GDT: 2020-21 season game 20 LA Kings vs Minnesota Wild @5:00pm 2/27/21

[fsanford]

13 out of 16 points the last 8. Lots of Shark and Duck games left,

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I know all Kings fans want the Kings to protect coming 37 year old Brown and expose one of our young forwards! Is that really the best move?

 

[Bandit]

Kings just need to neutralize Kaprizov, he creates too many problems for the Kings. What a steal in the 2015 draft.

Yup what a steal, and only 6 years ago too. Meanwhile kings fans are shitting themselves that Byfield isn’t dominating the NHL in d+ 8 monnths.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Imagine blaming the goalie who was scored on via an uncontested breakaway after making 40+ saves when the team in front of him fell asleep at the wheel for an entire period and a half...

There’s plenty of blame to go around on that last play of the game. Cal had a great game, just came up short at the end.

 

[lumbergh]

Nice to see Kempe smile after scoring a goal for once. And Wagner scoring on a breakaway was a surprise!

 

[kovacro]

I know all Kings fans want the Kings to protect coming 37 year old Brown and expose one of our young forwards! Is that really the best move?

I would not protect Brown. He’s been a great soldier for the organization but at the end of the day, it’s a business and the decision makers have to do what’s best for the club going forward.

If exposed, I don’t think Seattle would take him regardless.

 

[Herby]

all were true

I think most of the blame falls on Doughty and Brown. Doughty has to know the clock and that disrupting the play in any way at the blueline likely makes it impossible for them to score.

And Brown has zero reason to be cheating up the ice with 4 seconds left when he is the last guy back.

 

[tny760]

i'm gonna be honest, i'm not really with using this game for positive takeaways

that kempe goal was a fluke following 2 of the worst power plays i've EVER seen in the NHL.. that OT PK was great, don't get me wrong but that game was so f***ing winnable it's insane. the exposures of this team's lack of "grit" if you will is a symptom i can't brush away under "X points in Y games". that was really, really sad to see no one push back at all, get bullied and go "...ok" while spending the entire 3rd period literally avoiding contact (aside from grundstrom, apparently he gets it)

that's not gonna show up on the scoresheet and i don't expect guys to take bad penalties for retribution but throw a check, for christ's sake. what's mikey thinking now? that's a serious missed team-building opportunity and i'm worried about it becoming a problem. the vets clearly don't give a shit, as evidenced by the last play.

 

[jfont]

So phucking disappointing

 

[Herby]

I would not protect Brown. He’s been a great soldier for the organization but at the end of the day, it’s a business and the decision makers have to do what’s best for the club going forward.

If exposed, I don’t think Seattle would take him regardless.

Agreed on both counts. Brown would be 37 next year, with school aged children and $60m in career earnings. He might retire rather than move his family to Seattle to play out the final year of his contract. Seattle knows that.

 

[Choralone]

Oh well. This is a building season. This game is a reminder not to get my hopes up too high.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Kings are 2-2-3 in regulation against the Wild. 3v3 is just a problem.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I would not protect Brown. He’s been a great soldier for the organization but at the end of the day, it’s a business and the decision makers have to do what’s best for the club going forward.

If exposed, I don’t think Seattle would take him regardless.

Playing the ArmChair Gm of the Seattle Krakens I don't touch Brown's contract with a 50 ft pole! Unless the Kings kick in something substantial

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Kings are 2-2-3 in regulation against the Wild. 3v3 is just a problem.

I didn't get to see to much...some of the third and OT! Liked the Kempe,Grundstrom and Amadio line big time

 

[kilowatt]

Kings are 2-2-3 in regulation against the Wild. 3v3 is just a problem.

And 7-5-1 versus the rest of the West

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Agreed on both counts. Brown would be 37 next year, with school aged children and $60m in career earnings. He might retire rather than move his family to Seattle to play out the final year of his contract. Seattle knows that.

Brown's not going to retire...he's going to play past his 2021-22 season even at a lesser role on a new team

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I think most of the blame falls on Doughty and Brown. Doughty has to know the clock and that disrupting the play in any way at the blueline likely makes it impossible for them to score.

And Brown has zero reason to be cheating up the ice with 4 seconds left when he is the last guy back.

Why is Brown on the ice?

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Nice to see Kempe smile after scoring a goal for once. And Wagner scoring on a breakaway was a surprise!

