Round 1 Game 3 Sharks @ Kings: Kings Lose 4-3; Sharks Lead series 3-0

[ScoreZeGoals]

He is not getting a free pass.

He played like Garbage all year.

He has next year to unscrew himself.

If it doesn't happen, I am sure Lombardi will look to make a move.

I do feel that Brown is getting a bit of a pass. All we hear about is Richards this and Richards that (and yes, he's been awful). Hell, there even had to be a dedicated ***** about Richards thread. Look at the numbers though:

2012-2013 regular season:

Richards: 12g 20a 32p
Brown: 18g 11a 29p

2012-2013 playoffs:

Richards: 3g 9a 12p (15 games played)
Brown: 3g 1a 4p (18 games played)

2013-2014 regular season

Richards: 11g 30a 41p
Brown 15g 12a 27p

Now consider that starting next season Brown will have a higher cap hit than Richards, and his contract is for two more years. Brown should be getting a ton more heat than he is

 

[Steve Zissou]

 

[damacles1156]

I do feel that Brown is getting a bit of a pass. All we hear about is Richards this and Richards that (and yes, he's been awful). Hell, there even had to be a dedicated ***** about Richards thread. Look at the numbers though:

2012-2013 regular season:

Richards: 12g 20a 32p
Brown: 18g 11a 29p

2012-2013 playoffs:

Richards: 3g 9a 12p (15 games played)
Brown: 3g 1a 4p (18 games played)

2013-2014 regular season

Richards: 11g 30a 41p
Brown 15g 12a 27p

Now consider that starting next season Brown will have a higher cap hit than Richards, and his contract is for two more years. Brown should be getting a ton more heat than he is

No one is getting a free pass this year. People wanted to trade Kopitar during his annual slump this year.

If people had their way the entire roster would have been traded by the deadline.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Like others have said, when you lose this soundly, there's plenty of blame to go around. Hopefully Lombardi is able to detach emotionally and make a roster and make the necessary moves. The 2012 run is two years removed at this point - the kiddy gloves need to come off. The "heart and soul guys" need to be honestly evaluated, as well as the D core and bottom six. One thing I will never say about DL is that he's a lazy GM. Guy burns the candle at both ends, so let's just hope he has the insight to retool properly.

 

[KingKopitar11*]

No one is getting a free pass this year. People wanted to trade Kopitar during his annual slump this year.

If people had their way the entire roster would have been traded by the deadline.

Iirc you kept talking about how much better Getzlaf is than Kopitar nonstop this year lol

 

[BigBrown]

Brown has hit 20G why not being a first line player.

I have been a Kings fan since 1990. I can't remember Brown ever playing on the first line RW or LW before 2012 Exclusively.

He has always been a second/Third line forward.

I think your memory deceives you. Pretty sure Brown's best season scoring wise (07/08) was at Kopitar's side back when O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown was a thing. The following year Terry Murray took over and O'Sullivan was traded, the top line as I remember it was mostly Calder-Kopitar-Brown with a sprinkle of Purcell. Once Smyth and Williams came to town Brown was bumped back to the second line but pretty sure he had a solid couple of years next to Kopitar.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Maybe the Kings played so poorly in Games 1 and 2 that they didn't deserve the bounces in Game 3. Those 1st and 4th goals, just...

Unfortunately, that effort came in Game 3 when the Kings had little margin for error. Had they played that way in the first two games, maybe they steal one, and we're talking about a different series.

One game at a time though. We've seen the Flyers and Red Sox win a series after being down 0-3 in the last decade. The Hawks in 2011 forced a 7th game against the Canucks after being down 0-3. The Wings did the same thing against the Sharks in that same year. I think there might have been another instance of that same thing happening somewhere along the way recently. Hell, the Devils were a game away from Game 7 against the Kings. Not over until it's over.

 

[Arrhizal]

Iirc you kept talking about how much better Getzlaf is than Kopitar nonstop this year lol

He's been ****ing Towes and Geztlaf all year long. Despite the fact that prior to this year both Kopitar and Geztlaf had almost identical ppg ratio throughout their careers. Then Getzlaf has a big year and suddenly he's elite but Kopitar is "just a good center".

