Game 1: Lost Angeles Kings 1 @ Those Guys 2

[ScoreZeGoals]

Brown is a lot more than slightly overpaid

 

[KingTrouty]

Brown is a lot more than slightly overpaid

Just a scoach, Goals

It's a killer, but it is what it is. Toews may be an absolute albatross contract in a year or two, if not this year. Not sure if this makes you feel any better.

We're not getting rid of Brown unless he retires early. He won't.

 

[chosen]

Fine, worst top line wings in the NHL by far.

Chimera is on the Islanders top line.

 

[Yitz]

Chimera is on the Islanders top line.

No he isn't.

 

[YP44]

any team missing their top two LW would be feeling the effects, so I am not going to dump on the offence yet.
Greene looked terrible in the first but then pretty good after that. I was all over him yelling at the TV during the first period but it got better.
Carter looked un motivated as did Brown to skate hard for loose pucks.
I liked most of what Forbort did.
I do not like Nolan but him and Clifford did their jobs. They created energy and banged.

How long is Matt Murray injured for? Maybe LA will pick up Condon on waivers once Murray is back.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

What I am seeing is the Kings getting bypassed by other teams in the speed/skill area. This team looks worse than last year's to me. And, as we all know, there isn't enough cap space to do anything dramatic to change things.

When were the Kings faster/more skilled than the competition?

any team missing their top two LW would be feeling the effects, so I am not going to dump on the offence yet.
Greene looked terrible in the first but then pretty good after that. I was all over him yelling at the TV during the first period but it got better.
Carter looked un motivated as did Brown to skate hard for loose pucks.
I liked most of what Forbort did.
I do not like Nolan but him and Clifford did their jobs. They created energy and banged.

How long is Matt Murray injured for? Maybe LA will pick up Condon on waivers once Murray is back.

Soooooo many people are forgetting this.

NOt that Gabby and Pearson are our saviors, but that does major major things to our offensive depth, and gives us roughly three 'scoring' lines as opposed to what we iced last night.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Dustin Brown 17:32 of ice time, Jeff Carter 15:17 of ice time, Tyler Toffoli 16:05. You can't have Brown and Setoguchi playing more than Carter and Toffoli.

 

[YP44]

Dustin Brown 17:32 of ice time, Jeff Carter 15:17 of ice time, Tyler Toffoli 16:05. You can't have Brown and Setoguchi playing more than Carter and Toffoli.

Maybe Carter is still nursing his foot. I would have liked to see Toffoli get more ice time though ya.

Setoguchi looked pretty good to me. Looked like he was trying to skate hard and get after it out there.

Like I said I am not going to dump on the offence till at least Pearson is back.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Maybe Carter is still nursing his foot. I would have liked to see Toffoli get more ice time though ya.

Setoguchi looked pretty good to me. Looked like he was trying to skate hard and get after it out there.

Like I said I am not going to dump on the offence till at least Pearson is back.

Setoguchi looked like he belonged. If you look at his career numbers when he had his big year he took a lot of shots. Since that big season the shot totals have dwindled which to me means the rest of the NHL figured out how to limit his shots on goal by forcing him to areas of the ice he's not comfortable in. 81 games played, 31 goals, 34 assists, 65 points and 246 shots on goal in 08-09. Since that season he hasn't hit 200 shots on goal. In 13-14 he played in 75 games and only took 129 shots, or 117 less than his career year. All his other numbers have remained relatively similar despite the off ice issues but I think his point totals are tied to heavy shots on goal. Last night:no shots on goal. Brown, Kopitar and Setoguchi total 2 shots on goal, that's not gonna get it done.

 

[mattgkg]

Dustin Brown 17:32 of ice time, Jeff Carter 15:17 of ice time, Tyler Toffoli 16:05. You can't have Brown and Setoguchi playing more than Carter and Toffoli.

while i agree. I think it's to force them into ******** or getting off the pot of the brown resurgence and just to bury him in bottom 6 and have him play against similar skilled competition because the game has passed him by.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Dustin Brown 17:32 of ice time, Jeff Carter 15:17 of ice time, Tyler Toffoli 16:05. You can't have Brown and Setoguchi playing more than Carter and Toffoli.

