GDT: New York Rangers at Los Angeles Kings - January 8, 2015 - 7:30 p.m. (PST)

[MynameisKing]

Correct, which is why it doesn't make sense.

The Kings are scoring at a higher pace, and cheating all over the ice.

That doesn't make sense with the current D group. The forwards are not coming back enough (or deep enough) to help out the D.

It doesn't make any sense, just like the Kings corsi road numbers, and the poor road record.

I feel the increased offensive output was due to their sub par D personell. They are behind more, hence the abandoning of D from the forwards because basically they needed goals.

 

[damacles1156]

I feel the increased offensive output was due to their sub par D personell. They are behind more, hence the abandoning of D from the forwards because basically they needed goals.

The Kings have blown more leads this year, than in the last Two years combined.....We are only halfway through the season.

The boy's are playing loosely goose, like they forgot what got them the two cups.

 

[MynameisKing]

The Kings have blown more leads this year, than in the last Two years combined.....We are only halfway through the season.

The boy's are playing loosely goose, like they forgot what got them the two cups.

It's like chicken or the egg. What I would like the Kings to do now is apply the TM school of defense, which is protect home plate! All 5 guys inside the slot and goal line area! Who cares if the other team toe drag, spin-o-rama tic tac toe passes along the boards. Nothing gets into the slot!

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I like this team.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Even when the Kings get off to a good start, which has been such a problem, they're still inconsistent.

It's not all Quick obviously, but his save% in the last 5 games is .851. Last 10, .863. Last 15, .889.

The Kings are playing a lot like they did in the playoffs last year. Quick had a worse overall save% in the playoffs than he did in the regular season, and his regular season save% was average last year. He had a .915sv%, while Jones and Scrivens combined for a .933sv% in 30-some games. The difference is that in the playoffs last year, the Kings had 4 guys at or near a point per game, and Quick was making that one save they needed. So far this season, it's one or the other. They either can't score, or they give up too many goals. Which is why, outside of that 6-0 home stand where Quick was saving everything and the 70's line was scoring 2 goals per game, they're a very average 13-13-9.

And in those 35 games where the Kings are 13-13-9, I think, they have something like 95 goals for, and 97 goals against. It's all just average. For every goal, a goal against. Win, lose, lose in ot, lose in a SO, lose, win, win, lose, lose in ot, lose in a SO, win, win, lose, lose in ot, etc, etc. They haven't been able to get much of anything going this year, other than that 6-0 home stand, which is still the only thing that is keeping them in a playoff spot at this point.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I don't know. I set very low expectations for this season as soon as it became clear Voynov was going to miss it. Repeating itself is damn near impossible, but doing it with the turmoil the Kings have experienced is something altogether more difficult.

I'm also remiss to start hitting the panic button until were putting up stretches like this in late February and March. Post all-star break, I fully expect this team to pull it's **** together and go on a tear, as they always have, and make the playoffs. But I also don't expect a fourth straight WCF appearance, which will give Dean plenty of motivation to objectively retool this offseason.

Growing pains, man. Mcnabb will be an improved player next year, and with the cap space from the Voynov situation figured out (with whatever conclusion is reached), Dean will have room to tinker. One of the good old boys is going to be gone, though, likely two of Richards, Stoll, and Williams.

 

[Problematique]

Even when the Kings get off to a good start, which has been such a problem, they're still inconsistent.

It's not all Quick obviously, but his save% in the last 5 games is .851. Last 10, .863. Last 15, .889.

The Kings are playing a lot like they did in the playoffs last year. Quick had a worse overall save% in the playoffs than he did in the regular season, and his regular season save% was average last year. He had a .915sv%, while Jones and Scrivens combined for a .933sv% in 30-some games. The difference is that in the playoffs last year, the Kings had 4 guys at or near a point per game, and Quick was making that one save they needed. So far this season, it's one or the other. They either can't score, or they give up too many goals. Which is why, outside of that 6-0 home stand where Quick was saving everything and the 70's line was scoring 2 goals per game, they're a very average 13-13-9.

And in those 35 games where the Kings are 13-13-9, I think, they have something like 95 goals for, and 97 goals against. It's all just average. For every goal, a goal against. Win, lose, lose in ot, lose in a SO, lose, win, win, lose, lose in ot, lose in a SO, win, win, lose, lose in ot, etc, etc. They haven't been able to get much of anything going this year, other than that 6-0 home stand, which is still the only thing that is keeping them in a playoff spot at this point.

