GDT: 2020-21 season game 26 LA Kings vs Colorado Avalanche @6:00pm 3/12/21

[The Butcher]

Would have been nice to see some of those penalties along the boards called there at the end to give the Kings a 5 on 3 but both teams ultimately got what they deserved.

 

[ru4reals]

Have we even scored once when we pulled our goalie this year? Either way I didn't expect us to. Regroup and come back strong on Sunday.

 

[kingsfan28]

the lone highlights, Cal in goal, Luffs fight. Although, going by the horrible camera work tonight, Luffs fight looked more like a tackle to the ice.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I dont think they even played so bad. Colorado is just a way better team. Kings are in the bottom-middle of the pack until/if Kayliev, Turcotte and Byfield reach their potential, the roster players like Kempe, Vilardi, Bjornfot, Anderson keep growing, and some later pick value guys like Faber, Fagemo Chromiak and Grans become good NHLers.
They are not as good as teams like Colorado and Carolina but they arent as bad as Detroit and Anaheim. Petersen played amazing and its a good experience for the kids to see how a good team comes at you. They got a spanking thats for sure.

I think they played very good to excellent without the puck.

They played awful with the puck. Terrible passing, terrible protection, bouncing pucks everywhere, couldn't do a thing with it. 3 breakaways, 0 goals.

 

[Martyros]

I wonder....is it the coach(es) that tell them to continue attempting the same entry on the pp after 3 failures or are the players just that dumb that they literally tried the SAME THING for the 4th time in a row on that abysmal powerplay. That just pissed me off.

 

[Schmooley]

I think they played very good to excellent without the puck.

They played awful with the puck. Terrible passing, terrible protection, bouncing pucks everywhere, couldn't do a thing with it. 3 breakaways, 0 goals.

Yea they couldnt get anything going. It also seemed like the Avs got their sticks in the lanes on a lot of passes so it was hard to get things clean. I just dont think it was lack of effort like that first Ducks game the other night. Avalanche are a tough team and didnt give the Kings an inch all night.
Wish they were physical it would be a good way to play against the Avalanche. Hit everyone that touches the puck. Too soft when speed isnt working.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Avs are a good team. Who woulda thought.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yea they couldnt get anything going. It also seemed like the Avs got their sticks in the lanes on a lot of passes so it was hard to get things clean. I just dont think it was lack of effort like that first Ducks game the other night. Avalanche are a tough team and didnt give the Kings an inch all night.
Wish they were physical it would be a good way to play against the Avalanche. Hit everyone that touches the puck. Too soft when speed isnt working.

Yeah, I MUCH preferred the game tonight to the first two Ducks games

They didn't look wholly unprepared or without effort or attention tonight, they were just totally overmatched and got more overwhelmed.

 

[johnjm22]

Where do the Kings rank in terms of even strength goals per game? They've got to be pretty low.

When you rely so much on the PP to generate scoring chances you're going to eventually have problems. Powerplays ebb and flow. Eventually it will hit a cold streak.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I dont think they even played so bad. Colorado is just a way better team. Kings are in the bottom-middle of the pack until/if Kayliev, Turcotte and Byfield reach their potential, the roster players like Kempe, Vilardi, Bjornfot, Anderson keep growing, and some later pick value guys like Faber, Fagemo Chromiak and Grans become good NHLers.
They are not as good as teams like Colorado and Carolina but they arent as bad as Detroit and Anaheim. Petersen played amazing and its a good experience for the kids to see how a good team comes at you. They got a spanking thats for sure.

Wait, you mean the Kings aren't supposed to be as good as one of top teams predicted to win the cup? I don't understand...

 

[Schmooley]

Wait, you mean the Kings aren't supposed to be as good as one of top teams predicted to win the cup? I don't understand...

Yea they arent as good as the other team so as long as the effort isnt bad then its a watchable game in my book. There would be no purpose in complaining about Amadio or their breakout passes tonight.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Where do the Kings rank in terms of even strength goals per game? They've got to be pretty low.

When you rely so much on the PP to generate scoring chances you're going to eventually have problems. Powerplays ebb and flow. Eventually it will hit a cold streak.

25th

that's total not per game...

 

[redcard]

We've added a lot of speed to our roster, but its that North/South speed that gets a few breakaways or beats out icing from time to time. Colorado has speed in every facet of the game. They're quick on loose pucks, quick to forecheck, quick to make passes, quick to breakout, etc. We've got several guys that can beat them in a foot race but its tough to keep up with that unrelenting pace for the whole game. Its like every player on their roster has Lizotte's motor, with a handful of them having world class skill to go along with it.

Not much to be upset about this game. We're just not good enough yet, didn't execute very well with the puck, but there were little to no boneheaded errors or lapses and Cal played tremendously well. On to the next one.

 

[KingsFan7824]

25th

that's total not per game...

You know who sits 23rd? Colorado, with 1 more 5v5 goals in 1 fewer game. They also have 21 5v4 goals, to the Kings 22.