Carter and Toffoli were killing penalties more than Kopitar and Brown last night. One fewer shift for Carter and Toffoli than Kopitar and Brown.

 

[onlyalad]

Not the worst game ever.
Kings lost 2-1 with no Gabby, no Pearson and 2/3 no Quick.
Brown was not the issue, I am not saying he is an all star, just that he was in front of the net a couple of time and had some chances. I think he had a better game than Carter. Because of the World Cup, the Kings are still in preseason mode a bit. Gabby(and maybe Quick) will be out a while. If they can play 500 hockey they should be ok.

 

[lexlavender]

I don't think Martinez can play right side. All I kept seeing last night was him fumbling the puck or turning it over because of the extra time it takes him to get the puck. McNabb was an adventure last night as well.

I really hope both of them figure it out. If not, Sutter needs to move away from them as a pairing together.

 

[YP44]

Not the worst game ever.
Kings lost 2-1 with no Gabby, no Pearson and 2/3 no Quick.
Brown was not the issue, I am not saying he is an all star, just that he was in front of the net a couple of time and had some chances. I think he had a better game than Carter. Because of the World Cup, the Kings are still in preseason mode a bit. Gabby(and maybe Quick) will be out a while. If they can play 500 hockey they should be ok.

I agree with the first part (Green), disagree with the red. As an example Brown just stood around when he lost his stick and there was a few times he held up instead of finishing his checks. I don't think Carter played well, but he played better than Brown IMO. That said at this point I expect more out of Carter than Brown so maybe Brown played closer to expectation than Carter.

 

[KingsFan7824]

3-8 against SJ since last year, including 1-6 in the last 7 games.

Gaborik has been hurt or not really there in those last 7 games. Toffoli has the 1 goal from last night.

Nov 30th at home against the Sharks, where the Sharks were 5-0 last year. Then a home and home around the new year.

 

[YP44]

I don't think Martinez can play right side. All I kept seeing last night was him fumbling the puck or turning it over because of the extra time it takes him to get the puck. McNabb was an adventure last night as well.

I really hope both of them figure it out. If not, Sutter needs to move away from them as a pairing together.

there was a lot of fumbling the puck and very few crisp passes. The team looked like it forgot how to read one another and communicate. One came so hopefully they figure it out.

 

[lexlavender]

Until Gabby comes back, I'd like to try something like this with the forward lines:

Pearson Kopitar Purcell
King Carter Toffoli
Brown Shore Lewis
Clifford/Andreoff Dowd Seto
Nolan

The first line has a good mix of size and scoring, and puts Purcell on his correct wing. Second line has had proven success for a little, although it isn't sustainable. Also might jumpstart King. Third line is a proven possession line. Fourth has scoring potential as well. Dowd/Shore and Lewis/Seto can be moved up and down through the bottom as needed.

 

[YP44]

Until Gabby comes back, I'd like to try something like this with the forward lines:

Pearson Kopitar Purcell
King Carter Toffoli
Brown Shore Lewis
Clifford/Andreoff Dowd Seto
Nolan

The first line has a good mix of size and scoring, and puts Purcell on his correct wing. Second line has had proven success for a little, although it isn't sustainable. Also might jumpstart King. Third line is a proven possession line. Fourth has scoring potential as well. Dowd/Shore and Lewis/Seto can be moved up and down through the bottom as needed.

I don't like King on the second but I understand what you are doing there. I think Setoguchi looked good with Kopitar and I would keep him there for a bit.
I want to see Dowd in and Andreoff out.

 

[Basilisk]

Keith Jones commented that the Kings don't have enough depth.


True or False?



I think Dowd will eventually take the spot vacated by Stoll, when our 3C was considered one of the deepest in the league. Dowd had very good chemistry with Purcell during the pre-season. IMHO, it was silly to not play them together. Then again, DS does this thing where, if the team loses, someone sits for the next game, so Dowd will probably be in for somebody next game.....


I think LaDue will eventually take the spot vacated by Voynov, when our 2nd pairing RD was considered one of the best in the league.


As for replacing Lucic? Well.......


We'll have no answer for replacing Lucic, but if Kempe learns center really well, maybe, just maybe he can eventually center the 4th line and magically give the Kings four lines that can score. LoL, maybe Auger can one day replace Lucic? I'm kidding!