Rangers fan here, do you guys reckon Quick is getting too many starts?
My mate is a big Kings fan and thinks he's gassed. Would you guys have been in favor of giving Jones more starts to this point? From memory Quick has 5 or so more starts than Hank (who has seen a decent share of games so far).

Thought he was good tonight coming off a 5 day break, great stops point blank but didn't get much help with bad D and good Ranger screens.

 

[Pucknut50]

I am getting tired of the Richards blame. Yes he makes a lot of money but Richards is not the only problem. Signing Greene over Mitchell, Voynov DV, Doughty having to play to many minutes, and other injuries to the back line. Last year playoffs was a run for the ages. Sharks, Ducks, and the Blackhawks. Those are three tremendous teams and to beat them on the road in game 7 are you kidding me! This team is physically and mentally drained. I cannot be hard on them this year just hope they have another gear deep down. I don't like to see them play this poorly but I understand what they have gone through the last 3 years.

Forever grateful.

 

[YP44]

Rangers fan here, do you guys reckon Quick is getting too many starts?
My mate is a big Kings fan and thinks he's gassed. Would you guys have been in favor of giving Jones more starts to this point? From memory Quick has 5 or so more starts than Hank (who has seen a decent share of games so far).

Thought he was good tonight coming off a 5 day break, great stops point blank but didn't get much help with bad D and good Ranger screens.

I was surprised he played both games of a back to back last week that's for sure.

Turns out when I said the Kings needed to weather the storm for the first ten minutes of the first I should have said the second.

 

[bob77]

Lol.. The Kings have lost several games season to teams who played the night before. This back to back stuff doesn't matter.

Agree! I wonder how many times during the season the Kings get to play a team at home after the other team just played the night before? Also, doesn't it always seem like these teams have to play the Ducks first?

 

[Sacha Baron Corbin]

The Kings have to trade Richards(if they want to get rid of him), his buyout Cap hit is still too large(to be worth it). Richards is owed to much money over the next three years.

Buy Out Cap hits, next four years:
2016-17: $1,716,667
2017-18: $2,716,667
2018-19: $4,216,667
2019-20: $4,216,667

Lombardi could easily find a team to trade Richards to if he trades him this season or offseason before his vaule completely goes down the toilet.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Rangers fan here, do you guys reckon Quick is getting too many starts?
My mate is a big Kings fan and thinks he's gassed. Would you guys have been in favor of giving Jones more starts to this point? From memory Quick has 5 or so more starts than Hank (who has seen a decent share of games so far).

Thought he was good tonight coming off a 5 day break, great stops point blank but didn't get much help with bad D and good Ranger screens.

I think it's more about the bolded part than that he's tired. He's started 83% of the games so far, so I'm sure he could use an extra game off here and there, but the guys in front of him are just giving up way too many good chances. There's only so much he can do. Only so many ridiculous saves he can make before one too many goes in.

No Mitchell, no Voynov, no Regehr for the last little while. Instead it's McNabb, who hasn't played even a hundred games yet, McBain, who was a free agent in November, and Schultz, who is what he is. Doughty is either playing too much, playing too dumb, or some combination of the two.

The Kings had an early 6-0 home stand. The team didn't play very well, but Quick had a .976sv% in 5 of the 6 games that he played in. Just a ridiculous number, but he was great. Faced an average of 34 shots per game. For the rest of the season, he's got a .902sv%, and it's been worse than that for like a month and a half or whatever.

Whatever the reasons may be, those are the numbers. I'm sure it's a combination of everything though. Maybe he could use another game off now and then, and it's also some bad bounces, it's poor defensive coverage, Quick himself being out of position because he's in his too much athlete not enough goalie mode, trying to handle a puck which he's not good at and getting caught, etc.

 

[KingsFan7824]

The Kings now sit with the 15th best record in the league half way through the year. 15 out of 30, in 41 of 82 games. Average.

Against teams currently above them in the standings, not including EN or SO goals:
7-7-4 overall
46 gf, 2.56 avg
54 ga, 3.00 avg

6-3-2 at home
29 gf, 2.64 avg
27 ga, 2.45 avg

1-4-2 on the road(thanks Vancouver)
17 gf, 2.43 avg
27 ga, 3.86 avg

Against teams currently below them in the standings, not including EN or SO goals:
12-6-5 overall
66 gf, 2.87 avg
45 ga, 1.96 avg

8-3-1 at home
39 gf, 3.25 avg
24 ga, 2.00 avg

4-3-4 on the road
27 gf, 2.45 avg
21 ga, 1.91 avg

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I can live with Greene, little bit long in the contract length but it's not a back breaker like the Richards contract.

