GDT: Still Jeff Carter's team vs Bruins at Staples Center 7:30 PM PST

[deeshamrock]

You can question your sanity or question the basis for the Kings' offensive system. When it happens for a game or two, you might excuse it as bad luck or a hot goalie. When it happens game after game, excuses start sounding like excuses.

The Kings need to change their approach on offense. It's not working and hasn't worked for years. They have one of the lowest shooting percentages of all teams for years. It's time to look at why.

That is the baby of the DL /DS marriage. That might change this summer if DL is booted upstairs. Although as the Mayor pointed out, SUtter can't be fired (contract) if DL isn't the GM, that bond is gone and maybe he'd retire. Blake (or whoever the new GM is) could change that philosophy and hire a coach with a different perspective. And his drafting style would be different, that should help replenish a almost barren farm system.
The winds of change are brewing...

 

[KingsFan7824]

You can question your sanity or question the basis for the Kings' offensive system. When it happens for a game or two, you might excuse it as bad luck or a hot goalie. When it happens game after game, excuses start sounding like excuses.

The Kings need to change their approach on offense. It's not working and hasn't worked for years. They have one of the lowest shooting percentages of all teams for years. It's time to look at why.

Carter, +5.4%
Pearson,m +3.8
Brown, +2.4
Lewis, +2.3
Doughty, -1.1
Muzzin, -1.3
Martinez, -1.8
Gaborik, -1.8
King, -5.4
Toffoli, -5.8
Kopitar, -8.7

That's the difference between sh% from last year to this year. King sucks, so obviously he's not going to score, but still has more goals than Kopitar. I see 2 guys, good players, that are way, way, way off. I would say those 2, more than anything else, are why the sh% isn't good. They each even had a good sh% last year with Sutter as the coach. Kopitar has even had his 2nd and 3rd highest sh% season's with Sutter as the coach.

 

[lumbergh]

Carter, +5.4%
Pearson,m +3.8
Brown, +2.4
Lewis, +2.3
Doughty, -1.1
Muzzin, -1.3
Martinez, -1.8
Gaborik, -1.8
King, -5.4
Toffoli, -5.8
Kopitar, -8.7

That's the difference between sh% from last year to this year. King sucks, so obviously he's not going to score, but still has more goals than Kopitar. I see 2 guys, good players, that are way, way, way off. I would say those 2, more than anything else, are why the sh% isn't good. They each even had a good sh% last year with Sutter as the coach. Kopitar has even had his 2nd and 3rd highest sh% season's with Sutter as the coach.

Carter and Pearson are players who score a good chunk of their goals off the rush and back off defenders with speed. The rest of the Kings have gotten used to dump and chase. That worked a few years ago, but it's not working any more.

This team was built to wear opposing teams down over a playoff series, but you can't win a playoff series if you don't make the playoffs. If the Kings don't make the playoffs this year, that'll be two out of three years they end up in the "black hole". That's a serious problem that Lombardi recognized when he arrived. It's a serious problem the Kings have to solve before June.

 

[Little Psycho]

Then maybe Kopitar should stop playing like a *****?

We all know that's not gonna happen. I think I'll just take a break from the Kings, they're too frustrating.

 

[lexlavender]

This team needs new voices. Vets really look like they've lost all motivation.

Honestly, that was a pretty good game until the 3rd period, which was embarrassing. From a mechanical stand point, Kings have struggled with opponents standing up at the blue line all year. They aren't fast enough to win puck races in the zone, they aren't strong enough to cleanly win puck battles, and they aren't skilled enough to beat players 1 on 1 either to get in the zone or create space once inside. They're trying to grind and grind against teams which know all their outlets and continue win puck battles.

And how many posts did we hit, 5?? ****** playing aside, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings led the league in post shots.

I'm really afraid Lombardi buys at deadline. Please for the love of god sell, sell, sell.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Carter and Pearson are players who score a good chunk of their goals off the rush and back off defenders with speed. The rest of the Kings have gotten used to dump and chase. That worked a few years ago, but it's not working any more.

This team was built to wear opposing teams down over a playoff series, but you can't win a playoff series if you don't make the playoffs. If the Kings don't make the playoffs this year, that'll be two out of three years they end up in the "black hole". That's a serious problem that Lombardi recognized when he arrived. It's a serious problem the Kings have to solve before June.

