well on the D, you make room for that player.


If Vilardi becomes healthy & scores 20-30 goals this year, then maybe it's a wash. But, as of now, we're not getting by San Jose in the playoffs.

Karlsson has looked shitty both games.

-2 his first game against ANA, and then last night was beat both physically and was on the ice for 3 breakaways (Wagner).

 

[BigKing]

Really don't like the team being soft outside of Kempe, Wagner, Martinez and Quick. I've said all kinds of things about Doughty in regards to toughness and leadership in the past; it's a good thing I haven't finished the research paper because last night's garbage is more support for my thesis.

Wagner's speed is amazing. I think we were all high on him after his last WHL playoff performance with some of us thinking that could translate to 4th line work as early as this season. Good on him for making an opportunity for himself in camp unlike a lot of prospects the past few seasons. He has sandpaper to go along with that speed, which is great.

Fantenberg and Forbort we're out there together more than once. That can't happen.

I don't fault Toffoli too much. He couldn't change or it was numbers the other way. I just knew Stevens would roll Kovalchuk out there to start and there would be zero chemistry. Then he follows up with a slower player in Toffoli. It just wasn't ideal.

 

[kings11]

Karlsson has looked ****ty both games.

-2 his first game against ANA, and then last night was beat both physically and was on the ice for 3 breakaways (Wagner).

Lets go even further... EK has looked bad since his return from his injury.. A torn achilles is no joke

 

[kings11]

When Brown returns I'm dreaming of a 3rd line of Wagner-Kempe-Iafallo.

In the meantime I want to see Wagner-Kempe-Amadio....

 

[DoktorJeep]

The difference in the game on the ice was the Kings crap PP. Kovalchuk called it out in his post game quotes. Any observer can see that it’s the player usage decisions that are crippling any chance at success. Give Blake credit for reshaping the roster and finding youth, but the coaches have no reason to not be creative.

If they had lost in regulation but Amadio got 5 more minutes, I’d live with it no worse than watching Thompson rack up minuses

 

[Sol]

Anybody care to comment on Doughty's diving?

Who's this idiot ?

You know what? Karlsson looked very, very good out there. Blake not trading for Karlsson might have effectively ended our Cup window. Who would we have had to part with? Muzzin? Vilardi? A couple of 1st round picks? True, Karlsson would have been very expensive to keep, but a player who plays that well on the D, you make room for that player.


If Vilardi becomes healthy & scores 20-30 goals this year, then maybe it's a wash. But, as of now, we're not getting by San Jose in the playoffs.

Karlsson? The only time the Kings were going through their defense was when he was on the ice. Dude sucked.

They need to adapt. They are a solved puzzle right now. Everyone knows they love to force things, especially through the point and that they don't move the puck swiftly, and love to have time. Every team in the NHL just calls for a blitz and the Kings scramble and panic.

This is the biggest problem. The PP.. My God what kind of bs was that. Misusing Kovalchuk. Our defense, the likes of Forbort are the worst at getting the puck out of the Kings zone under pressure. He constantly wraps it around the boards or gets beat to the puck. He looked bad. But the Kings are predictable. The 3rd forward was hanging way too back as always.