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Muzzin taketh, and he giveth away. Kings lose to FLA 3-2

DontgoZiggy said:
I think he'll bounce back, didn't Getzlaugh go through a crap season once? Kopitar is a big man and he doesn't play as physical a game, he should be good until his early thirties. Is Doughty past his prime once he hits 27?
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I think I see what you're saying but folks sell short Kopitar's "physical" game. The guy absorbs more contact than anyone on this team and than I'd argue almost anyone in the league. He's constantly wearing one guy while another lays into him.

Omni Owl said:
I'd say both guys are having a pretty ****** year. It could be that they're declining, or that they're just beat right now. Who ****ing knows. Kopitar is infuriating me right now though, especially after watching some Ducks games and seeing how good Getzlaf is playing.

Its too early to say with Doughty, can't predict the future. Usually a player's prime is something like 23-28, but some guys are exceptions though...
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Ryan Getzlaf had a 57 point, -11 season in '11-'12 and the Ducks felt it accordingly. Kopitar is on pace to outproduce that but you wouldn't know it reading this board. However, Getzlaf followed that up with 49pts in 44 games and 87 in 77...not every bad season is a sign of a decline, though if we're going by the strict sense of it his 91pt season was early in his career. Good thing they didn't panic, eh? We've actually been spoiled that although Kopi hasn't gotten over 90 points that he's been remarkably consistent in both health and production.

I get after what's going on with Richards that there's some trepidation and anxiety around here but when just about everyone is performing under expectations it's less likely that they're all awful and more likely that there are a million other factors at play.
 
Brad Doty said:
I think I see what you're saying but folks sell short Kopitar's "physical" game. The guy absorbs more contact than anyone on this team and than I'd argue almost anyone in the league. He's constantly wearing one guy while another lays into him.



Ryan Getzlaf had a 57 point, -11 season in '11-'12 and the Ducks felt it accordingly. Kopitar is on pace to outproduce that but you wouldn't know it reading this board. However, Getzlaf followed that up with 49pts in 44 games and 87 in 77...not every bad season is a sign of a decline, though if we're going by the strict sense of it his 91pt season was early in his career. Good thing they didn't panic, eh? We've actually been spoiled that although Kopi hasn't gotten over 90 points that he's been remarkably consistent in both health and production.

I get after what's going on with Richards that there's some trepidation and anxiety around here but when just about everyone is performing under expectations it's less likely that they're all awful and more likely that there are a million other factors at play.
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Nice post. People tend to equate physicality with hitting when that's only part of the story. It's the same reason people get so pissy about Dwight King because he doesn't hit, they just don't realize ther's more to being physical than big hits. He grinds on the boards like a mother****er, and it's why Sutter loves him.

Same with Kopitar. Most nights he is double or even triple teamed. Of course, he is paid to find a way to make the other team pay for that, and he needs to figure it out, but saying he isn't physical is like saying Lewis doesn't have stone hands.
 
Kopitar is having a bad season. The worst of his career. But this BS about a decline needs to stop. It's one damn season. See if it's two in a row then lambaste. With the D having gone to **** I'm sure he feels a lot more strained as well. Being one of the best two way players in the game. So he's probably over thinking the defence, which caused his whole offence/defence balance to crumble. He is never going to be an offensive beast. Terry Murray can be thanked for that. And judging by how Murray is revered on this board for setting the foundation of this team for that first cup run, maybe lay off Kopitar as well. He was moulded by Murray and now he is what he is.
 
There's no doubt kopitar absorbs punishment, who doesn't, but unlike Richards, he's not playing an aggressive physical brand of hockey, he doesn't fight, he's not initiating big hits. He's also 6'3 not 5'10.
 
Bailey... :facepalm:

https://twitter.com/BaileyLAKings/status/563524121678868480

B9IKMyKCcAANEnx.jpg


This was his rally cap last night.
 
DontgoZiggy said:
There's no doubt kopitar absorbs punishment, who doesn't, but unlike Richards, he's not playing an aggressive physical brand of hockey, he doesn't fight, he's not initiating big hits. He's also 6'3 not 5'10.
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1. No clue how Richards' name got brought into this as we were initially talking Getzlaf and the consistency of top line centers,

2. Your post illustrates exactly what i mean about people underselling Kopitar's physicality. No fighting or initiating big hits doesn't mean you're not expending an extreme amount of energy and your physical well-being by pumping your legs through checks, working the boards/corners, and holding off one checker while getting ready for a 2nd.

Who do you think gets more tore up, hitters or hittees?
 
Brad Doty said:
1. No clue how Richards' name got brought into this as we were initially talking Getzlaf and the consistency of top line centers,

2. Your post illustrates exactly what i mean about people underselling Kopitar's physicality. No fighting or initiating big hits doesn't mean you're not expending an extreme amount of energy and your physical well-being by pumping your legs through checks, working the boards/corners, and holding off one checker while getting ready for a 2nd.

