WPG 4 : LAK 3 - So... 2nd place? 2nd place is good, right?

[Trolfoli]

Sutter will always prefer the vet, even if he's awful.

Which was the problem with the Scuderi trade. He's going to get minuets. Even if it's really bad.

Oh well, should be entertaining.

 

[The Night King]

Not great. All the same, I'd rather have it than not.

By the way, why do you all want to win the division so badly? Playing SJ means less travel, and I think Nashville might be more dangerous than San Jose anyway. But that's just me.

You should focus on the Blues and the other central teams before thinking any WCF matchup.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Anyone even going to play for the Caps tomorrow?

Well Kings lost their final game in 2012 and 2014 too......

 

[fsanford]

McNabb makes me long for the days of Randy Jones.
That guy was absolutely brutal

 

[tsanuri]

Anyone even going to play for the Caps tomorrow?

Well Kings lost their final game in 2012 and 2014 too......

We don't know. Holtby has to be a really tough call. How often do you have a chance to set a season all time record?

And I think it might depend on if they think they are going to give the Ducks anything with a potential finals match-up.

 

[fsanford]

Not great. All the same, I'd rather have it than not.

By the way, why do you all want to win the division so badly? Playing SJ means less travel, and I think Nashville might be more dangerous than San Jose anyway. But that's just me.

I agree with you, Nashville has a great D, and Pekka.

Give me Martin Jones minding the nets in his first playoff series.

Plus the dance thread was sorely missed last year, it needs to be brought back.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Not great. All the same, I'd rather have it than not.

By the way, why do you all want to win the division so badly? Playing SJ means less travel, and I think Nashville might be more dangerous than San Jose anyway. But that's just me.

Mostly because we haven't won it in ages, would have liked the home ice, and we were close to having the best reg season in Kings history, but we choked all that part away. Thought we had turned a slight corner when we actually beat the Ducks the other day, only to fall back down to our own worst enemy--ourselves--again on fan appreciation night.

How cool of the Kings to end the season with a huge reminder of what last season was like. **** the shootout, **** refs, **** the jets.

Hahahah "fan appreciation"

 

[HookKing]

And Lewis got away with a high stick (with blood) and there was an obvious trip on a Jet for our first goal. The refs completely sucked for both teams tonight.

Not really, it was follow thru after he played the puck.

 

[bob77]

Keep in mind there was no Martinez on D tonight, and McBain makes for a poor replacement. Would have much rather seen Gravel, but Sutter would rather snub a promising young Dman, when he could have rested someone like Scuds instead.

Let's not forget about how they managed Forbort this season as well. Gravel just got the same treatment in general. One mistake and goodbye.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Kings don't generate a lot of opportunities to draw penalties. Possession has nothing to do with it. Guys take penalties when they're dumb, or they get burned. Kings don't have a style that routinely burns other teams. It isn't necessary to drag down Brown/Lewis when they're shooting if you're already in position.

.

We've talked about this in the past and while I agree to an extent game after game Kopitar is wearing a few jerseys and guys are doing anything they want to us on the boards only to go the other way and draw a call for the same thing. It's maddening. And our tied-for-2nd now worst penalty differential agrees. I understand a 'rush' game is more dangerous and leads to more stuff in general, but the best possession team by a significant margin being the worst in the league re: penalties if it weren't for the Bs is godawful no matter how its painted.

 

[kingsfan28]

Zero pp against the most penalized team in the league...

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

4:20 for Doughty in OT. Ridiculous.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'm not sure what Kings team we're going to see come Thursday. We saw two different versions of the Kings tonight.

Remember how they looked in the first three games against San Jose in 2014? Let's hope we don't get a peek of that team.

There are quite a few areas of the game the team was inconsistent with, faceoffs, neutral zone play, breakouts, zone entries, special teams play, late in periods, etc.

Hopefully they get plenty of rest through Thursday and refuel for a long playoff run.

 

[bob77]

Scuderi is awful, he just cannot make decent plays anymore. We need Gravel in the lineup for the playoffs, Scuderi won't cut it.

