WCSF Gm#7 KINGS#3 blow by DUCKS#1 w/ 6-2 Victory !!! Anaheim is our suburb

[agentfouser]

Boudreau, on whether there was a lack of poise in Anaheim’s game:
You can call it whatever you want. I’m the kind of guy that, yeah we didn’t do things that we wanted to do but I want to give the LA Kings a little bit of credit here. They played like Stanley Cup champions. They never played like that in the first period like in any of the other six games. I think we were individually and collectively blown away by what they were doing. You’ve never seen them out-passing us individually as a player. I mean it’s like we were standing still and they were driving by us. We weren’t really good, but let’s not take too much away from them. They’re going to give Chicago everything they can handle.

It's difficult to explain how things changed so much, from games 1-4 in which we were frequently outplayed, to games six and seven where we dominated. It's tempting to just say the Kings turned it on, or finally got serious about playing, or whatever, but I think it was more structural. It took a while, but the Kings adapted to playing the Ducks, and made the adjustments they needed to make.

It took us until game six to really slow the Ducks down, and to slow the game down. Our forwards dropped deeper into the defensive zone, and that made a huge difference. The breakout improved dramatically in the last two games, because we had better support in the defensive zone, our defense had to make slightly shorter passes to break the puck out, and our forwards had a few extra feet to step around Duck defenders trying to close the gap. I loved how we slowed our breakout down, too, bringing puck deep again once we had relieved the pressure, and having an extra forward circle back to build up speed. It was awesome how we protected the middle as well. The Ducks had all kinds of looks from prime areas for the first five games, but in games six and seven our stickwork improved dramatically. It's like Sutter made them go and do nothing but stick drills. Suddenly we were taking space away from the Ducks with really well-executed stick checks, our forwards tracked Ducks trying to penetrate the middle, and we neutralized their speed and skill.

Another thing is just how good Quick is. I was talking with my friends about the game, and trying to explain to a new fan (friend's girlfriend, but a rapid convert) just what makes Quick so good. I don't think there's any goalie in the league who tracks the puck through traffic as well as he does. He just always knows where it is, where it's coming from, even with a forest of bodies and sticks in front of him. And it's not just that he keeps his eye on the puck--though he does--it's like his vision and sense of the game is so good that he can read the puck's location from the players around him. When you combine that with his athleticism, you have a guy who I think is the best in the world in scrambles and broken plays.

Plus, he does stuff like this: https://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/853218128.gif?1400290725

That gif might be my favorite thing in the universe right now.

Man, I'm so happy we won. What a time to be a Kings fan.

 

[Quattro]

I want to add to the praise for Jeff Schultz. Veteran guy gets picked up at the start of the year as an insurance piece, spends the entire season in the AHL and then gets dropped into a second round, heated rivalry series and has to play major minutes and critical situations. He never looked out of place. Pretty remarkable.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

I can't recall the name of the poster, but before the series started someone said on the main boards something along the lines of Ducks having no idea what's about to hit them. And after 6 great and really close games, I must admit your team did prove him or her right in game 7.

An impressive performance indeed, so I just wanted to stop by your boards and give my thanks for a good series and wish you luck against Chicago. Real class shown at the end of the games too, was really nice to see!

Hopefully we'll meet again next year, though I might be alone on this specific board to hope for a different outcome if that were to happen.

(but same outcomes )

 

[Model62]

Such a strange conclusion to the series, the blowout just deflated all animosity. The ending wound up being almost serene.

That first period fast-forwarded Ducks fans through the stages of grief.

 

[cyclones22]

I want to add to the praise for Jeff Schultz. Veteran guy gets picked up at the start of the year as an insurance piece, spends the entire season in the AHL and then gets dropped into a second round, heated rivalry series and has to play major minutes and critical situations. He never looked out of place. Pretty remarkable.

No kidding. When DL signed him, I was okay with it because you can NEVER have enough defensemen and it wasn't exactly a break the bank contract. That insurance policy sure paid off the last few games.

 

[yankeeking]

what a great night nite in someone else's house, but how many of us would have gone to jail if it was the other way around lol .... anyone that thinks we are in trouble against the hawks I think misses the one thing that makes hockey different than other sports, passion and will can make a good team great. BB was right about the first period we were in beast mode and when that happens we are a GREAT team GO KINGS GO

 

[zampilot]

Thank you very much mr. Ducksworth!!!!!! Quack quack quack quack mr. Ducksworth!!!!!!!!

 

[cyclones22]

what a great night nite in someone else's house

This is key. Last season's Kings struggled on the road in both the regular season and postseason. Last night was the Kings 5th road victory. That's a great indicator for Kings success. Now, they'll need to clean up their messes at Staples, but I'm glad they have their road warrior mentality back.

 

[Butch 19]

I want to add to the praise for Jeff Schultz. Veteran guy gets picked up at the start of the year as an insurance piece, spends the entire season in the AHL and then gets dropped into a second round, heated rivalry series and has to play major minutes and critical situations. He never looked out of place. Pretty remarkable.

^^^^ this is true. Schultz stepped in and has played quite well.

And didn't he take a hard slapper in the chest last night? ouch!

