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Game #13 11/04/14: Kings beat Stars 3-1!

Kopitar looked like he was ready to start getting down to business last night.

I looked at the shots on goal midway through the 3rd period, and I thought, yeah that's more like it. Of course Dallas ran up their shot total a bit after the Kings made it 3-1, but last night was much more like the Kings' hockey we are used to seeing.
 
moosehead81 said:
PP personnel had me confused too. Kopitar looked and acted out of place standing like a pylon on the blue line- maybe Sutter was trying to confuse the opposition too in hopes something good would happen.

With Kopitar back (and I think looking good), Sutter uses him at a level which essentially sucks the ice time out of Stoll and Richards who have both been coming in at 12, 13 minutes each over the past few games. My sense is that, at some point, one of Richards or Stoll will be traded for a winger, depending on whether Richards contract is tradable and depending on the continued health of both Kopitar and Carter.

Richards has been playing really well though. He, King and Brown looked like a force all night but, given history, they'll not be together next game.
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Thru 13 games so far, Richards is averaging over 15 min per game depending on how Sutter uses him. It's not likely he'll be traded , he's younger, has a higher hockey IQ, is more dangerous and if Kopi or Carter get hurt, he can move up and take their place, Stoll can't do that. That pass Richards made to Brown last night, likely not to happen if Stoll was playing
When Kopi was out and Sutter gave his minutes to the other centers, (as Jason Lewis pointed out in his article) Carter and Richards handled them well, Stoll didn't, he struggled. He's not been good most of his shifts this year and his Corsi numbers are down. Richards is a playoff warrior, and DL knows that and won't give that up and Lewis is more than capable of handling the 4th line.
 
moosehead81 said:
I'll get criticized royally for this likely, but whenever Richards has been "allowed" to play the point on the PP with the Kings, and certainly in the past with the Flyers, the resulting PP has been much more effective than any other combination I remember seeing. I don't have any data to support this (and it may be unavailable in any case), just a sense. One of the issues though, is if you load up your number 1 unit with essentially three centres (Kopitar, Carter and Richards), then you're left with that offensive machine Stoll on the second unit.
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RIchards is a good PP QB and has been all the way back to Juniors. HIs best years (points wise) as a Flyer were driven by his Special teams magic. That 80 point season (09/10) 48 of those points were Special teams (14 SH /34 PP)

When he was used on the point on the 1st unit, with DD , (Kopi, Carter, Gabby) they had more success because he doesn't 'telegraph' a play ,(pass, pass) he actually reads the situation. He moves around, looks for the best option. Has good broad ice vision. That's why the 2nd unit has picked up PP goals this year.

Sutter seems to think just putting elite players out there will get that PP goal, it won't. They have no plan, just pass and hope. Lots of time wasted and allows the other teams defenders to set up. They are predictable and anybody with video knows that pregame.
I can' t believe the Kings coaching staff looks at the PP videos and can't see how ineffective they are because they have no General out there directing.
 
Brad Doty said:
Kopitar started looking like an animal at the end of the game thoigj. Started making moves I've never even seen him try before. Gaining confidence and hell if he starts improvising aggressively like that good stuff will happen. Not really worried about kopitar once he gets up to speed especially when gaborik does as well. Nowhere to go but up now!
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Glad JW's eye wasn't serious, it looked awful when he skated off, anything near the eye is scary.

And agree on Kopi, I think part of the problem is Gabby hasn't really played since June. He got hurt in preseason and doesn't have his legs or timing yet. That ruins the fluidity and timing of that line. That will take a few more games, but that magic is coming, you can feel it.
 
Awesome to see secondary scoring while the top units finds its way.
Only beef I have is our PP, which on paper should be lethal.
Both Richards and Stoll have been used as PP QB in the past to some success. I would all for trying that on one or both the units. Especially as it could open up Doughty to blast one timers from the side boards.
 
I watched Game 2 from last year's conference final against Chicago last night because I felt like it. This team is a shell of that team so far. Gaborik had all kinds of jump and was making lots of moves. Long story short, this team has a long way to go but last night was encouraging after the track meet in the first ended. I thought Gaborik looked better last night but he seems to be shying away from contact and doesn't seem to be a top speed skating. I'm not sure if it was ever confirmed what his injury was but I'm guessing groin. Getting scoring from the bottom lines is very encouraging. Especially while Kopitar of all people seems to be struggling. He had a couple of good chances last night and played maybe his best game of the season.
 
Buddy The Elf said:
Is there a gif of Roussel beating up the Gatorade container yet?
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Ask and you shall receive.