If you watch a lot of Ontario games, you might think Forbort would be the better replacement. Gravel played all of his Kings games without missing a beat of hockey because he was playing in Ontario. Forbort constantly stepped in after days off and from the press box. Forbort's game is now in rhythm and would look steadier if he stepped in right now. Now I'm not trying to dis Gravel cause I think Forbort and Gravel are better than Schenn, McNabb, and Scuderi right now. Did DS give either kid a shot at ironing out the inexperience at the NHL level? Not one bit!!!! DS is going to live or die with his stubbornness about vets. All we can do is hope it all works out.

 

[losingsand]

maybe it's because, overall, i'm over McNabb, but has he looked MEGA-SLOW to anybody else lately?

really noticeable when he's got a fair lead on a puck retrieval situation and the forward just

embarrasses him and beats him to the puck.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Is Winnipeg the first team to sweep LA-ANA-SJ in succession on the road this season? I know no team had done it up until couple months ago.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

maybe it's because, overall, i'm over McNabb, but has he looked MEGA-SLOW to anybody else lately?

really noticeable when he's got a fair lead on a puck retrieval situation and the forward just

embarrasses him and beats him to the puck.

His failed attempt of trying to keep up with the Jets player who went around the net leading to the 2nd Jets goal was embarrassing.

 

[KingsFan7824]

maybe it's because, overall, i'm over McNabb, but has he looked MEGA-SLOW to anybody else lately?

really noticeable when he's got a fair lead on a puck retrieval situation and the forward just

embarrasses him and beats him to the puck.

Him and Muzzin.

Up 3-0 in every series. 3 Game 7 wins, period, and all on the road to boot. What record do the Kings have to break to win the Cup this time?

 

[fsanford]

His failed attempt of trying to keep up with the Jets player who went around the net leading to the 2nd Jets goal was embarrassing.

I think that was the first goal Ziggy.. But it was an absolutely a horrible play, actually it was McNabb who made the awful pass to start the Jets on their march back.
He did manage to recover and somehow get a stick on a cross ice pass, but from that point forward til the end of the 2nd period, the Kings were on their heels.

 

[Little Psycho]

The Ducks fans on the main boards need to keep reaching.

 

[Fishhead]

The D looked terrible to a man tonight. Worst game I've ever seen Drew play. Muzzin hasn't looked good for weeks, not sure what the deal with him is. McBain looked shaky, Scuderi was a complete mess most of the night. Schenn looked all right I guess, but made some terrible reads and passes.

McNabb was our best defensman tonight. Sigh.

Overall not too worried though. You could see the team completely stop caring about this game halfway through. Guys were bailing out of plays, not taking hits to get the puck out, etc. It was obvious this game was more about preservation. The blown coverages by forwards coming back did kind of piss me off but whatever.

 

[MynameisKing]

I think the bad play of Schenn, McNabb, and Scuderi is dragging Muzzin down. He has to be good. He has to cover for their shortcomings. He's been taken away from concentrating on his own game and what he has to do.

 

[kingsfan28]

4:20 for Doughty in OT. Ridiculous.

He couldn't get off the ice once the pp ended.Hell, the entire line was caught out there the moment the penalty ended for the remainder of OT.

 

[Fishhead]

I think the bad play of Schenn, McNabb, and Scuderi is dragging Muzzin down. He has to be good. He has to cover for their shortcomings. He's been taken away from concentrating on his own game and what he has to do.

That's part of it, but he's also looked pretty bad with Martinez. He's getting back to making at least one boneheaded play per game. He might just be trying to do too much, he's way better than he's been showing the last couple weeks.

 

[theMajor]

The D looked terrible to a man tonight. Worst game I've ever seen Drew play. Muzzin hasn't looked good for weeks, not sure what the deal with him is. McBain looked shaky, Scuderi was a complete mess most of the night. Schenn looked all right I guess, but made some terrible reads and passes.

McNabb was our best defensman tonight. Sigh.

Overall not too worried though. You could see the team completely stop caring about this game halfway through. Guys were bailing out of plays, not taking hits to get the puck out, etc. It was obvious this game was more about preservation. The blown coverages by forwards coming back did kind of piss me off but whatever.

Drew was pretty decent, Muzz was whatever but everyone else was pretty bad. I gotta say, Scuderi is even slower in person than he appears. there was a play I think in the 2nd where he had to pivot turn to chase a dumped pick and it was agonizing to watch. at this point Id rather take a gamble on Schultz down in Ontario...