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Well that was a helluva thing, wasn't it? I was emotioned out by Kopitar's goal, been on fumes ever since.

Chicago, we're coming for you.

 

[Bandit]

Clifford had an amazing game last night, and Schultz has filled in admirably every since he's come into the lineup.

The one thing I don't understand though is the powerplay. How can they be SO ****** most of the time but then every so often they look like the '86 Oilers out there? I mean what the ****? The sequence on Gaborik's powerplay goal is as good as you'll ever see, but 95% of the time they look like a monkey ****ing a football. It's crazy.

 

[Chain]

I want to add to the praise for Jeff Schultz. Veteran guy gets picked up at the start of the year as an insurance piece, spends the entire season in the AHL and then gets dropped into a second round, heated rivalry series and has to play major minutes and critical situations. He never looked out of place. Pretty remarkable.

Schultz definitely deserves credit for stepping in and playing solid like that. If we do win the Cup, he definitely deserves to be a part of it.

 

[TonySCV]

It's difficult to explain how things changed so much, from games 1-4 in which we were frequently outplayed, to games six and seven where we dominated. It's tempting to just say the Kings turned it on, or finally got serious about playing, or whatever, but I think it was more structural. It took a while, but the Kings adapted to playing the Ducks, and made the adjustments they needed to make.

It took us until game six to really slow the Ducks down, and to slow the game down. Our forwards dropped deeper into the defensive zone, and that made a huge difference. The breakout improved dramatically in the last two games, because we had better support in the defensive zone, our defense had to make slightly shorter passes to break the puck out, and our forwards had a few extra feet to step around Duck defenders trying to close the gap. I loved how we slowed our breakout down, too, bringing puck deep again once we had relieved the pressure, and having an extra forward circle back to build up speed. It was awesome how we protected the middle as well. The Ducks had all kinds of looks from prime areas for the first five games, but in games six and seven our stickwork improved dramatically. It's like Sutter made them go and do nothing but stick drills. Suddenly we were taking space away from the Ducks with really well-executed stick checks, our forwards tracked Ducks trying to penetrate the middle, and we neutralized their speed and skill.

The latter bolded word (along with the rest of the coaching staff) explains the earlier bolded part. Sutter and his staff are some of the best intra-game and intra-series coaches I've ever seen. They see what the other team is springing new on them, make adjustments, and they have the personnel to execute those changes. You described perfectly what the Kings did differently as the series went on to outcoach the opposition.

What's so special about this Kings team is that they can perform. You want changes coach? Done. It's really as simple as that. The teams are so even - it comes down to coaching. Quenneville is a master at that as well, so this is going to be an interesting series. For the Kings sake though, I hope it's a short one. It's tough to imagine the Kings winning another championship if they have to endure another long series to get to round 4.

Clifford had an amazing game last night, and Schultz has filled in admirably every since he's come into the lineup.

The one thing I don't understand though is the powerplay. How can they be SO ****** most of the time but then every so often they look like the '86 Oilers out there? I mean what the ****? The sequence on Gaborik's powerplay goal is as good as you'll ever see, but 95% of the time they look like a monkey ****ing a football. It's crazy.

Last night's PP gem late in the game was a combination of the Kings in cruise control, and the Ducks resigning themselves to the loss far before the crowd did. Getzlaf acknowledged postgame that he knew the game was over after the first period. If he's thinking that, the whole team is thinking that. That makes a lot of sense considering they were playing like a beaten team in the 3rd when they had the chance to effect a huge momentum swing in the game before they took the most boneheaded penalties to take themselves out of it. Only a team with tunnel vision of a loss does something like what the Ducks did in the 3rd period last night. They had a genuine chance to make a game of it in the 3rd when it was 5-2 and instead they played like they were down 12-2.

One other thing - Boudreau really needs to get his verbal diarrhea under control. You can NOT say things like "we have to score first" prior to game 7. What does that do to your team when the Kings score first? His words prior to game 7 were a suicide mission. No wonder the guy has terrible success in game 7's after setting his team up for psychological failure like that. His switch to Gibson in game 3 was a mistake as well - Hiller played well in games one and two. He's always struck me as a coach who over-thinks a situation (and then over-shares his thoughts). This series didn't help that stereotype.

 

[agentfouser]

The latter bolded word (along with the rest of the coaching staff) explains the earlier bolded part. Sutter and his staff are some of the best intra-game and intra-series coaches I've ever seen. They see what the other team is springing new on them, make adjustments, and they have the personnel to execute those changes. You described perfectly what the Kings did differently as the series went on to outcoach the opposition.

What's so special about this Kings team is that they can perform. You want changes coach? Done. It's really as simple as that. The teams are so even - it comes down to coaching. Quenneville is a master at that as well, so this is going to be an interesting series. For the Kings sake though, I hope it's a short one. It's tough to imagine the Kings winning another championship if they have to endure another long series to get to round 4.



