GDT: 2022-23 season game 26 LA Kings vs Arizona Coyotes @7:30pm 12/1/22

[kingsfan28]

I don’t care who Fiala plays like. But there’s no one like him on the team and he’s the best player.

I saw a few people a day or two ago comparing him to Kempe. But Kempe is a floater who can’t create anything. All he has is a good shot and hands (that he barely uses). A great skater but he’s always floating.

And I gotta admit I am tired of Kempe acting like he wants to go when we all know damn well his gloves are glued on.

Would've been nice if he dropped them last game vs Dunn in ot. At least they wouldn't have been called for too many men.

 

[Statto]

When I said since Ziggy I didn't mean better at any level than Ziggy. Ziggy was world class and one of my favorite Kings of all time. That comparison is only as a person who has that type of skill. Yeah I'll take Ziggy all day every day. Although I'm loving Fiala as well. Man he's been pretty damn impressive this whole season so far.

Your statement was fine, you said SINCE Palffy, you never actually compared them.

 

[kilowatt]

You do realize that Durzi is the only dman who can pass and score on the pp, right?

When the other options are Doughty and Roy, sure. I’d rather see Clarke and Spence out there instead.

 

[HookKing]

I don’t see how he’s there results wise?
Zigggy was a ppg player, had 3 - 40g seasons and 3 - 30g seasons.. on a crap Islanders team and then on a one line Kings team.

I guess you could say he’s Pálffy-lite, lite but that’s as far as it gets

Well, if I wanted to be snarky I would call you an arrogant dumbshit -- but I won't. Maybe your just math challenged. KF so far with the Kings is about 1.07 points per game. Ziggy in his first year with the Kings was slighly less than that.

 

[Sol]

Fiala is our most talented player, no doubt there..
what I want to see is Kempe either step up and get his head in the game or just drop him to the second or third..
This is the first game all season where Kempe has been engaged from start to finish.. that needs to continue!

Yeah Kempe is very visibly taking many games off. He's almost always floating. And the proof? How many breakways has Kempe had this season while being the fastest skater on the team?

 

[King'sPawn]

- Bjornfot bjelongs
- Durzi still atrocious defensively even when on his strong side, but he is great offensively
- Arvidsson looking better, but that was a bad pass to Durzi leading to the goal.
- Kaliyev being used to generate offense with his shot? Whoda thunk it? It's almost as if he should get more time
- Lizotte makes his linemates better. People need to stop wanting to trade him.
- Fagemo and Grundstrom are both very good bottom six players and hopefully get more time to gel.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Yeah Kempe is very visibly taking many games off. He's almost always floating. And the proof? How many breakways has Kempe had this season while being the fastest skater on the team?

Kempe leaves his body for 10 games at a time and goes to some other dimension.. Last year - first 8 games: 1G 1A.. then a stretch in Feb - 10 game scoreless streak. For last month he had 9 scoreless games out of 14 total. I wonder wtf is wrong w him.. maybe Fiala with the bigger salary and clearly better has him a little put off

 

[BigKing]

Stop crying. I missed the eight goals on Tuesday and was scared of a two goal game tonight. Instead, I got the same team I've seen all year just with names we like more.

Let's ride!!!

 

[Steve Zissou]

Kempe leaves his body for 10 games at a time and goes to some other dimension.. Last year - first 8 games: 1G 1A.. then a stretch in Feb - 10 game scoreless streak. For last month he had 9 scoreless games out of 14 total.

Fiala at least brings it every night. On 3-4 nights he was straight up beastin'.

Like Lizotte, I think Fiala drags others into the fight, albeit in more of an offensive way.

I wonder wtf is wrong w him.. maybe Fiala with the bigger salary and clearly better has him a little put off

Kempe has now shown over the past few years he can be a bit streaky – It doesn't have anything to do with Fiala.

