GDT: 2020-21 season game 31 LA Kings vs San Jose Sharks @7:30pm 3/22/21

[BigKing]

You generally can't rely on just being really good at special teams and expect to be a contender: you have to be good 5 v 5. Bad night on the power play so they lose to a trash team.

There are tons of positives for this season but bemoaning MacDermid getting minutes and/or hoping Blake adds for a playoff push is a case of getting excited too early and being impatient. Even if they made the playoffs, they would get waxed once the whistles get put away more than they are in the regular season. The COVID scheduling and shortened season make it hard to really gauge what's going on when looking at W/L record as a whole. We've also seen the 2018 season so to expect 11/23/8 to keep up this level of production is definitely wishful thinking: especially in the case of 23 and 11.

I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing on the ice as it is really nice progress from where this franchise was when it bottomed out two seasons ago. I feel like I'm watching a team that won't surprise me if they get waxed by any team in the league but also won't surprise me if they beat any team. That's a big step from where they were, in my opinion...it just doesn't mean they are a playoff caliber team.

 

[BigKing]

Don't care if the Kings are/aren't a "playoff" team, don't care if they get swept in the playoffs.....they should make it for the 4 game experience for the young players and Peterson.

Just being in the mix and playing tense games towards the end of the regular season is good enough for now when compared to the value of the higher draft pick. Have to think that this pick will be in play as part of a move for a legit NHL'er. I'll take that valuable piece over a four game sweep of a playoff series with no fans in attendance.

 

[bouncesonly]

Just being in the mix and playing tense games towards the end of the regular season is good enough for now when compared to the value of the higher draft pick. Have to think that this pick will be in play as part of a move for a legit NHL'er. I'll take that valuable piece over a four game sweep of a playoff series with no fans in attendance.

I'll take the 4 game sweep without fans over a "valuable piece" that is tbd.....probably famous last words when half the 1st round picks from the 2021 drafts end up being HOF'er, heh.

 

[DoktorJeep]

The Kings have stayed respectable through March so far. The special teams are still great with the #4 PK and #11 PP. The weakness shows in the #19 and #20 rankings for GF and GA, respectively. They are 4-5-2 this month with 3 games to go. So they can still put up a .600+ points percentage, which keeps them in the hunt for a top four spot.

Biggest area of concern for me is the breakout at even strength. Based on viewings, the team seems to struggle moving the puck up ice when starting deep in their zone. The amount of off sides, icings and turnovers is tough to watch.

It’s resulting in weaker forechecking and less offensive zone time by my informal account. Moving Kempe and Carter to center seems to be the response from the coaches. I’m not sure that’s any kind of actual solution, just a band aid at best and likely a failed tactic if it keeps reoccurring.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Very boring and choppy game with not much flow. Making the playoffs looks like a real long shot. VG, Colorado and St. Louis were always a lock, but Minny came out of the blue as a hot team this year. That said, it is generally very fun to watch these games, as they are actually meaningful with the team at least trying to make the playoffs. Past two years were painful to watch. I think moving forward, we should give Turcotte a look and have Lizotte sit or have Carter move to the wing and play with Turcotte. I wouldn't mind having Vilardi sit a few games either, as he has been invisible lately. It will be good for him to get rest and challenged by being a healthy scratch.

 

[Lt Dan]

uh kings have owned st louis.

having a team's number and being better than them are two very different things

 

[bland]

Wow glad I missed the game. I caught a few minutes during the first and second periods but from reading the comments glad I skipped the third. Frustrating but expected so doesn't sting as much. Hey at least McDerp won a fight unfortunately he scored two goals for the Sharks.

MacDermid actually played really well. The first goal had absolutely nothing to do with him, it was 100% on Quick. The second one was defended well - MacDermid put him wide and forced him around the net, but the error occured when he didn't hand him off and he cut across the crease. If MacDermid holds up there it was harmless. Roy had a similar chance against him later, but he wisely stayed on the pass, boxed out his man and let the Shark attacker try to stuff it in on a low percentage chance. Still, the vast majority of the time nothing happens in the same set of circumstances.

The rest of the game saw the Kings dominate the flow, but they short-armed their chances. Lots of flinging it into Jones instead of bearing down. Pretty sure this is the fatigue McLellan was discussing postgame. Very little oomph coming from the forwards. Oh, and a comical last minute and a half where the usual suspects decided to go to a four corners run out the clock style of attack, only to blunder their way into chances before blowing them.