Last night's PP gem late in the game was a combination of the Kings in cruise control, and the Ducks resigning themselves to the loss far before the crowd did. Getzlaf acknowledged postgame that he knew the game was over after the first period. If he's thinking that, the whole team is thinking that. That makes a lot of sense considering they were playing like a beaten team in the 3rd when they had the chance to effect a huge momentum swing in the game before they took the most boneheaded penalties to take themselves out of it. Only a team with tunnel vision of a loss does something like what the Ducks did in the 3rd period last night. They had a genuine chance to make a game of it in the 3rd when it was 5-2 and instead they played like they were down 12-2.

Well, I wanted to acknowledge and validate the views of many posters who saw our performance in games six and seven as more a function of individual agency--clutch performance, better emotional engagement, better energy level and commitment to winning--as opposed to my more structural view. But, yeah, I think it was more structure than anything else.

I hope that we keep this going forward. The adjustments we made to beat the Ducks are the same we'll need to beat Chicago. But... we could have said the same thing for San Jose, and the Ducks still took it to us. They were clearly the better team through five games. I wish I had full versions of every game and no job so I could go back and really break down games one through five.

Heh, nice edit, I responded before I saw that.

I think your last point is really important though, and it brings the analysis back to individual agency. As with the Sharks, I really don't think the Ducks' best players are true winners. Sure, Perry and Getzlaf have won the Cup, but 2007 was all about Pronger and especially Niedermeyer. Perry, Getzlaf, Thornton, and Marleau all seem to wilt a bit at those really critical moments. Maybe that's just a small sample size--how many game sevens are there, really?--but Lombardi's emphasis on character does have something to it. I can't imagine our players deciding that it was over with forty minutes still to play, even down by three or four goals.

Boudreau has a bit of Zapp Brannigan in him: "When I'm in charge, EVERY mission is a suicide mission!"

 

[Scottkmlps]

There had to have been more Kings fans at the Ponda last night than Ducks fans.

 

[Jason Squirties]

Well, I wanted to acknowledge and validate the views of many posters who saw our performance in games six and seven as more a function of individual agency--clutch performance, better emotional engagement, better energy level and commitment to winning--as opposed to my more structural view. But, yeah, I think it was more structure than anything else.

I hope that we keep this going forward. The adjustments we made to beat the Ducks are the same we'll need to beat Chicago. But... we could have said the same thing for San Jose, and the Ducks still took it to us. They were clearly the better team through five games. I wish I had full versions of every game and no job so I could go back and really break down games one through five.

Heh, nice edit, I responded before I saw that.

I think your last point is really important though, and it brings the analysis back to individual agency. As with the Sharks, I really don't think the Ducks' best players are true winners. Sure, Perry and Getzlaf have won the Cup, but 2007 was all about Pronger and especially Niedermeyer. Perry, Getzlaf, Thornton, and Marleau all seem to wilt a bit at those really critical moments. Maybe that's just a small sample size--how many game sevens are there, really?--but Lombardi's emphasis on character does have something to it. I can't imagine our players deciding that it was over with forty minutes still to play, even down by three or four goals.

Boudreau has a bit of Zapp Brannigan in him: "When I'm in charge, EVERY mission is a suicide mission!"

OMG

 

[agentfouser]

Interesting things from the stats last night: we didn't roll four lines very much.

http://www.extraskater.com/game/2014-05-16-kings-ducks

Kopitar with almost 20 minutes of icetime, Stoll is effectively our second-line center with 17 minutes (I hate that extraskater.com doesn't convert it to minutes and seconds, but whatever), Richards, Carter, and Lewis all with under 15 minutes.

It's too bad that Sutter didn't use the lopsided score to rest players a bit, but the Ducks did remain dangerous for substantial stretches of time. An extra goal here or there and it could have been a much closer contest.

 

[TonySCV]

There had to have been more Kings fans at the Ponda last night than Ducks fans.

Certainly at the end!

It was like a stink bomb was released after the 6th goal.

 

[Quattro]

Certainly at the end!

It was like a stink bomb was released after the 6th goal.

I find it hard to believe some Duck fans didn't stay to salute Selanne

 

[Captain Mittens*]

OMG

Best username ever

 

[TonySCV]

I was shocked to hear this on the broadcast last night...

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, last night's penalty shot was just the second penalty shot in a Game 7 in NHL history. The other: Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford denied Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows in Game 7 of the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals (VAN won 2-1 in OT).

And I'm not sure what more can be said about Quick. Now 6-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and one shutout in the six games in which the Kings have faced elimination this postseason. He has allowed one or fewer goals in four of those six games. Best goalie in the world and it's not even close.

 

[Bondoao1]

I find it hard to believe some Duck fans didn't stay to salute Selanne

A lot of duck fans are d-bags... They are only fans if they are winning, otherwise they are whining...

 

[TheSentinel]

Saw these on the PS main thread holy wow that first one :shock:

not mine, but it showed up in my twitter feed right after the game

 

[BigKing]

Yes...it is still just as awesome today.

There weren't more Kings fans but the home fans had nothing to cheer about and 3-0 in the first will really loosen the vocal chords a bit. Behind the net where the Kings shot twice was packed with Kings fans.

Lot of empty seats in the lower bowl to start the game as well. That start time was a travesty.

 

[Ron*]

Kings show Ducks who is boss

Kings show Ducks who is boss