That is a result of the system. Kings don't play aggressive to create offense because they emphasize too much to protect their net. Frankly, I think some of the younger offensive players are afraid to make mistakes, hence why they have lack of creativity or shooting the puck. After Kempe/Laf, who else is shooting the puck regularly. Kings need to acquire a goal scorer via trade or free agency. This team has had lack of goal scorers, ever since the Gretzky days!
Well they didn't with only scoring 2 goals against a young backup goalie the Preds just acquired recently.
I agree. Back at the pinnacle of the Kings success, they were throwing more pucks at the net and bearing down.
Shooting the puck more might increase scoring chances, but doesn't equate exactly to more goal scoring(years ago Kings would out shoot most teams but didn't have goals to always show for it). This team overpasses because they don't show confidence in scoring goals from inside the circles. They lack goal scoring shooters. It's a problem on their PP as well. Give the Caps some credit tonight too, as they beat the Kings at their own game! For a Kings team that is top 5 in defending/GAA, their transition game from defense to offense is not very good. One thing more I'll add, where is the offense from their D?! I have said this before on these boards. The Kings don't have much of offensive threat scoring other than Doughty/Clarke on the back end. Drive more offense from the D, and you will get more scoring opportunities from the forwards. Caps have offense generated from Carlson/Chychrun/Sandin, which means opponents have to respect the Caps back end. If there is something the Kings need to address during this season and in the offseason, getting another offensive d-man and also adding a pure shooting goal scorer.
Sorry, but NHL trends are changing regarding goal scoring in general. Less teams are shooting volumes of shots and emphasizing more with creative passing/shooting off of transition/speed. That is one of the reasons why overall goal scoring is on the rise.
Far more NHL teams are going in this direction...
The lack of D offensive skill has bothered me for years.. They seem ok with a top 4 of mostly stay at home guy or puck movers - but zero offensive creativity. 8/44, 84/3 last season. None of those guys create offense.. Drew does occasionally but his game is more settling things down and breaking out.. not making plays in. the o-zone. W 84 and 44, I always get bummed when they get passed to in the o-zone because frequently the plays die on their stick. Now they have Clarke but arent really let him do his thing.. at the beginning of the season they did - and then they cut his nuts. Its basically the King philosophy to always err on the side of conservatism in play.. which they even apply to 3x3.
The days of puck rushing defensemen have disappeared for now. Hell, you hardly ever even see a defenseman join a rush to make it a three on two.
I think you're mistaking correlation vs causation. While quality of a shot is important, teams are still wanting to suppress shots in general.
My concern is that they didn't improve on their road record and their home record isn't sustainable. It's a reverse of last season.
That's happening because I have been wearing my underwear backwards all season.
