Pre-Game Talk: PDSF: (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Los Angeles Kings (Schedule in OP)

[theMajor]

This is why I love most sharks fans

my lord, this is amazing !

 

[Reclamation Project]

They have a fetish for Brown's knees and elbows.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Continued from the GDT

 

[Bandit]

We suck.
Quick sucks.
Regher sucks.
Nolan sucks.
Richards sucks twice.

What'd I miss?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

We suck.
Quick sucks.
Regher sucks.
Nolan sucks.
Richards sucks twice.

What'd I miss?

Sutter sucks.
SAP Center lights suck.
Funniest thing I read yesterday--man, even the Sharks' arena chokes in the playoffs!

 

[theMajor]

the first two periods were heart-wrenching but boy oh howdy was there a monumental difference in the third. they say the first 5 minutes of a series is the worst....i say the first two periods were. our boys will continue the momentum from the third into game 2 and roll from there. no need to be concerned yet

 

[kingscourt26]

the first two periods were heart-wrenching but boy oh howdy was there a monumental difference in the third. they say the first 5 minutes of a series is the worst....i say the first two periods were. our boys will continue the momentum from the third into game 2 and roll from there. no need to be concerned yet

I disagree. The Sharks stopped playing physical in the 3rd and just worked to hold the lead. They let up and the Kings netted a couple. The King's problems are far from being solved.

 

[Bandit]

I disagree. The Sharks stopped playing physical in the 3rd and just worked to hold the lead. They let up and the Kings netted a couple. The King's problems are far from being solved.

You could say the same **** about the Kings. Sharks worked up a 5-0 lead because the Kings didn't show up until the 3rd period...

 

[Herby]

I disagree. The Sharks stopped playing physical in the 3rd and just worked to hold the lead. They let up and the Kings netted a couple. The King's problems are far from being solved.

You could say the same **** about the Kings. Sharks worked up a 5-0 lead because the Kings didn't show up until the 3rd period...

I think the real answer is somewhere in between.

Obviously when you are up 5-0 you are going to let up a little bit. But I thought when the Kings switched up the lines and increased and decreased certain players icetime they had quite a bit more jump and would have been much better off rolling with those lines from the start.

I think the biggest thing from that 3rd period was it prevented Niemi from building momentum with a shut out. Niemi is a hot and cold goaltender who is really good when he is on, by letting in a couple of questionable goals in the third there is still going to be doubt in his mind.

 

[kingscourt26]

You could say the same **** about the Kings. Sharks worked up a 5-0 lead because the Kings didn't show up until the 3rd period...

Because the Sharks gave them a chance to show up.

This is the same thing that happened when we played the Sharks a week ago. The Sharks smothered the Kings with physical play. If the Kings continue to play the perimeter offensively, they are going to pay for it and the Sharks are going to win this series.

There needs to be a strategy change for the Kings. The Kings play a simple game and the Sharks figured out how to suck the productivity out of it.

 

[kingscourt26]

I think the real answer is somewhere in between.

Obviously when you are up 5-0 you are going to let up a little bit. But I thought when the Kings switched up the lines and increased and decreased certain players icetime they had quite a bit more jump and would have been much better off rolling with those lines from the start.

I think the biggest thing from that 3rd period was it prevented Niemi from building momentum with a shut out. Niemi is a hot and cold goaltender who is really good when he is on, by letting in a couple of questionable goals in the third there is still going to be doubt in his mind.

I agree with you.

The Sharks didn't give the Kings a chance to breath. If you had the puck, you were going to get hit. In the 3rd, the Sharks probably figured they didn't need a 6th and it wasn't worth risking an injury.

On top of that, they dumped the puck into the zone almost every time and didn't make an offensive push.

I'm sure the Sharks had an "oh ****" moment after the 3rd goal but the bottom line is, the Kings need to change up the way they play and move the puck or the same thing will happen.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Just need one win in the Montreal Forum, err, Shark Tank, to turn the tide of this series.

 

[KingsHockey24]

We need a Ryan Reaves like player.

 

[Reclamation Project]

I was hoping for a 1-1 split after 2 anyways. Hopefully they can play a full 60 on Sunday. God that's so far away.

 

[Reclamation Project]

We need a Ryan Reaves like player.

 

[King RAZZ]

PLEASE don't lay an egg this time...

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Bottom line is that the game could have been totally different if the Kings didn't completely fall apart in the last minute of the 1st period.

In game 2, Kings should come out and clean up those mistakes. Lots of time between now and Sunday.

 

[Herby]

We need a Ryan Reaves like player.

How about we fix the 2nd line left wing and 2nd line center problem before we address the bottom six.

 

[kingsholygrail]

at least the players and coach know exactly what went wrong rather than something ambiguous like "they're a tough team and we have to play harder." The players and Sutter noted too many odd-man rushes. Too many bad pinches. Pretty specific if you ask me.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Reaves>>>>Nolan

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Reaves>>>>Nolan

who do you have in mind then during free agency?