 

[Butch 19]

I can't remember a team with so many lucky break goals. Sharks have played hard and the breaks are with them. Can't really see LA getting four straight wins. .

hmm, remember 2012?

 

[moosehead81]

Boy, I'm sure glad we got Mike Richards and Dustin Brown to kick around for what is essentially a team issue from the goalie out.

Quick is not playing like the savior he was in 2012, the defence is older and slower, Doughty looks hurt, the power play is the *****, streaky Carter has been on the down side of one of his streaks for awhile, except for a flash last night, Gaborik is about what I expected him to be (plays when he wants to, no more, no less) and Kopitar is Kopitar (gets the better players on his sides, the most ice time and the most power play time (if he played on an eastern team with the TOI he gets, he'd easily get 100 points a season). You could analyze each player on the current roster who played on the SC winner and find pretty significant negative comparative issues for each of them (including Brown and Richards). And, to boot, Sutter's hockey does not create much in the way of offense (remember it's a 3-2 league) and other coaches have simply picked up on how to beat his system(s). He took the Flames to the SCF on the backs of Kiprosuf and Iginla in 2004 but the Flames went on to be knocked out in the first rounds in 2006, 07, 08 and 09 (05 was the lockout). Sutter gave up the Flames coaching job at the end of 06.

So my point is one shouldn't be that surprised at this turn of events although even I would have expected a little better result by this point. I thought the Kings played just well enough to win last night but down 2 games to none is not the time to play a 50-50 game where a couple of breaks gives the other side the win.

 

[fsanford]

Meh, SC Champ 2012, WCF 2013, we were due for some bounces to go against us

Pearson the kid has great speed and huge upside look forward to his play in the coming years.

The Marty hook call was a weak one, there were several similar hooks where the ref packed in their whistle and then decide to call it.

Williams is playing about as poorly as he ever has with the Kings, every decision he makes with the puck is a bad one these days.

Brown, he needs to get away from the wife and kids again for awhile, he came back from the Olympics playing well, then after a few weeks home back to the old Brown

Maybe the fact we had a couple of good runs the last couple of years, allows me to not get too worked up over how this series is going. We have been blessed to see lots of playoff hockey.

Perhaps it was needed so that Dean knows he will need to re-tool the team in a few areas. Just don't trade Pearson, it is fun to see a guy who has lots of speed and a skill set to match.

 

[KingsFan7824]

hmm, remember 2012?

Can't is always a strong word. Is it likely the Kings win the next 4 games? No. Was it likely that the Sharks win 3 straight while scoring 16 or 17 goals in the process? Probably not. So you never know what can happen.

As they say, every journey starts with a first step. The Kings don't have to win 4 in a row. They just have to win 4 games, one at a time. Since 2010, there has been one 0-3 comeback, and there have been at least two times where a 7th game has been forced after being down 0-3.

The Kings can still, at the very least, make the Sharks sweat a bit. Everyone has to do something though. Nobody did much in Games 1 & 2. More guys did something in Game 3. In Game 4, the Kings need everyone.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Just take one look at the playoff stats and you'll see where this is going. The whole team is playing bad, the captain has continued his Houdini season and accountability needs to start with him. Shocking how fans can use the excuse of a knee brace or having kids as a reason for his failure. Like no other hockey player has ever had to wear a knee brace. You guys know how the birds and the bees work, right? It's not like a stork showed up with 4 babies one day. He chose this life, he made his bed now it's time to lie in it.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Just take one look at the playoff stats and you'll see where this is going. The whole team is playing bad, the captain has continued his Houdini season and accountability needs to start with him. Shocking how fans can use the excuse of a knee brace or having kids as a reason for his failure. Like no other hockey player has ever had to wear a knee brace. You guys know how the birds and the bees work, right? It's not like a stork showed up with 4 babies one day. He chose this life, he made his bed now it's time to lie in it.