26uFYXA.gif
 
Just looking back at this road trip, it's safe to conclude "Hero Puck"

--left That 70s Line exposed for opponent teams to dissect in an easier manner, due to the fact they were forced to do all the scoring.
--limited and still limits the team's overall scoring chances.
--made the Kings look like the 90s Mighty Ducks (read: a one-line team).
 
I'm not worried at this point....

PP... what I remember from the playoffs was that a lot of success was from having Kopitar with the puck on the half wall out there with Carter/Gaborik.... Gaborik isn't completely back yet, but him and Kopitar are looking a lot better. Once they get things going the PP will be fine. Only problem I have is why was Williams the net front presence on the PP?

A big part of scoring for the Kings is having a 3rd line that can generate offensive chances. This does 2 things. First it puts pressure on teams 3rd defensive pairing. Lot easier to get goals against AMart/Green then Muzzin/Doughty (well depending on which Muzzin is skating that night). The other thing it does is makes the Kings a threat for most of the game. When you run a line like King/Stoll/Lewis for 20 mins... you are basically saying to the other team, take 1/3 of the game off, don't worry about defense because we won't score.

The defense has looked bad this year with injuries, Voynov, and throwing guys into the fire..... once the offense starts getting it together it will take tons of pressure off of the D by scoring goals and keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

May take a few games to get everything rolling, but it should be good once it does. Remember... Positivity!!!!
 
Defensive gafs still a growing concern, attention to detail is not there. This win was more at the hands of who made more mistakes or get caught out of position by the end of the game. I'll take it, if for no other reason then to give the room a feeling of success again.
 
ThePivot said:
Defensive gafs still a growing concern, attention to detail is not there. This win was more at the hands of who made more mistakes or get caught out of position by the end of the game. I'll take it, if for no other reason then to give the room a feeling of success again.
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Yes, but there were signs of life.... The Kings can build on it and as they get their offense together the turnovers in the neutral zone leading to defensive breakdowns will lessen.
 
We are only at game 13 our gm(Dean) doesn't evaluate the team till game 20 There are many reasons for it. At this point we have seen the combos developed. Players are in season form hopefully by then. Is there reasons to be concern yes Panik heck no. The power play has been a concern of mine for years when its clicking no one beats us but it is a work in progress i guess. Richards looks good on the third line, Lewis come out of no where and played one of his best reg season games. Go King Go
 
moosehead81 said:
I'll get criticized royally for this likely, but whenever Richards has been "allowed" to play the point on the PP with the Kings, and certainly in the past with the Flyers, the resulting PP has been much more effective than any other combination I remember seeing. I don't have any data to support this (and it may be unavailable in any case), just a sense. One of the issues though, is if you load up your number 1 unit with essentially three centres (Kopitar, Carter and Richards), then you're left with that offensive machine Stoll on the second unit.
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i didn't say it, but i agree with you. i think Richards does a better job of QB than anyone on the team. i have always hated him down on the RW goal line, because of this. Sutter has played him down in the corner to often and it limits his choices to move the puck.

PP 1, I would like to see 12, 11, 14 or 23 along with 8 and 10
PP 2, I would like to see 70, 77, 73 along with 27 and 26

I think this balances out the skill and center depth so both PP units could be more effective long-term. I've always seen having two strong PP units is more advantageous than one overstocked #1 unit. The same way having 2 or 3 lines that can score at ES will always outweigh having just one top heavy scoring line. It creates a defensive match-up nightmare for an opponent.
 
theMajor said:
any news on JWill's eye? :(
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Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond · 1h 1 hour ago

Justin Williams saw eye doctor this morning. Vision still a little blurry. Stick got him REALLY close to right eye.0 replies7 retweets3 favorites


Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond · 1h 1 hour ago

Justin Williams said he won’t play tomorrow


Photo here, eye doesn't look as bad as I feared it would

https://twitter.com/lakingsinsider/status/530102844825690113/photo/1



Jon RosenVerified account ‏@lakingsinsider
Should Williams not go tomorrow, it would end the team's longest consecutive games played streak.

225 games, every game since beg. of 2011-12 season
 
deeshamrock said:

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond · 1h 1 hour ago

Justin Williams saw eye doctor this morning. Vision still a little blurry. Stick got him REALLY close to right eye.0 replies7 retweets3 favorites


Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond · 1h 1 hour ago

Justin Williams said he won’t play tomorrow


Photo here, eye doesn't look as bad as I feared it would

https://twitter.com/lakingsinsider/status/530102844825690113/photo/1



Jon RosenVerified account ‏@lakingsinsider
Should Williams not go tomorrow, it would end the team's longest consecutive games played streak.

225 games, every game since beg. of 2011-12 season
Click to expand...


Cue Matthew Berry calling him injury prone Also bragging he called it in his season predictions.
 
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