But yes, the Kings are closer to 31st in 5v5 goals(Buf, 34) than they are 14th(Phi, 53). The only defenseman other than Doughty with a goal at ES is MacD. The only other defenseman with a goal period is MacD. Kopitar has never had more PP points than ES points in a season. Been close a couple times, other times not even in the same zip code, but right now he's got more on the man advantage than even up.

On the other end, the Kings have 46 GA while 5v5. That's 13th in total.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Like to see the Kings bring up Byfield and put him on the LWing along with Kempe on the RWing and give it a 10 game spam of games...Vilardi with Athanasiou and Turcotte too...Grundstrom with Lias Andersson and Fagemo and JAD with Kupari and...Lizotte,Amadio,Moore,Wags...the Kings sure would look like a Speedy line up to contend with

 

[Lt Dan]

Yea they arent as good as the other team so as long as the effort isnt bad then its a watchable game in my book. There would be no purpose in complaining about Amadio or their breakout passes tonight.

Hang on now. I was with you on the rest, but there is always a purpose in complaining about Amadio

 

[MBH]

Colorado is way too fast and skilled.
Outside Doughty, the Kings don't have a defenseman who can really stand up to those guys.
The other issue is speed at center.
Kopitar is very good. Vilardi is on his way to being good. Amadio is average at best.
But both guys are going to struggle in the Avs matchup.

And skill at center...
Kopitar has it.
Vilardi is still developing it. Still a rookie.
Lizotte doesn't have it.
Amadio doesn't have it.

And you're up against MacKinnon, Kadri, Landeskog and Bellemare?
That's a rough assignment.

 

[HookKing]

Colorado is way too fast and skilled.
Outside Doughty, the Kings don't have a defenseman who can really stand up to those guys.
The other issue is speed at center.
Kopitar is very good. Vilardi is on his way to being good. Amadio is average at best.
But both guys are going to struggle in the Avs matchup.

And skill at center...
Kopitar has it.
Vilardi is still developing it. Still a rookie.
Lizotte doesn't have it.
Amadio doesn't have it.

And you're up against MacKinnon, Kadri, Landeskog and Bellemare?
That's a rough assignment.

Lizzote was probably our best forward last night.

 

[ibleedkings]

Didn't like Moore on the first unit, should'a been Vilardi IMO. Bad coaching.

 

[Sparky206]

Didn't like Moore on the first unit, should'a been Vilardi IMO. Bad coaching.

Vilardi runs the 2nd unit, its named the Vilardi unit and he is the zone entry man for them. Moores not ideal but he's probably the most offensive of the left overs without making changes to both units.

 

[tbrown33]

Vilardi runs the 2nd unit, its named the Vilardi unit and he is the zone entry man for them. Moores not ideal but he's probably the most offensive of the left overs without making changes to both units.

Yeah, he was filling in the Iaffalo slot on PP1. The units have pretty specific roles.

 

[ibleedkings]

Vilardi runs the 2nd unit, its named the Vilardi unit and he is the zone entry man for them. Moores not ideal but he's probably the most offensive of the left overs without making changes to both units.

Doesn't matter that he runs the second unit. He should'a been given an opportunity on the first with AI out of the lineup. You should have your best players on the 1st unit.

 

[johnjm22]

Doesn't matter that he runs the second unit. He should'a been given an opportunity on the first with AI out of the lineup. You should have your best players on the 1st unit.

It's not that simple. And it's not like Vilardi has played particularly well.

 

[johnjm22]

You know who sits 23rd? Colorado, with 1 more 5v5 goals in 1 fewer game. They also have 21 5v4 goals, to the Kings 22.

Yep. And Colorado has been disappointing so far. There's a correlation.

But yes, the Kings are closer to 31st in 5v5 goals(Buf, 34) than they are 14th(Phi, 53). Kopitar has never had more PP points than ES points in a season.

Kopitar's even strength production right now is about as bad as it's ever been in his entire career. The PP points are just covering up the deficiency.

The Kings are weak and slow at center. That's their biggest problem. Nobody seems to care though.


Look at how the Bruins changed their usage of Bergeron once he hit 31 years old:

The Kings did the exact opposite with Kopitar.

The front office and coaching staff just can't seem to figure out efficient player utilization.

 

[Herby]

Like to see the Kings bring up Byfield and put him on the LWing along with Kempe on the RWing and give it a 10 game spam of games...Vilardi with Athanasiou and Turcotte too...Grundstrom with Lias Andersson and Fagemo and JAD with Kupari and...Lizotte,Amadio,Moore,Wags...the Kings sure would look like a Speedy line up to contend with

You want to call up 5 players from Ontario, of which only 2 of those have played well enough to warrant one? Ontario is the worst team in the AHL, how does bringing up almost half their forward group help the Kings at the NHL level?

Who gets waived to bring up those 5 players?