If he has had a knee issue all year long, then they say it takes about a year for a knee to get back to being right. We saw that with Handzus. He was pretty awful in his first year with the Kings after a knee injury in Chicago. Then he bounced back and had a couple pretty good seasons for the Kings.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

i'm not too worried about the goaltending Quick will bounce back and if he doesn't we've got other options. Just look at Anaheim; Hiller, Fasth, Andersen, Gibson... they keep producing goalies

we had Quick, Bernier, Scrivens, Jones, we can produce/find goalies .. so we can handle the goalie issue if Quick stumbles

the D core needs some fresh legs for sure and I want nothing of Mitchell, Greene, and Regehr (if Mitchell is kept, ONLY as a mentor #6 or #7D, a D that will allow a transition)

guys like Muzzin and Martinez aren't the problem, they may cause some blunders here and there but these guys aren't the reason LA is hurting

we need a strong 4th line, a true 4th line, an ENERGY LINE... we saw what guys like Cracknell, Reaves, Torres, Desjardins, M. Brown can do... they are all in their late 20s and they have all suddenly showed their impact (STL last year, SJ this year) WE WOULD BE FOOLISH TO LET CLIFFORD AND NOLAN GO...they are still very young and maybe a couple of years and playoff experiences away from realizing what they need to do to be constantly hungry and win! But I would try to fill the other roster spot

a guy that needs to go is DWIGHT KING (more than Richards and Brown)

BROWN's problem is that he ISN'T A CAPTAIN ! Have the C removed and give him another year, give Richards another year too before we cut ties

some guys on here say that Doughty isn't ready to wear the C... i'm sorry, i'll debunk that right now by saying he's ready...so move along people he is OUR LEADER, give him the C and he'll shine...i don't want the captain of the team to play 14mins a night...what kind of an impact does he have that Doughty couldn't have or more??? seriously..

resign Gaborik... short term, emphasis short term

Williams better days are behind him, time to realize this and do something

I like Lewis (unsung hero), I like Stoll as our #3C

...in brief ... players that must go: REGEHR, GREENE, MITCHELL, (or keep him with a smaller role) KING, and WILLIAMS

retool around that

if that doesn't work for next year

then think about cutting BROWN AND RICHARDS as PLAN B ... you don't just give up on these two that easily because they had a bad year, you trim those 5 players I mentioned and induce some new life into the roster and IF BROWN AND RICHARDS STILL DON'T RESPOND - THEY GET TRADED AWAY


***oh and SUTTER as coach? works short term...never long term...players look tired all the time ...i blame that on the coaching staff...SUTTER NEEDS TO GO !!

 

[KingPuckChoo]

commit to these changes and i guarantee you i'll win GM of the year lol

 

[bmr]

commit to these changes and i guarantee you i'll win GM of the year lol

Have King and Williams been good in this series? No, but i'd hardly blame it on them. Brown and Richards need more of the blame on this one.

Regehr was brutal last night. Honestly, I'd have Greene/Mitchell/Regehr gone. If we keep any of them, i'd rather it be Mitchell. McNabb needs his chance, and I'd also like to try the Bodnarchuk/Loverde tandem. They were so consistent this year in Manchester. I hate how they always get overlooked for the big club.

I don't really have much of a problem with Lewis, but I do think we need a better effort from our 3rd/4th lines. Honestly, I think Kopitar's line carried us through most of the last handful of games and the Sharks knew that and exploited it. Beyond that line, we haven't had a meaningful impact. Next year, we need to get some of the kids in there with the veterans to shake things up. Weal is hungry, Pearson is hungry...get em in there. We need a good blend of veterans too, but I think we have the coaching staff to make it happen. Now is the time.

 

[tigermask48]

Great post Richie10.

People love to talk about the Kings scouting and drafting in the later rounds, and the Kings have been able to find complimentary players, but the reality is that most core players in the league are former first round picks.

Since DL took over these are the first round picks

2006. Jonathan Bernier - (traded)
2006. Trevor Lewis - (4th liner)
2007. Thomas Hickey - (bust)
2008. Drew Doughty - (star defenseman)
2008. Colten Teubert - (bust)
2009. Brayden Schenn - (traded)
2010. Derek Forbort (no NHL games)
2011. Pick traded for Penner
2012. Pearson (NHL'er)
2013. Pick traded for Carter

It's hard to replace guys like Richards, Brown and Williams when you have missed on so many promising picks.

