GDT: 2020-21 season game 9 LA Kings vs Anaheim Ducks @7:00pm 2/2/21

[Raccoon Jesus]

So when do the Kings start winning a few games where both teams are bad?

To be fair this is literally the first one they've played vs. the non-Avs, Wild, Blues in which they had a similar record to all three teams.

 

[Lt Dan]

To be fair this is literally the first one they've played vs. the non-Avs, Wild, Blues in which they had a similar record to all three teams.

Indeed and we were missing


AA
Lizotte
Roy
Walker

and kinda Frk

 

[Reaper45]

Well, if he would have scored the 1-0 in the first minute i am sure the team would show up.

Those stupid fights make me want to ban fighting since it archieves nothing.
Let the other teams have the fighting guys, i prefer hockey skill.

Ha go right ahead with that. I’d argue we’re a more skilled team than Minnesota but they were running us left and right. Banning fights just leads to more rats and stick swinging incidents. Bring the his back.

 

[YP44]

Youre right. They shouldn’t need it. But god imagine that game with no fight at the beginning. Maybe we get scored on ever quicker! The team didn’t show up from the get go, I’m not gonna fault the one player who did something to even try to get them going.

I literally said he was just doing his job. I have questioned the spots he picks to drop em in the past and am questioning this one too...just not sure whose decision it was.
Also maybe the Ducks got a bigger boost from the fight than LA?

 

[RaymondReddington]

Chicago f***ing swindled us offloading his contract.

Maata had a really good playoff with Chicago and I think that gave LA false hope. He sucked during the regular season.

 

[kilowatt]

Youre gonna get a Matta one?

I'm hoping I can get both Maatta and Amadio on the back, not sure how it's gonna look though so I may just get two

 

[fivehole32]

Last night the second pp unit (with mostly young guys) moved the puck fast and crisply. If they had a bit more time I think they could have scored. Otherwise the defense starting with Maata turned the puck over so much at their own blueline in the second and third periods it was difficult for the team to get anything going. Great game by Cal.

 

[Lt Dan]

Last night the second pp unit (with mostly young guys) moved the puck fast and crisply. If they had a bit more time I think they could have scored. Otherwise the defense starting with Maata turned the puck over so much at their own blueline in the second and third periods it was difficult for the team to get anything going. Great game by Cal.

LOL Seriously

We might as well just given Maata a Ducks jersey last night

 

[apocalypse]

I think we need an enforcer type forward like a Kyle Clifford on our roster again. Someone other than mcdermid to enforce because well, he shouldn't even be on our roster. I think that would settle the team down greatly.

 

[BigKing]

RE: MacDermid

- Losing him for five minutes is a bigger deal when he's supposed to be getting Top 4 minutes so I get the argument that he should stay on the ice. It's just kind of funny because many on here would be happy if he wasn't even dressed but now they are bummed that he isn't available for five minutes.

- @YP44 I believe you are talking about the Lucic fight in Calgary and not the one in LA that was part of MacD's Gordie Trick. If so, MacD took a gigantic run at Lucic so Lucic tracked him down and wanted to go. MacD abides by the code so he obliged. I have zero problem with it and I'm not going to start blaming MacD when it is his teammates that can never match the intensity of other teams when other teams decide to start playing with urgency.

- MacD is a legit HW in a league that doesn't have many and he is a very imposing one because of his size. He's yet to be smoked at the NHL level and you generally feel he is going to win his fights. So when an effective forward--at least against LA this year--in Foligno initiates a fight against a guy that is out of his class at the start of the 2nd game of a back-to-back in which his team lost the first and he survives it, well...his team is pumped. "Look how much Marcus wants it tonight! Let's go boys!" The Wild then run all over them and it was basically only Doughty that started trying to match what Minnesota is doing. This is a systemic problem for a couple of seasons now...even the 2018 season that some are still romantic about featured the team coming out flat and having to claw back on the scoreboard. This is not MacDermid's fault: his teammates need to get on the f***ing stick at some point.

- He and Deslauriers are going to fight at some point: it is a given between these two. Be it off the hop or "in the flow of the game", it is happening. Coaches know what they are doing with those opening lineups. Let's get it going right off the hop and set the tone for a "rivalry" game. (An aside is that these two fighting is the only semblance of a rivalry between these two teams lately: total snoozefests every time). Neither the Foligno fight or this one were big victories for MacDermid but I feel he controlled both of them with Foligno being spared after falling and Deslauriers throwing in the towel. Problem is, again, one team came out of the fight ready to play and one team did not with, no surprise, the Kings being the latter once again.