Who do you think gets more tore up, hitters or hittees?
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I mentioned Richards name because one poster was concerned that kopi is on the decline, Richards is the poster boy of that sort of discussion at present. I was attempting to allay their concerns by stating the obvious differences.

Why are folks in general more concerned with wear and tear on someone like brown then?

Most nhl players put their body through the mill
 
DontgoZiggy said:
I pin it all on Voynov to be honest, that and trying to make up for the loss of Mitchell.
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It would've been much easier to find someone to replace Mitchell than Voynov, now were looking at replacing both. Voynov created a cluster **** within our defense that may take years to fix.
 
Slycer said:
Kopitar is having a bad season. The worst of his career. But this BS about a decline needs to stop. It's one damn season. See if it's two in a row then lambaste. With the D having gone to **** I'm sure he feels a lot more strained as well. Being one of the best two way players in the game. So he's probably over thinking the defence, which caused his whole offence/defence balance to crumble. He is never going to be an offensive beast. Terry Murray can be thanked for that. And judging by how Murray is revered on this board for setting the foundation of this team for that first cup run, maybe lay off Kopitar as well. He was moulded by Murray and now he is what he is.
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I agree. Kopitar 5 on 5 wanders around more like he's the third defenseman, rather than a C breaking up the ice for a breakout pass. But is he overthinking this? It's hard to say. If you have ever played on a team where the D struggle and constantly need support in their own end and in breaking out, well then I'd think you would realize how this can just stymie the offensive flow of the game. It starts to get dysfunctional really fast. You start to think we need more offense, and you lean the other way on the rink a little more, but passes the spring the F up the rink in a unit don't happen, and if they do, maybe only one F is actually up the rink, while the other two are back still helping out in case another turnover or breakdown happens. It's not easy for a forward to play in this environment. They need more speed at D to get to loose pucks, they need more quickness to make a play with it (instead of eat mode), and they need guys that can make a good first pass. I could care less if these guys scored 0 goals and 0 assists for the season. They need guys that can play better in our own end.
 
efhank said:
I agree. Kopitar 5 on 5 wanders around more like he's the third defenseman, rather than a C breaking up the ice for a breakout pass. But is he overthinking this? It's hard to say. If you have ever played on a team where the D struggle and constantly need support in their own end and in breaking out, well then I'd think you would realize how this can just stymie the offensive flow of the game. It starts to get dysfunctional really fast. You start to think we need more offense, and you lean the other way on the rink a little more, but passes the spring the F up the rink in a unit don't happen, and if they do, maybe only one F is actually up the rink, while the other two are back still helping out in case another turnover or breakdown happens. It's not easy for a forward to play in this environment. They need more speed at D to get to loose pucks, they need more quickness to make a play with it (instead of eat mode), and they need guys that can make a good first pass. I could care less if these guys scored 0 goals and 0 assists for the season. They need guys that can play better in our own end.
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I think It's part system as all the Kings centers play it safe. Stoll usually hangs too high in the zone which doesn't give many options down low. I do think Kopitars wrist or shoulder is hurting him because his board play isn't super human this season.

I agree with your take on the defense. They are holding the puck too long so the forwards are either too far up or circling back. There just seems to be no rhythm this year except in spurts. Also the dmen are hesitating holding the line this year (backing off too early)...and then when they try too hard to hold the line, that's when we keep giving up the outnumbered attacks. This season I've seen more outnumbered attacks than the previous 3 years combined. The team just isn't a 5 man unit this year.
 
scramble91 said:
I think It's part system as all the Kings centers play it safe. Stoll usually hangs too high in the zone which doesn't give many options down low. I do think Kopitars wrist or shoulder is hurting him because his board play isn't super human this season.

I agree with your take on the defense. They are holding the puck too long so the forwards are either too far up or circling back. There just seems to be no rhythm this year except in spurts. Also the dmen are hesitating holding the line this year (backing off too early)...and then when they try too hard to hold the line, that's when we keep giving up the outnumbered attacks. This season I've seen more outnumbered attacks than the previous 3 years combined. The team just isn't a 5 man unit this year.
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Yes. I agree. The flow of the game just isn't there the way they would like it to be, and I think it all begins with the D play.
 
scramble91 said:
This season I've seen more outnumbered attacks than the previous 3 years combined. The team just isn't a 5 man unit this year.
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Saw more in the first two games of the SJ series last year. Happened a decent amount all through the playoffs last year actually.

20-10-10, with a +22 goal differential not including empty net/shootout goals, in all games outside of the eastern time zone this season.

The Kings have 12 points in 12 western conference road games, and 4 of 22 points in eastern conference road games. If the Kings were breaking even against the East on the road, like they are against the West, they've got 61 points right now, and we're talking about potential home ice in the 1st round.
 
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