Completely 100% ignores the rest of the rounds in which the Kings are one of if not the best drafting teams in the league... Just. Nope.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Have King and Williams been good in this series? No, but i'd hardly blame it on them. Brown and Richards need more of the blame on this one.
QUOTE]

im not talking about blame...im talking about changes that have to be made

Brown and Richards at this point have more upside than Williams and King

thats my point

Williams is on a decline and King is King...nothing more than what we are seeing now

so they go

thats it

 

[Model62]

On the bright side, the Kings didn't give up buckets of odd-man rushes last night. And they seemed to have figured out how to take away the stretch pass and the neutral zone cross icer.

It's a process, people.

 

[Everlast22]

I think the main problem IS the defense. Seems like this season we got beat on the rush.. a lot. That is a fact.. Getting a little slow on the blue line. We are already used to not scoring a lot and playing good D to make up for it. You have to make sure that both pieces of the puzzle are intact before you implement a "system".

In regards to Brown, all he needs to do is play HIS game. He had a great presence in the 2012 run. He needs to stick with what he is good at: Gritty hockey, making tough plays, and leading by example (which he hasn't really this season).

Pearson needs to be put on the first line. Use the kid's speed.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I called Mike Richards two years ago and was vilified. Can we trade him straight up for David Clarkson?

 

[BigKing]

Completely 100% ignores the rest of the rounds in which the Kings are one of if not the best drafting teams in the league... Just. Nope.

Outside of Simmonds, who is now gone, who are the impact players taken after Round 1 by DL? Voynov, who was pretty much a 1st round pick and was taken in a year when DL took Teubert over a plethora of better d-men, and Toffoli who has not made a real impact just yet.

The point is you can't continually whiff on first round picks.

 

[Herby]

Completely 100% ignores the rest of the rounds in which the Kings are one of if not the best drafting teams in the league... Just. Nope.

Really? Did you not read the first paragraph of my post? Guess not. Well since you missed it or your reading comprehension is bad I said the Kings have done a good job finding complimentary players in the later rounds. But you are not going to build a championship caliber roster by hitting singles on bottom six and third pair defenders in later rounds , when it comes to the first round, outside of #2 overall pick Doughty the Kings have not hit a homerun and have actually struck out multiple times in round one. I think we all agree the Kings defense is aging and slowing down and there really isn't anyone in house who is ready to be anything more than a bottom pairing defender, you are crazy if you think two terrible and one questionable pick used on defenders from 07-10 isn't playing a part in that. If even one of Hickey, Teubert or Forbort had lived up to potential and been a Top 4 defenseman the Kings are in much much better shape than they currently are on the back end.

So again, not being critical of the drafting outside of round 1, and the Kings have a nice group of role players but a lot of the issues with the depth on this team go back to the misses and the traded first round picks, there is no disputing it.

 

[Herby]

Boy, I'm sure glad we got Mike Richards and Dustin Brown to kick around for what is essentially a team issue from the goalie out.

The team issues obviously go beyond those two, but they are the two biggest issues with the Kings right now, ofcourse they are going to be a focal point of the discussion.

You mention the defense, and I think everyone agrees we need to go outside the organization because we need a partner for Doughty and/or a second pairing defenseman and no one in house is even close to playing that role. But what is it going to cost to get that guy, the Kings are already going to be limited when it comes to the cap, and why you ask, well look no further than paying a combined $12 million dollars or 17% of the cap to your current third line left wing and fourth line center.

Richards and Brown were also counted on to be top six forwards going into the year and since they both were abysmal this season that also created two holes in the top six that the Kings were forced to fill with younger players who probably needed a little more seasoning. Assuming Carter slides over to C in 2014, the Kings still need to get another winger, and while there is some organizational depth there, the Kings are not going with Pearson and Toffoli both on the second line, so someone again is going to have to be brought in, and if Richards and Brown are back the money is again going to be limited.

The entire roster and all the holes and needs go back to 23 and 10 completely falling apart and having two of the worst contracts in the league. There is simply no way the Kings can build a long term championship caliber roster with those two both on the team, you can have one awful contract buried in your bottom six, plenty of teams do, but you can't have two that bad.