Olympic break hangover – cured

What has gone on with the Los Angeles Kings since the NHL returned from it’s Olympic hiatus?

From red hot to ice cold in the matter of days.

However, the lesser of the play began post-deadline where the Kings acquired Jeff Halpern and Fredrick Modin and shipped disgruntled winger Teddy Purcell to Tampa.

Usually, when you acquire two bottom pairing wingers the chemistry should not be affected much.

So far, for the Kings, it has backfired.

They are no longer a comfortable lock for the playoffs. They are starting to slide away from potentially gaining home ice advantage in the first round. They even began to lack scoring which, outside of goaltending, is the most dangerous weapon in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It is not only the loss itself that hurts, it is the way they lost and the teams they lost to.  It also brings forth questions as to just how important the victory over Dallas fresh off the Olympic hiatus was. Or was it a victory because the Kings played a very poor team right now.  Not poor based off black and white make up, poor on the ice itself.

The Dallas Stars playoffs hopes fade with each game played.  The Kings were not the first team to prove that this week and they will not be the last.

However, the Kings came up short against both the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens.  These are games where, especially this point of the season, points are crucial to many circumstances.

This is not the time to point fingers.  This is a time where you need to come together as a whole, a team, and get out of this current slump before it drags you down any further.  There have been slumps throughout the course of the entire season, each one being battled out of only to earn a positive streak; victories.

The lovely hardware that certain Kings players brought back from the Olympic games needs to now be put on the back burner. It’s back to NHL hockey and to do the job you get paid to do by your employer. Your job is to be a hockey player and your employer is the team you currently play for, in this case the Los Angeles Kings.

Last night, the Los Angeles Kings jumped on an opportunity to get back on the winning track as they played host to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Terry Murray played around with his defensive pairings after the 1st period in the Kings most recent loss and last night it had a similar look.  The Staples Center crowd supported the home team, without a doubt, as they earned the two point victory to stabilize the teams playoff position.

Six different goal scorers, three power play goals and the Kings skated through the Blue Jackets by a final of 6-0.

Jonathan Quick didn’t have to be spectacular, nor was he tested much.  The Kings defense held the Jackets to just 11 shots on goal throughout the game and this victory seemed like it was almost too easy.

Wayne Simmons, Drew Doughty, Alex Frolov, Michael Handzus, Fredrick Modin and Brad Richardson scored a goal a piece with Frolov as well as Randy Jones adding two assists a piece.

This game needs to be the stepping stone for the Los Angeles Kings stretch drive. The next game is a bigger test, no matter what the goaltending situation is like in Chicago.  The Blackhawks are a powerful offensive weapon with a very strong defense and it will be quite the battle on Wednesday night.

Terry Murray’s post game quotes, when asked about which part of the game he was more impressed with last night: (quotes taken from Rich Hammonds blog at LAKings Insider)

MURRAY: “The defensive part of the game. That’s a good thing. You have to do that. When you get into these kinds of games, the remaining part of the season, it’s always about the checking and defensive structure that you show. Holding teams to a fewer number of shots is always the read that I make on our hockey club.”

Murray’s thoughts on the negatives of a lopsided game:

MURRAY: “When you get into these kind of games, between periods, you’re talking to your team about maintaining focus, structure, good habits, doing the right things, all of the cliches that you want to keep pushing, to maintain that attitude going forward from this game. We know who the next opponent is. It’s going to be a real difficult game. It’s one of the best teams in the league and we’re going to have to make sure we’re doing all the right things.”

And in order to get a good start on this situation, that is the best attitude to have going into Wednesday. The Hawks will be a difficult task and it is respected that they are recognized as one of the better clubs in the league.

However, this Kings team can compete and they have proven it many times this season.

The playoffs are right around the corner. Now is the time to get things rolling. Quick had an easy bounce back games as did the team as a whole. A victory Wednesday night would not only be great for the confidence level and team morale, but it keeps the Kings pushing for home ice during the first round of the playoffs which, in this writers opinion, is a very important factor.