That's what I love about hockey you can't teach speed! You have it or you don't?

 

[kingsfan28]

Man that sucked! All 4 Wild goals came off of either broken plays or bounces. Doughty gets a piece of the puck and instead of going around the boards, it bounces off the boards, right to the Wild player who throws the blind pass to the wide open player. The break down was pretty obvious. 4 guys on the wrong side of the ice puck watching , and the middle was left open. Nobody had a clue to how much time was left.

I f-ing hate the Wild!

 

[kingsfan28]

That didn't look like hooking, unless my eyes deceive me?

I've looked at that 5 times, and still I didn't see it. It looked like all stick or just in front of the hands. More of an assumption penalty, where the visuals make it look like it was something it wasn't.

 

[The Butcher]

Yeah that one was a kick in the nuts. Especially against our newest rival.

On the final play I think we're all overlooking the amazing vision and pass from Zuccarello. That's a red hot team over there and the Kings scratched a point out of a 3-0 deficit.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah that one was a kick in the nuts. Especially against our newest rival.

On the final play I think we're all overlooking the amazing vision and pass from Zuccarello. That's a red hot team over there and the Kings scratched a point out of a 3-0 deficit.

There's starting to be a bit more separation in the standings and with STL and Colorado hurting a bit it shouldn't surprise anyone to see the Wild atop our division.

And we have no one to blame but ourselves for that

Taking even one point from them at the end of this road trip with all the weird shit that happens every minnesota game should be seen as a small miracle at this stage

No moral victories from the last two games though, shit bounces or not you create your own luck, and Minnesota did that by crashing the net harder in 7 games with us than I've seen any other team around the league do this year. There should be plenty of footage to learn from, you can't kick your feet up in this league.

Personally I'd clockwork orange them with the disallowed goal, there shouldn't be three Wild players in your crease period, never mind having three wild players in your crease stabbing your goalie with four Kings outside the crease watching. Even aside from being gutless allowing that many guys to establish position between you and your goalie upon your entire team is a moment.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I really don't like their strat in OT. Feels too slow and they give up possession too willingly. Either way, was nice to see them come back and get a point out of another disaster start. Very nice goals by Doughty, Kempe, and Grundstrom. I like our future more and more. I want one of those jerseys.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I keep saying these are our best jerseys ever, without those ugly elbows which we constantly see in the NHL.

 

[Taishici]

Some observations about the Kings as I have been following them pretty closely this year.

1. Great comeback last night, oh and I am pretty sure it was Brown's fault for Dumba's goal, as I believe the Kings are playing man to man.

2. Minnesota is a really good team and right now is up there with Colorado and Vegas. The Kings should be battling with Arizona and St Louis for the last playoff spot. And I think the Kings are better than both and should grab the 4th spot.

3. I really like the way the Kings defense is shaping up, lots of nice options. Roy is such good find for the Kings. Anderson and Bjornfot are making typical rookie mistakes. Doughty and Roy have to put out a lot of little fires because of those mistakes. But you can see that they will develop into solid NHL dmen.

4. Walker or Strand going forward? I think maybe Strand, he's got good size and grit to him. But I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

5. The forward situation is interesting. Lots of youth, and lots of youth in the AHL. Vilardi has stood out and so has that Dolan Anderson kid. Moore and Grundstrum, look like good bottom 6 players. But I think one thing that is missing is a an elite scoring winger.

6. The Kings special teams might be the best they've been in years. I don't ever remember the Kings power play being this good.

7. You Kings fans should be pretty excited about this team. Great things could be coming down the road. And the present is not too bad either.

Final thought, Doughty is an amazing player who doesn't get enough credit. He's basically been as dominant as Hedman has been this year, on a worse team. He's been playing better than Makar for sure. I have watched almost every Colorado game this year, for the sole reason of watching Makar and Byram(I have been analyzing NHL dmen for years). I would pick Doughty for the Norris this year at this point in the season.

One way to judge a dman is how they do against elite forwards. So I was really interested in watching Krill go against Doughty. Krill had his moments but what I found interesting and a little disappointing was how hard the Minnesota coach kept Krill away from Doughty. I haven't checked the stats, but it seemed Krill's line was against Roy and Bjornfot most of the night. But Doughty more than holds his own against the best of the best.

Oh and the main boards never watch the Kings, so never trust what they say about the team or the players. But I am sure you already knew that.