I think using the term "blowing it up" is completely ridiculous, even if the Kings chose not to re-sign Greene and bought out Richards that is your #6 defenseman and your fourth line center. Greene was a healthy scratch for many games last year, including playoff games and Richards was one of if not the worst player on the team from December on. Blowing it up is what the Marlins did in 1997 and what the Chicago Bulls did in 1998. I really fail to see how a roster that returned Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jeff Carter, Jonathan Quick, Justin Williams, Marian Gaborik, Jake Muzzin Willie Mitchell and Slava Voynov would constitute blowing it up.

As for questioning calling the decision not to buy him out a "whiff", what other word you use to describe it. The guy is probably not going to crack 30 points, is once again blowing everyone out of the water in defensive ineptness (3rd straight season) and is playing 9-12 minutes a night. I just want one person to provide anything tangible that Mike Richards is adding to this team right now, he doesn't score, he is awful defensively and he isn't physical. What exactly is his role on this team, sure seems like it's basically a fourth line energy guy, and in that case BigKing's description of Chartrand is spot on. Sure seems like it was whiff by Lombardi. And I'm sure DL will try and fix it soon.

Okay--you basically repeated your previous post while ignoring my question and focusing on semantics over the point. Ignoring the term 'blowing it up', you don't want to be the guy looney enough to dismantle parts of a cup team that you can keep together. Again, in hindsight its easy, but despite his play last year, if Richards showed up in better shape than before, would even YOU have moved him? I think that would be silly. We can agree to disagree on that and that's fine, and as you said you can live with the Greene contract, so what exactly did DL mismanage so badly this summer? And again, back to my first question--how does having that "mismanaged" space help this CURRENT team?

I don't know. I set very low expectations for this season as soon as it became clear Voynov was going to miss it. Repeating itself is damn near impossible, but doing it with the turmoil the Kings have experienced is something altogether more difficult.

I'm also remiss to start hitting the panic button until were putting up stretches like this in late February and March. Post all-star break, I fully expect this team to pull it's **** together and go on a tear, as they always have, and make the playoffs. But I also don't expect a fourth straight WCF appearance, which will give Dean plenty of motivation to objectively retool this offseason.

Growing pains, man. Mcnabb will be an improved player next year, and with the cap space from the Voynov situation figured out (with whatever conclusion is reached), Dean will have room to tinker. One of the good old boys is going to be gone, though, likely two of Richards, Stoll, and Williams.

I like this post and I agree wholeheartedly with the bold. As I mentioned above, whether it's emotion or logic, there was no way DL was separating with the cup team as much as possible, for better or worse. COLD logic may have said move on from Richards and do other little things, but we know how attached DL is to these guys. Like last year though when it looked like we may be out early, I think that if (when, if we keep this current d-core) we crap out, there will be bigger changes.

Rangers fan here, do you guys reckon Quick is getting too many starts?
My mate is a big Kings fan and thinks he's gassed. Would you guys have been in favor of giving Jones more starts to this point? From memory Quick has 5 or so more starts than Hank (who has seen a decent share of games so far).

Thought he was good tonight coming off a 5 day break, great stops point blank but didn't get much help with bad D and good Ranger screens.

Nah, not a chance. Or a very slim one if so. The guy is a crazy athlete and competitor and Sutter rode him into the ground in previous years with few ill effects. Plus he just had a nice 4-day-plus rest.

 

[deeshamrock]

I'm sure they can get someone for Clifford. We got Regehr for two 2nd rounders, no? Anyone is better than Schultz & McBain

DL has been trying to trade for a D since OCt but not 'someone' he wants a top D and if he maintains that stance, he's going to have pay for it, for example , for Yandle the asking price is a top young player, a top prospect and a 1st rounder. And Maloney will get that because it's a seller's market, there are a half dozen playoff teams that want to upgrade at D and some are very competitive with each other, inter conference. Fear of Team A getting him will push Team B to pull the trigger. As recently as yesterday, the Wings sand Kings were the teams rumored to be pushing the hardest for him. Wings have a plethora of young guns on the team and growing in the minors, Holland has a better shot. DL drools over Yandle and if he feels that he's the difference maker, the D thta can stablize , with DD, AM and JM as the top 4, he'll have to give up Pearson and FOrbert or Gravel (or similar) to get it done. Because there's a dropoff (Phaneuf costs to much) after Yandle to Sekera (whose price tage is the same as Yandles) and Petry whose good but not as good or Coburn, bargain basement.
The Devils will be sellers but don't have anything worth merit. Others out ther Myers??? Franson?