 

[bland]

Very boring and choppy game with not much flow. Making the playoffs looks like a real long shot. VG, Colorado and St. Louis were always a lock, but Minny came out of the blue as a hot team this year. That said, it is generally very fun to watch these games, as they are actually meaningful with the team at least trying to make the playoffs. Past two years were painful to watch. I think moving forward, we should give Turcotte a look and have Lizotte sit or have Carter move to the wing and play with Turcotte. I wouldn't mind having Vilardi sit a few games either, as he has been invisible lately. It will be good for him to get rest and challenged by being a healthy scratch.

I thought the Lizotte line with Vilardi and Wagner was the Kings best and most focused unit last night.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[Steve Zissou]

uh kings have owned st louis.

The Blues has been decimated by injuries this year. Tarasenko just recently came back in mid March after being out the entire year. I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

The Kings just match up really well against the Blues. It's the anomally. Everything else more or less makes sense given the Kings are pretty awful 5v5 but have great special teams that can steal them games.

We may match up against thus far ok, but when they get healthy (St. Louis) and rolling it'll be quite a different game.

 

[Steve Zissou]

So which is it? Tired teams don't generate 42 shots on goal.....or they might hav had 42 shots on goal, but they were brain dead shots (hence...they were tired)

NO EXCUSES!!!

 

[Reaper45]

Very boring and choppy game with not much flow. Making the playoffs looks like a real long shot. VG, Colorado and St. Louis were always a lock, but Minny came out of the blue as a hot team this year. That said, it is generally very fun to watch these games, as they are actually meaningful with the team at least trying to make the playoffs. Past two years were painful to watch. I think moving forward, we should give Turcotte a look and have Lizotte sit or have Carter move to the wing and play with Turcotte. I wouldn't mind having Vilardi sit a few games either, as he has been invisible lately. It will be good for him to get rest and challenged by being a healthy scratch.

If the season is a wash, sit guys like Carter and let Vilardi work through his issues.

 

[Schmooley]

I sometimes think MacDermid may be better as a winger. His north south speed is not bad at all and he could really hammer the opposing defense on the forecheck. You have his presence in the lineup without having to worry about his deficiencies.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

MacDermid actually played really well. The first goal had absolutely nothing to do with him, it was 100% on Quick. The second one was defended well - MacDermid put him wide and forced him around the net, but the error occured when he didn't hand him off and he cut across the crease. If MacDermid holds up there it was harmless. Roy had a similar chance against him later, but he wisely stayed on the pass, boxed out his man and let the Shark attacker try to stuff it in on a low percentage chance. Still, the vast majority of the time nothing happens in the same set of circumstances.

The rest of the game saw the Kings dominate the flow, but they short-armed their chances. Lots of flinging it into Jones instead of bearing down. Pretty sure this is the fatigue McLellan was discussing postgame. Very little oomph coming from the forwards. Oh, and a comical last minute and a half where the usual suspects decided to go to a four corners run out the clock style of attack, only to blunder their way into chances before blowing them.

On one hand, I'm with you--loathe to blame a game on the #6 dman when there's plenty else to talk about, like the PP, or the last second.

On the other, at some point, we have to stop making excuses for pucks that end up in the net literally off him when he's in the lineup, and realize the record with him in vs. out isn't a total coincidence, it's a ripple effect. Bad plays add up. Doughty plays 30 minutes to make up for MacD's 10. A razor's edge game where you nearly double up the opponent in shots ends up in two own-goals for a loss instead of a tight win. And so on.

If you're saying you expect to make the playoffs--you can't have that. Personally, IDGAF because it looks like they've grown and will be in the mix till the end, but self inflicted shotgun wounds like this will get old quickly. I would expect more and better if a team were to profess themselves a playoff team. But this isn't the year to go 'fixing' the MacDermid spot.

 

[Bandit]

For the crosscheck on MacD during warmup? Seems weird to slap that on the coach since he's not even out there.

 

[YP44]

sharks fined. Dare I go look at their boards?

Imagine getting fine and your ass beat. At least they won the game I guess.