And for the players that it worked for last year, but not this year, what's the reason? Was it just the presence of Lucic? If that's the case, then Toffoli needs to go now for whatever you can get, before he's way overpaid, because he's not fast in a speed league.

 

[Little Psycho]

This team needs new voices. Vets really look like they've lost all motivation.

Honestly, that was a pretty good game until the 3rd period, which was embarrassing. From a mechanical stand point, Kings have struggled with opponents standing up at the blue line all year. They aren't fast enough to win puck races in the zone, they aren't strong enough to cleanly win puck battles, and they aren't skilled enough to beat players 1 on 1 either to get in the zone or create space once inside. They're trying to grind and grind against teams which know all their outlets and continue win puck battles.

And how many posts did we hit, 5?? ****** playing aside, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings led the league in post shots.

I'm really afraid Lombardi buys at deadline. Please for the love of god sell, sell, sell.

I have that feeling too. There was scouts at the Preds and Avs game last night and I'm afraid he's trying to get Iginla

 

[deeshamrock]

I have that feeling too. There was scouts at the Preds and Avs game last night and I'm afraid he's trying to get Iginla

Bobby Mac's been hinting at that for a couple of weeks.

Continuing to lose prospects and future assets for aging rentals is why this team in declining and why DL won't be in the GM chair next year.
But don't forget, Iggy has to approve the trade and other teams, teams that are in contention would be more attractive.

 

[lexlavender]

At some point you have to say screw it to analytics, because there's defintley more going on here than just bad luck, despite the dominant possession. Every team in the league for years since our two cup wins have watched the Kings play. Like Sutter says, they play the same way every game. And every team in the league has learned exactly what you need to do to beat the Kings, which Boston did for 20 minutes straight in the third period last night.

1. Stand up at the line to force a dump in.

2. Quickly gang up on the forechecker

3. If forechecker loses puck battle, pass puck over to off side teammate and push, forcing the D to move backwards to defend

4. If forechecker wins to puck battle, put pressure on high D to either intercept the obvious pass that will be coming to the point, or force a pass along the boards down low.

5. If pass is forced down low, tie up player behind the net so that the puck rolls to the off side, where the Kings aren't fast enough to recover the puck and your D man can cleanly pick up the puck for a breakout. Once the breakout starts, the Kings will recoil back to defense.

6. If high point D man or low forward receives a pass and the cycle starts, simply keep strong formation, pressure on the puck carrier, and block shots until a loose puck lands into your possession. The Kings are neither skilled enough to get shots through consistently and skilled enough to make plays in high danger areas.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

We all know that's not gonna happen. I think I'll just take a break from the Kings, they're too frustrating.

Uh, no. Having your wit and sarcasm around here makes things less frustrating for the rest of us.

 

[Little Psycho]

Uh, no. Having your wit and sarcasm around here makes things less frustrating for the rest of us.

You're too kind but the team is currently unbearable. I'm not going away for good, just need to focus on things that do not frustrate me. Even when I say it, I still end up checking the scores on twitter.

Don't worry I'll be back soon with my pitchfork, when Dean trades for Iginla

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Just posted this on LAKI:

Kings d-men have 29 goals on the season.
Hawks d-men have 25 goals on the season.

Kings bottom 6 + extras have 37 goals on the season.
Hawks bottom 6 + extras have 39 goals on the season.

Kings 2nd line (Carter's) have 57 goals on the season.
Hawks 2nd line (Kane's) have 63 goals on the season.

So looking at that, it's not bad. Fairly even. Comes out to 123 goals for the Kings and 127 goals for the Hawks. But wait, we forgot Kopitar.....

Kings 1st line (Gaborik-Kopitar-Toffoli) have 22 goals.
Hawks 1st line (Hossa-Toews-Panik) have 52 goals.

*Right now Hossa is on the 3rd line and Schmaltz is on the top line but I flipped them to even out the scoring since Schmaltz only has 6 goals and Hossa has 21.

 

[kovacro]

I have that feeling too. There was scouts at the Preds and Avs game last night and I'm afraid he's trying to get Iginla

I wouldn't trade Marcel Dionne's used jock from the 1985 season for old man Iginla.

FFS Dean, don't you dare trade for more "stare kosti" (old bones).

 

[fsanford]

I have that feeling too. There was scouts at the Preds and Avs game last night and I'm afraid he's trying to get Iginla

I would think Iginla wants to go to a playoff team, might be better served to go back to Calgary, which would be pretty cool actually.