Bruins still looking for scoring help:

•Kevin Paul Dupont: (answering question) It would take Dougie Hamilton, Malcolm Subban and a conditional 2nd round pick to get Taylor Hall.

 

[Omni Owl]

It doesn't have to be a guy like Yandle. Its a similar situation to the year where we had all those goalies play in net and they all sucked, then we got Sean Burke who calmed things down back there. That's what we need on defense this year, a calming veteran presence. Schultz sure as hell isn't getting that done. Someone like Wideman, Z Michalek, or even Cody Franson (though he's not a vet).

 

[deeshamrock]

]It doesn't have to be a guy like Yandle[/B]. Its a similar situation to the year where we had all those goalies play in net and they all sucked, then we got Sean Burke who calmed things down back there. That's what we need on defense this year, a calming veteran presence. Schultz sure as hell isn't getting that done. Someone like Wideman, Z Michalek, or even Cody Franson (though he's not a vet).

No, it doesn't. But what you think, what I think and what the other bloggers think is not what DL thinks. It's his call.

 

[deeshamrock]

Jon Rosen@lakingsinsider · 34m 34 minutes ago

The #LAKings have allowed three goals in six minutes six times (@ MTL, @ STL, vs STL, vs CGY, vs NSH, vs NYR) over the last 12 games.

That's just brutal. `

 

[YP44]

Jon Rosen@lakingsinsider · 34m 34 minutes ago

The #LAKings have allowed three goals in six minutes six times (@ MTL, @ STL, vs STL, vs CGY, vs NSH, vs NYR) over the last 12 games.

That's just brutal. `

horawful

 

[deeshamrock]

Sutter Post game

"We had trouble keeping up with a fast team. There is two ways of neutralizing speed: be fast yourself, or slow them down. Even on the Carter line, we couldn’t handle it.”

That is not something new, they do struggle vs speedy teams and going forward, maybe it's something they need to address. Sometimes their phsyical style gets in the way and is wearing. The elite teams they have to face will continue to evolve , inclusive of young fast skating skilled lines. In a 7 game series, that might be a hill to tough to climb. I know DL loves this style but at some point, maybe he needs to refine it a bit.

 

[YP44]

Sutter Post game



That is not something new, they do struggle vs speedy teams and going forward, maybe it's something they need to address. Sometimes their phsyical style gets in the way and is wearing. The elite teams they have to face will continue to evolve , inclusive of young fast skating skilled lines. In a 7 game series, that might be a hill to tough to climb. I know DL loves this style but at some point, maybe he needs to refine it a bit.

physicality can win a seven game series as well though as teams become beat up the longer the series goes.
I agree though that the kings could sacrifice some physicality for some speed.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Jon Rosen@lakingsinsider · 34m 34 minutes ago

The #LAKings have allowed three goals in six minutes six times (@ MTL, @ STL, vs STL, vs CGY, vs NSH, vs NYR) over the last 12 games.

That's just brutal. `

That is fairly impressive. 4 of the 6 happened at home too.

 

[The Echoing Grove]

Outside of the occasional McNabb or Doughty hit, the 2014-15 Kings aren't all that physical. This is a real issue because the team was built to be. Just a couple of years ago, they could counter speed with pure intimidation. They dominated 50/50 pucks and the front of both nets, they owned the trenches, they forced opponents to earn every inch of ice.

Over the last two seasons, they've given up a ridiculous number of high-percentage looks. They don't make teams work for their chances.

Brown finishes checks but absorbs more big hits than he delivers. Greene and Regehr can't even catch up to forwards in order to bury them. Richards hasn't thrown a game-changing hit since the 2012 playoffs.

It's like their bodies won't allow them to play to their identity anymore.

 

[Chain]

Rangers fan here, do you guys reckon Quick is getting too many starts?
My mate is a big Kings fan and thinks he's gassed. Would you guys have been in favor of giving Jones more starts to this point? From memory Quick has 5 or so more starts than Hank (who has seen a decent share of games so far).

Thought he was good tonight coming off a 5 day break, great stops point blank but didn't get much help with bad D and good Ranger screens.

Maybe. I definitely think they should be starting Jones a few more games than they are. But I also don't fault Quick for the goals against him tonight save 1 (the rebound). The others, there's not much he could do against. The others were mainly on the rest of the team, imo - like when Doughty was groping his man instead of moving him so he couldn't screen Quick. We just have too many guys standing around in both zones.

 

[AKAY47]

I said last night that Sutter needs to consider making Mike Richards a healthy scratch and starting Andreoff. What does he have to lose? This morning, Mike Richards has a yellow jersey on and looks like he'll be an extra forward.