And for the injury to Quick..... Back in 2013/2014, that whole Cup season started with Quick getting injured early on. Due to this, the team had to put an extra emphasis on team D. Enhanced team D lead to inflated numbers by Martin Jones and Ben Scrivens...... lol, peeps were thinking we had gods as goalies. Not really. It was just incredible team D in the face of adversity. Will the team step-up their D for Zatkoff? I don't know. I do know, however, that I had a lot more faith in Jones/Scrivens than I do in Zatkoff/Budaj......

 

[deeshamrock]

Remember when the Kings had the ability to move the puck and connect with passes? Seems like so long ago...

Philly should be an interesting home opener as they'll be without Brayden Schenn and Radko Gudas. Giroux, Simmonds and Gostisbehere will probably make the cement footed Kings give chase however.

Won't miss Schenn or Gudas, but do miss Del Zotto. Simmonds isn't a fast or good skater, just strong, esp in front of or around the other teams net. But it's often that he's the one left behind, just not a great skater..

And Giroux doesn't seem to be over whatever Pavelski did to him in that first WC preliminary game. And he's not the threat for speed , as much as the best line (at least thru preseason) Voracek-Couturier and Konecky. Speed, skill, puck possession, and it's good to finally see Cooter get the skill on wing he's deserved.
Ghost had a strong WC that should translate well into this season and Provorov has been as billed, fast and smart.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Keith Jones commented that the Kings don't have enough depth.


True or False?

It's clearly an issue, and that much more so without a couple guys in the lineup. That doesn't mean it can't change though.

 

[YP44]

Won't miss Schenn or Gudas, but do miss Del Zotto. Simmonds isn't a fast or good skater, just strong, esp in front of or around the other teams net. But it's often that he's the one left behind, just not a great skater..

And Giroux doesn't seem to be over whatever Pavelski did to him in that first WC preliminary game. And he's not the threat for speed , as much as the best line (at least thru preseason) Voracek-Couturier and Konecky. Speed, skill, puck possession, and it's good to finally see Cooter get the skill on wing he's deserved.
Ghost had a strong WC that should translate well into this season and Provorov has been as billed, fast and smart.

I think the flyers will be miss Schenn, why do you think they won't miss Schenn? Agree with you on Gudas.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Here are my take aways from the first game.

1. Overall Performance: I thought overall the team played better than expected. I was expecting a blow-out considering, just on paper alone, how much deeper the Sharks lineup is compared to the Kings. In addition, considering the demolition job they did on the Kings in the playoffs, I thought the Kings rebounded a little better.

2. Defense: I was pleased with Fobert's play. He was steady, had good outlet passes, didn't seem to get pinned down, and had a bit of a physical edge, which I did not know about. I am a big advocate of not playing Greene, but I thought he actually played pretty well last game and provided much needed physical punishment down low, which we no longer get. Now to the main point--McNabb. I have been a supporter of McNabb for the past two years and felt that he could get to a better level of play, but I am having serious doubts now. He simply can't skate and repeatedly gets pinned down in the defensive zone. He also has bad judgment and freezes when he has the puck. I am okay with giving him another 10-25 games to see if his game improves, but he should be on a short leash at this point. I would much rather have Gravel or LaDue brought up and given a chance, then have him in the lineup at this point.

3. Offense: Setoguichi did well in his first appearance. He had energy, showed skill and played well with Kopitar. I hope this wasn't just him giving his all for the first game and he can continue to get better each game, because it will basically be a free top 6 forward for us. With Gaborik and Pearson back, our winger depth will be much better--we will essentially have a full new line. I thought Clifford, AA, Lewis did as well as we can expect from them and provided good energy. King was slow as hell, as usual, starting to grow frustrated with that. Purcell played well on the Carter line and I was pleased with his play as well.

4. Goaltending: Our overall team defensive play will keep us above water for the time being. Hopefully Quick is back by New Year.

 

[Moses Doughty]

I feel like that's our closest game in a season opener in like 5 years

 

[YP44]

I feel like that's our closest game in a season opener in like 5 years

haven't won a season opener in regulation since Bernier won in London