Zenon Konopka?


i don't think Nolan is the problem

we've got to fix our D

we need a fresher Mitchell/Scuderi duo

i think if we get 2 Ds like that

then guys like Voynov, Muzzin, and Regehr look better

 

[kingscourt26]

at least the players and coach know exactly what went wrong rather than something ambiguous like "they're a tough team and we have to play harder." The players and Sutter noted too many odd-man rushes. Too many bad pinches. Pretty specific if you ask me.

Specific? The guys who sell candy in the stands could have pointed that out.

They mentioned the effect, not the cause.

 

[Herby]

There was a really good post by Big King from the other thread that unfortunately didn't get much love because the thread was locked a couple of posts later.

To touch on a few things here...

Not terribly surprising since 99% of us knew those lines were absolute trash, especially putting 74-10-77 together, effectively negating Carter.

This was my biggest fear going into this series, that Sutter was going to ignore all the advanced stats and the awful memories from last year and put Richards and Carter in a position to get dominated by Thornton, and sure enough Sutter not only kept them together but put them out there for the opening faceoff, which to me was not only stupid but was the ultimate sign of stubbornness. And despite Sutter's post game comments and the third period adjustments I still have a fear that Sutter is going to go right back to that line on Sunday, and it will be just like Albert Einstein's definition of insanity.

While King was not the main problem on that line, I will say for the hundredth time that this team is not winning **** with him in the Top 6. Best 3rd line we can roll is 74-28-23 so it is mind-boggling to not see them put together.

Yup, when Sutter doesn't put Carter at center he also breaks up a solid 3rd line in King-Brown-Stoll or forces TT to play out of position, two of about 167586 reasons that Carter and Richards shouldn't be playing together. Hopefully we have seen the last of these two as linemates with the Kings, like you said earlier, they absolutely destroy Carter when they play him at wing because the team doesn't have a 2nd line center, they have Kopitar (and they don't want to load up Carter on line 1) and they have two third line centers in Stoll and Richards. Will be interesting to see what lines they run with at practice. The only logical choice appears to have Carter at C, but that was also the case going into the series and it didn't happen, so we'll see.

You can't sit here with a straight face and tell me Pearson shouldn't play because he is young when Sutter threw him into his first ever NHL game against this same team on the road and in the second round. I love Nolan, but if we are going to allow them to run Quick and not do anything, then he can sit

Age should have nothing to do with it, plenty of teams have guys in there early 20's playing key roles. The fact is, the Kings lineup last night didn't feature a 2nd line center or a 2nd line left wing and they had a guy in TT who is best in a top 6 role but can't find a place because they stupidly have Carter at RW. Again, slide Carter to C, put Pearson at LW and move Toffoli up to RW, it just makes the most sense.

And on Nolan I sadly agree 100%, was big on Nolan earlier in the year but right now he is contributing nothing to the team and having him and Clifford is redundant.

Also, everyone can rag on Matt Greene all they want, but he was injected into this series last year and paid dividends IMO. He might be a better addition at home where Sutter can control matchups, but Greene is going to go out there and punish their forwards like he did last year. I would not be upset if he went in the lineup.

Got to disagree here. Greene is done and would be eaten alive in this series, especially in SJ where Mclellan would exploit him with the last line change. The Kings, IMO desperately need to add a good 2nd pair defender who can skate this summer, either by trade or UFA. I think it's right up there with adding another top 6 winger and second line center. Our D is just slow and has trouble moving the puck up the ice.

Maybe these clowns will worry about winning a division championship or at least getting home ice instead of "We just want to qualify" from here on out. Being in the Pacific and finishing 3rd with this new format is going to be a tough spot for the next few years.

This is your best comment in this post. I think with what happened in 2012 many fans on this board believe the Kings can just flip a switch and turn it on, but the truth is, it's hard to win on the road in the playoffs. Since 2012 the Kings now stand at 1-9 on the road in the playoffs. But people still make ridiculous posts saying that the team or certain players are just saving it for the playoffs, which I find absolutely ludicrous and just a lame excuse, but it's mentioned so much it's almost taken as fact, even though the Kings awful record on the road shows that the team can't just flip a switch, and our chances of winning in the future would be much better if the team actually played well during the season and had home ice advantage in the playoffs.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Brooks Orpik?
Derek Morris?
Dan Boyle?
Stephane Robidas?
Ron Hainsey?
Andre Benoit?
Tom Gilbert?
Kimmo Timonen?

really, these are the only options this summer on D

i'd jump on Brooks Orpik

 

[Herby]

Brooks Orpik?
Derek Morris?
Dan Boyle?
Stephane Robidas?
Ron Hainsey?
Andre Benoit?
Tom Gilbert?
Kimmo Timonen?

really, these are the only options this summer on D

i'd jump on Brooks Orpik

I think the Kings may take another look at Ehrhoff in Buffalo. It wasn't going to be possible this year with the cap situation, but I am about 90% sure that Dean is going to get himself some significant cap space this summer. He is still in what should be his prime years, he has a good cap hit for what he brings, and a lot of the contract was front loaded.

He won't be cheap, but like you said the UFA alternatives don't look very good and the Kings championship window is firmly open right now, so expecting rookies to step in isn't the way to go.