 

[YP44]

For the crosscheck on MacD during warmup? Seems weird to slap that on the coach since he's not even out there.

I think the league often fines the coach for this type of shit. It is an added layer to stop it from happening. Thought is players won't do it if the coach gets fined and therefore likely takes away ice time.

 

[Lt Dan]

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

For the crosscheck on MacD during warmup? Seems weird to slap that on the coach since he's not even out there.

League shouldn't have to worry about bullshit happening before or after the game. Coach needs to control his team. Makes sense to me.

 

[YP44]

League shouldn't have to worry about bullshit happening before or after the game. Coach needs to control his team. Makes sense to me.

i find it entertaining when this stuff happens pre-game.

 

[King'sPawn]

On one hand, I'm with you--loathe to blame a game on the #6 dman when there's plenty else to talk about, like the PP, or the last second.

On the other, at some point, we have to stop making excuses for pucks that end up in the net literally off him when he's in the lineup, and realize the record with him in vs. out isn't a total coincidence, it's a ripple effect. Bad plays add up. Doughty plays 30 minutes to make up for MacD's 10. A razor's edge game where you nearly double up the opponent in shots ends up in two own-goals for a loss instead of a tight win. And so on.

If you're saying you expect to make the playoffs--you can't have that. Personally, IDGAF because it looks like they've grown and will be in the mix till the end, but self inflicted shotgun wounds like this will get old quickly. I would expect more and better if a team were to profess themselves a playoff team. But this isn't the year to go 'fixing' the MacDermid spot.

Nobody is excusing times he's on the ice for goals against.

When MacDermid misplays it, he should get called out and hopefully he learns from it.

When the puck bounces off him as he's boxing out a player, because the goalie can't catch it, that's bad luck.

Let's say MacDermid wasn't standing there, and the Sharks player was, because MacDermid didn't try to box him out. Want to know what the conversation would have been? "Why didn't MacDermid box him out" instead of "Why didn't Quick catch it".

It's true that mental lapses cost games, just like this one. But misappropriating blame kills any chance of having a rational conversation.

There was plenty of things that went wrong. A MacDermid diagnosis is just sloppy and lazy.

 

[Groo]

Meier is a weiner.

 

[YP44]

I sometimes think MacDermid may be better as a winger. His north south speed is not bad at all and he could really hammer the opposing defense on the forecheck. You have his presence in the lineup without having to worry about his deficiencies.

easier to hide one of eight wingers than one of six d

 

[tny760]

I sometimes think MacDermid may be better as a winger. His north south speed is not bad at all and he could really hammer the opposing defense on the forecheck. You have his presence in the lineup without having to worry about his deficiencies.

was it stothers that tried him there for a game in ontario? i thought that was an interesting experiment but it was only one game if i remember correctly

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Nobody is excusing times he's on the ice for goals against.

When MacDermid misplays it, he should get called out and hopefully he learns from it.

When the puck bounces off him as he's boxing out a player, because the goalie can't catch it, that's bad luck.

Let's say MacDermid wasn't standing there, and the Sharks player was, because MacDermid didn't try to box him out. Want to know what the conversation would have been? "Why didn't MacDermid box him out" instead of "Why didn't Quick catch it".

It's true that mental lapses cost games, just like this one. But misappropriating blame kills any chance of having a rational conversation.

There was plenty of things that went wrong. A MacDermid diagnosis is just sloppy and lazy.

Which is why I attempted to explain the ripple effect instead of just laying it on Kurtis, as well as pointed out that many other things went wrong. We didn't lose because of him--but we nearly won in spite of him.

I like him. I like the toughness he brings, I like the effort. I like the example he sets for his teammates and this is exactly the year we should have him around. But at some point, like Jack Johnson's endless minuses, the record with Macdermid in the lineup will matter and mean more down the road. We can't just handwave everything off, either. I'm going to continue calling it like I see it and if that rustles jimmies welp, so be it.

But in the end, my point is more I don't understand why people want to coddle this guy--when the expectations are raised, the 'aw shucks at least he tried' needs to go away. We're in that weird middle ground. As a tank team, absolutely, put him in. As a playoff team, trade him far the f*** away and make a move for an experienced depth guy. As a black hole team--play him sure but realize that the fringe guys on this roster are actively hurting us as well and don't be upset when it gets called.