Probably the best game Grubauer has played as a Kraken. Came up huge when the team needed it

 

[Kudelski37]

Kempe leaves his body for 10 games at a time and goes to some other dimension.. Last year - first 8 games: 1G 1A.. then a stretch in Feb - 10 game scoreless streak. For last month he had 9 scoreless games out of 14 total. I wonder wtf is wrong w him.. maybe Fiala with the bigger salary and clearly better has him a little put off

He has hit the post a lot and it looked like he had a bad batch or two of sticks. He had a long streak of breaking his stick on one timers.

 

[Statto]

They still need to find a way to drop Doughty’s minutes. That’s part of the problem with having a RHD that you can’t trust 5/5. Durzi played 15 minutes (2:19 on pp) to Doughty‘s 28 (3:44 pp) Roy played 17 with zero pp time. That’s just not sustainable and is never going to get the best out of Doughty. Clarke or Spence can probably eat more 5/5 minutes and be just as effective on the pp, even if it takes some time/games for them to get there. They need to get the balance better and to do that need defencemen that don‘t need excessive sheltering. Björnfot played more minutes (18:53, 0 pp) than both Durzi and Roy… it’s crazy with the right side talent sitting there ready to go. It needs resolving by the time Clarke is back from the WJC, assuming he goes, if not before then.

 

[lumbergh]

They still need to find a way to drop Doughty’s minutes. That’s part of the problem with having a RHD that you can’t trust 5/5. Durzi played 15 minutes (2:19 on pp) to Doughty‘s 28 (3:44 pp) Roy played 17 with zero pp time. That’s just not sustainable and is never going to get the best out of Doughty. Clarke or Spence can probably eat more 5/5 minutes and be just as effective on the pp, even if it takes some time/games for them to get there. They need to get the balance better and to do that need defencemen that don‘t need excessive sheltering. Björnfot played more minutes (18:53, 0 pp) than both Durzi and Roy… it’s crazy with the right side talent sitting there ready to go. It needs resolving by the time Clarke is back from the WJC, assuming he goes, if not before then.

Doughty has demonstrated season after season that he can play those minutes. For the past 14 seasons he has averaged 26 minutes per game. Plus you have to minimize Durzi's non-power play minutes.

The way the Kings D lined up last night at even strength:

Anderson-Doughty: 20-22 minutes
Bjornfot-Roy: 16-18 minutes
Edler-Durzi: 12 minutes

I think that's a good distribution for the personnel they have out there.

 

[lumbergh]

Kopitar still doing Kopitar things. People keep expecting him to fall off a cliff and here he is at age 35 at 0.8 points per game, 20 goal, 65 point pace, at 20 minutes per game.

 

[Omni Owl]

Nice to see Bjornfot called up and immediately look good, hope he sticks. Durzi is the wild card, his offensive ability is the only reason he's still in the lineup. We're still missing Pepe and Iafallo, hopefully Byfield completes his stint and can come back swinging. Fiala can be dynamic but he still frustrates the hell out of me sometimes.

 

[psych3man]

Well, if I wanted to be snarky I would call you an arrogant dumbshit -- but I won't.

LMAO...I say to my daughters, "If I wasn't so classy a guy I would say I told you so, but I'm way too classy to say I told you so, so I won't"

 

[Statto]

Doughty has demonstrated season after season that he can play those minutes. For the past 14 seasons he has averaged 26 minutes per game. Plus you have to minimize Durzi's non-power play minutes.

He can but he shouldn’t. Shaving a few minutes off his game will help him be sharper and mean by the play-offs he has some energy.

I completely agree about minimising Durzi‘s non pp minutes, that’s the point. Spence or even Clarke don’t need to be sheltered that badly and both can QB a power play.

 

[Mats26]

Any word on Lias Andersson? Seems to have been lost in the suffle a bit.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Any word on Lias Andersson? Seems to have been lost in the suffle a bit.

Yah, he played a few games ago and was invisible as usual.

 

[mysterman2]

- Bjornfot bjelongs
- Durzi still atrocious defensively even when on his strong side, but he is great offensively
- Arvidsson looking better, but that was a bad pass to Durzi leading to the goal.
- Kaliyev being used to generate offense with his shot? Whoda thunk it? It's almost as if he should get more time
- Lizotte makes his linemates better. People need to stop wanting to trade him.
- Fagemo and Grundstrom are both very good bottom six players and hopefully get more time to gel.