So you want to basically tell MacD to not fight because it only helps the other team but, sorry, this guy doesn't get many takers so he is going to roll when he gets the chance. It is a big reason why he is in the NHL. Now, if the Kings just went up two goals against an opponent that is playing uninspired and then he fights a guy off of the faceoff then we can have a discussion. But 0-0 and three seconds in to the game should not be a problem unless he gets KO'd and it takes the wind out of the Kings sails. The real problem--and one that needs to be addressed for awhile now--is that the Kings don't seem to have any f***ing wind in their sails to begin with.

 

[Lt Dan]

I think we need an enforcer type forward like a Kyle Clifford on our roster again. Someone other than mcdermid to enforce because well, he shouldn't even be on our roster. I think that would settle the team down greatly.

I like MacD and would love him as our 6th d-man. It is good to have a big body back there to clear the net.
But we definitely can't have him off the ice for 5 minutes at a time when he is technically our #3 dman.

It's time to call up Boko Cop

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

No offense but I feel like anyone who thinks Boko Imama can hang in the NHL has never seen him play hockey or is just extremely drunk after last night.

 

[tny760]

It's just kind of funny because many on here would be happy if he wasn't even dressed but now they are bummed that he isn't available for five minutes.

 

[BigKing]

I like MacD and would love him as our 6th d-man. It is good to have a big body back there to clear the net.
But we definitely can't have him off the ice for 5 minutes at a time when he is technically our #3 dman.

It's time to call up Boko Cop

He's not a very good fighter and he's not worth taking a spot from anyone on the 4th line. I say this as a guy that loves fighters and fighting.

MacD is not going to be expected to play 18 minutes a night for very long and there isn't enough fighting anyways for him going off the ice to be a concern because he isn't going to get in that many fights.

He has 12 career fights in 97 games. 25% of them are against Deslauriers and nearly half of them are against Anaheim.

Maybe this ramps up a bit due to the series scheduling this year but it isn't going to be a problem most of the time: not enough of a problem to force Imama in to the lineup.

All that said, I hope Reaves finally stops dicking around and accepts a fight from MacDermid in the next two games.

 

[Master Yoda]

I'm hoping I can get both Maatta and Amadio on the back, not sure how it's gonna look though so I may just get two

Amaattio. Just saved you a 100 bucks

 

[tny760]

Amaattio. Just saved you a 100 bucks

i think i'm going to be sick

 

[KINGS17]

I like MacD and would love him as our 6th d-man. It is good to have a big body back there to clear the net.
But we definitely can't have him off the ice for 5 minutes at a time when he is technically our #3 dman.

It's time to call up Boko Cop

Tough way to make a living at minor league pay.

 

[tny760]

All that said, I hope Reaves finally stops dicking around and accepts a fight from MacDermid in the next two games.

feels like reaves might actually be able to land something on mac, mac dominates most fights with reach advantage but reaves has a strong upper body, he might be able to pull mac in

would be a good fight either way

 

[BigKing]

feels like reaves might actually be able to land something on mac, mac dominates most fights with reach advantage but reaves has a strong upper body, he might be able to pull mac in

would be a good fight either way

You just want to see two Top 5 guys go at it. Reaves has declined it every time because he doesn't follow the code and only fights on "his terms".

He does love running around on the Kings though and acting like a clown when MacD isn't in the lineup.

 

[YP44]

RE: MacDermid

- Losing him for five minutes is a bigger deal when he's supposed to be getting Top 4 minutes so I get the argument that he should stay on the ice. It's just kind of funny because many on here would be happy if he wasn't even dressed but now they are bummed that he isn't available for five minutes.

- @YP44 I believe you are talking about the Lucic fight in Calgary and not the one in LA that was part of MacD's Gordie Trick. If so, MacD took a gigantic run at Lucic so Lucic tracked him down and wanted to go. MacD abides by the code so he obliged. I have zero problem with it and I'm not going to start blaming MacD when it is his teammates that can never match the intensity of other teams when other teams decide to start playing with urgency.

- MacD is a legit HW in a league that doesn't have many and he is a very imposing one because of his size. He's yet to be smoked at the NHL level and you generally feel he is going to win his fights. So when an effective forward--at least against LA this year--in Foligno initiates a fight against a guy that is out of his class at the start of the 2nd game of a back-to-back in which his team lost the first and he survives it, well...his team is pumped. "Look how much Marcus wants it tonight! Let's go boys!" The Wild then run all over them and it was basically only Doughty that started trying to match what Minnesota is doing. This is a systemic problem for a couple of seasons now...even the 2018 season that some are still romantic about featured the team coming out flat and having to claw back on the scoreboard. This is not MacDermid's fault: his teammates need to get on the f***ing stick at some point.

- He and Deslauriers are going to fight at some point: it is a given between these two. Be it off the hop or "in the flow of the game", it is happening. Coaches know what they are doing with those opening lineups. Let's get it going right off the hop and set the tone for a "rivalry" game. (An aside is that these two fighting is the only semblance of a rivalry between these two teams lately: total snoozefests every time). Neither the Foligno fight or this one were big victories for MacDermid but I feel he controlled both of them with Foligno being spared after falling and Deslauriers throwing in the towel. Problem is, again, one team came out of the fight ready to play and one team did not with, no surprise, the Kings being the latter once again.