I sure hope we don't trade for him, we have experienced Groundhog Day too much lately.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Kings have scored 96 even strength goals, 22nd in the NHL. They're also 22nd in the league with 29 powerplay goals. They haven't had any 5-on-3 goals (not that they get many opportunities anyhow).

The Kings have the 5th worst winning percentage when the opponent scores first at .294. They have 19 wins when scoring first, which is 16th overall in the league. When scoring first, the team record is 19-5-2. When the opponent scores first, they're 10-22-2.

This team simply can't play from behind. Their problems are all mental.

 

[Steve Zissou]

The Kings have the 5th worst winning percentage when the opponent scores first at .294. They have 19 wins when scoring first, which is 16th overall in the league. When scoring first, the team record is 19-5-2. When the opponent scores first, they're 10-22-2.

This team simply can't play from behind. Their problems are all mental.

Great post.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Just posted this on LAKI:

Kings d-men have 29 goals on the season.
Hawks d-men have 25 goals on the season.

Kings bottom 6 + extras have 37 goals on the season.
Hawks bottom 6 + extras have 39 goals on the season.

Kings 2nd line (Carter's) have 57 goals on the season.
Hawks 2nd line (Kane's) have 63 goals on the season.

So looking at that, it's not bad. Fairly even. Comes out to 123 goals for the Kings and 127 goals for the Hawks. But wait, we forgot Kopitar.....

Kings 1st line (Gaborik-Kopitar-Toffoli) have 22 goals.
Hawks 1st line (Hossa-Toews-Panik) have 52 goals.

*Right now Hossa is on the 3rd line and Schmaltz is on the top line but I flipped them to even out the scoring since Schmaltz only has 6 goals and Hossa has 21.

I saw that post on LAKI and that 30 goal differential on the first-line is eye-popping. The Hawks are having problems with bottom-six scoring like we are, but it's pretty hard for a team to win with only one line that produces. Even our hot Carter and Pearson are producing 6 fewer goals than Kane's line because our two guys are doing all the heavy-lifting.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

I saw that post on LAKI and that 30 goal differential on the first-line is eye-popping. The Hawks are having problems with bottom-six scoring like we are, but it's pretty hard for a team to win with only one line that produces. Even our hot Carter and Pearson are producing 6 fewer goals than Kane's line because our two guys are doing all the heavy-lifting.

I think almost every team has trouble scoring from the bottom 6 except for Pittsburgh and maybe 1 or 2 other teams. Even if you flip Brown and Toffoli then it only increases the 2nd line goal scoring by 1.

Any way you shape it, Gaborik-Kopitar are the ones killing the team offensively. Toffoli is actually on a 20 goal pace on a per/82 game basis.

 

[johnjm22]

The Kings have the 5th worst winning percentage when the opponent scores first at .294. They have 19 wins when scoring first, which is 16th overall in the league. When scoring first, the team record is 19-5-2. When the opponent scores first, they're 10-22-2.

This team simply can't play from behind. Their problems are all mental.

Which means that they need a coaching change.

 

[theMajor]

the offense is so stale right now its insane. it was frustrating watching the Bruins break-out as a unit so cleanly while we were just dumping and chasing and losing battles. something has gotta give

 

[AlphaBravo]

Which means that they need a coaching change.

If Mayor is correct and there is some kind of a directive by management or the ownership group that Sutter cannot be fired, then I hope they at least bring in a a new offensive assistant coach. The whole team has been in an offensive slump other than Carter and Pearson, and now that these two are cold, there is no way we are winning games. I don't think there is any rental in this world that can re-ignite this team's offense until there is a coaching change.

 

[Little Psycho]

Mayor is saying Quick will play Saturday.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Mayor is saying Quick will play Saturday.

What. the. ****.

 

[BigKing]

Mayor is saying Quick will play Saturday.

So I was thinking how going to the game on Saturday could be worse and here we have Quick possibly coming back too early to try and save the season.

The skaters should be up for this game regardless; however, if they don't come out flying at home against the Ducks with Quick back in net then they can get rid of the entire lot of them.

Last night was the first time in 15 years of season seats that one of us actually fell asleep at the game. Wasn't me, of course, but my buddy slept through almost the entire 3rd period.

 

[fsanford]

Mayor is saying Quick will play Saturday.

Kings circle the wagon moment, the team should be fired up, I know the crowd will be.

2 wins in a row and 2 losses in a row by Flames and the world looks rosey again. Well sort of anyway.