Agreed on all of the above....Bjornfot still room to mature and grow but overall looked good with Roy. Durzi always going to be rough defensively but can contribute on the PP. That was a huge criticism with TMAC; doesnt have Durzi on PP1 but does have him on the PK. WTF?

Grundstrom close to a 20 goal pace this season getting 3rd line minutes. Hes got a good shot and wonder why Tmac never throws him any PP time. When Kempe is in hibernation mode why not give him a shot? Question is rhetorical however as we all know TMAC incapable of making in game adjustments. Kaliyevs usage as well evidence of misuse or players deserving of more minutes.

I was indifferent to Lizotte but he has proven to be a smart heady player...that play in the 3rd to simply skate the puck out and relieve pressure maybe the game saver- not sure why Lizotte doesnt get more time on the PK.

Arviddson playing great, Fiala a total beast. Kings really 1 top 4 dman away from being a solid team apart from goaltending woes.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Kopitar still doing Kopitar things. People keep expecting him to fall off a cliff and here he is at age 35 at 0.8 points per game, 20 goal, 65 point pace, at 20 minutes per game.

you forgot to mention stealing the org's money.

- Fagemo and Grundstrom are both very good bottom six players and hopefully get more time to gel.

No clue how you've come to that assessment of Fagemo after last night's game.

 

[mysterman2]

No clue how you've come to that assessment of Fagemo after last night's game.

Cant speak for KP nor do I need to- but the combo of watching his play style in Ontario and getting his first NHL point last night as a 22 year old rookie maybe just gives some evidence the kid might be an NHLer.

 

[Schmooley]

The Kopitar Defense Force is out in full swing today after he took the puck to the net for the first time 25 games into the season against a tanking Arizona Coyotes.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Kopitar Defense Force is out in full swing today after he took the puck to the net for the first time 25 games into the season against a tanking Arizona Coyotes.

Yeah he looked good offensively last night, it was nice to see him turn back the clock on the assertiveness and he was noticeably more aggressive in scrums and as a Captain. That's a huge step.

But I love that when he scores people start saying "I told you so" because that's not even the criticism. His production is fine-to-good (PP is another argument but hey); it's that he keeps losing his matchups night after night. Even last night he was down bad relative to team on possession and scoring at 5v5....that people are chest thumping over 45% CF%, 1 goal against, and on the wrong side of all the scoring chances (6 to 9) with most of the damage against done by the uber-great line of Maccelli-Guenther-Nick f***ing Bjugstad should tell you how rough he is most other nights.

in contrast, OFF Kopitar's line, Gabe Vilardi at nearly 85% CF....

But I want to be wrong, tonight was an excellent step towards leadership, some serious fire in his eyes that I haven't seen since 2018.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It sure wasn't a picasso last night but it was a gutsy way back to getting on the right track

The universe had other ideas given weird shit like Edler's skate blade and Vejmelka channeling DOminik Hasek so nice to overcome an opponent that always gives us trouble, they just have to keep ironing out the consistency and carry on. They DID minimize the egregious mistakes which was the biggest thing imo, general play has been mostly strong night-to-night, but it's like everyone on the ice was Muzzin-Martinez haha. If that goes away, we're sitting pretty.

 

[lumbergh]

Agreed on all of the above....Bjornfot still room to mature and grow but overall looked good with Roy. Durzi always going to be rough defensively but can contribute on the PP. That was a huge criticism with TMAC; doesnt have Durzi on PP1 but does have him on the PK. WTF?

I don't think there's a PP1 and PP2 anymore. Over the past few games the Danault-Arvidsson-Moore-Kaliyev-Durzi unit has actually gotten more power play time than the Kopitar-Fiala-Kempe-Vilardi-Doughty unit, and started several power plays. Probably better to just refer to them as the Durzi unit and the Doughty unit as opposed to PP1 and PP2.