So you want to basically tell MacD to not fight because it only helps the other team but, sorry, this guy doesn't get many takers so he is going to roll when he gets the chance. It is a big reason why he is in the NHL. Now, if the Kings just went up two goals against an opponent that is playing uninspired and then he fights a guy off of the faceoff then we can have a discussion. But 0-0 and three seconds in to the game should not be a problem unless he gets KO'd and it takes the wind out of the Kings sails. The real problem--and one that needs to be addressed for awhile now--is that the Kings don't seem to have any f***ing wind in their sails to begin with.

yes I was talking about the one in Calgary. I was at that Game. Kings were in complete control up to that point. MacD took a couple runs at lucic. It was clear MacD wanted that fight. It changed that game for the worse. The energy in the building completely changed.

edit: and I get trying to establish yourself in the NHL by taking on a guy like Lucic..just was completely wrong time

 

[Statto]

Yeah but that’s not MacDermids fault. Doesn’t matter if it’s a fight at the start of the game or after a play like say Foligno ran Lizotte or whatever situation and then MacDermid fought him. That’s Blake’s fault. If your only physical presence is a defenseman you’re gonna be short on defensemen more often than not. Just another reason why this team could use another tough forward. So if Bennett really requested a trade from Calgary, Blake damn well better be making an offer.

MacD has to deal with the situation as is, not as we’d like it. The fight was badly timed at best and did nothing to help. As far as we know it may have had a negative effect given how poorly we played after it, not to mention Deslauriers seemed inspired with the Gordie Howe. He may have lost the fight but further messing up our D was a case of ‘job done’. MacD absolutely has to pick his spots better and with the issues on D probably not at all.

 

[YP44]

MacD has to deal with the situation as is, not as we’d like it. The fight was badly timed at best and did nothing to help. As far as we know it may have had a negative effect given how poorly we played after it, not to mention Deslauriers seemed inspired with the Gordie Howe. He may have lost the fight but further messing up our D was a case of ‘job done’. MacD absolutely has to pick his spots better and with the issues on D probably not at all.

I again ask though how much of the face off fights is the players or the coaches? MacD normally is not out there for first shift of the game so the coaches knew what was going on. MacD could have just been doing his job and TM needs to figure out a different way to light a fire under his team, like you said, all that did was inspire the ducks

 

[Statto]

Ha go right ahead with that. I’d argue we’re a more skilled team than Minnesota but they were running us left and right. Banning fights just leads to more rats and stick swinging incidents. Bring the his back.

Players that cheap shot don’t decide not to because the other team has a couple of tough guys. They do it in the hope of a retaliation most of the time. It might make a difference at some low levels but certainly not in modern pro hockey... add to that the enforcers are the ones normally committing most of the infractions. Fighting was there as part of the entertainment, nothing more in the modern game. The ‘code’ is the myth used to excuse it when it’s nothing more than an arbitrary set of rules that get modified as needed to support dumb fights.

 

[YP44]

the code has changed but fighting belongs in the game still

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Players that cheap shot don’t decide not to because the other team has a couple of tough guys. They do it in the hope of a retaliation most of the time. It might make a difference at some low levels but certainly not in modern pro hockey... add to that the enforcers are the ones normally committing most of the infractions. Fighting was there as part of the entertainment, nothing more in the modern game. The ‘code’ is the myth used to excuse it when it’s nothing more than an arbitrary set of rules that get modified as needed to support dumb fights.

If we were playing Matthew Tkachuk 8 times this year with the team we currently have, I would gladly toss 2 points that we're likely to lose anyway to take an instigator if he's going to run around.

You're absolutely right that this stuff is largely out of the game (player policing) but at a certain point it's less about "stopping" a Tkachuk, Marchand, Perron from running around (as you point out, they're enjoying the extra 2) and much, much more about showing your teammates you're there to stick up for them and you're in a battle together.

I mean in that same Wild game Wagner took a half assed run at Kaprizov and Soucy went over to let him know f*** off, we know what happened next. Soucy is a total chode but I loved that from him. I know these guys largely won't do it for Kopitar/Doughty--what happens if someone absolutely runs Kaliyev? JAD? Does no one do anything? We know guys like Mitchell, Regehr would rip someone's head off for a teammate and I'm not sure these Kings would do anything. That's worrying from a team culture standpoint. When your spiciest players are Kempe and Wagner...

Even at the mediocre levels I've played at, I don't care so much if someone 'stops' a hack from doing something as much as I care I know they'll have my back when that guy has me on the ground in front of the net.