Kings can’t catch up, lose to Flyers 3-2

On a night where it seemed as if the Kings would get majority of the bounces, they didn’t.
On a night where it seemed as if the Kings would have the upper hand playing a back-up goaltender, they didn’t.
On a night where it seemed as if the Kings would take advantage of special teams play, they didn’t.
On a night where it seemed as if the Kings had more chances then the opposition leading to an offensive explosion, they didn’t.

Remember when you were a kid in grade school, and you did or said something really bad and were forced to write on the blackboard the phrase you said or situation you did 100 times?  That’s what the beginning of this blog was like.  Tonight, there were a lot of things that could of been executed at a different level and the Kings would of come out on top. However, it didn’t. A lot of situations that should of given the Kings a victory, as stated above, yet the Flyers were the team that came out on top.

After a horrible goal given up by Brian Boucher of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Kings were the team that suddenly looked as if the game was starting to melt away from under them. A goal that should of taken the fight out of the Flyers seemed to do the exact opposite.  Instead of the Kings finding ways to generate goals, Brian Boucher was there to turn them aside.  When Boucher was in trouble, the team was there to bail him out.

Although you can not really blame the Kings last night for losing, you have to point fingers somewhere.

Jonathan Quick, the average goaltender with average numbers, had just that last night  Another average performance resulting in a Kings defeat. Quick gave up three goals on just twenty shots. At this point, there needs to be more of a discussion with Quick in order for him to gain a better focus during the game. He is still a young netminder, adapting to the NHL but you would think by this point the kid would be on his game, right?

As I am unsure what to feel of say about Quick, the coaching staff needs to realize that he needs to step his game up.  At various points throughout last season and the start of this season, there was a chance that Quick would be looked at from a potential Team USA spot at the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver. That has faded, and fast.

When it became public that Ryan Smyth would be out for a month with an injury, Kings nation didn’t really panic because they knew that Alexander Frolov would be bumped up to the top line to bring balance and keep the scoring touch of the first line alive. Last night, the top line of Frolov – Koiptar – Williams were a shooting machine, however only one shot off the stick of Alexander Frolov means that the confidence is not there.  The three combined for one point last night, a Justin Williams assist on Drew Doughty’s power play goal. Suddenly that Ryan Smyth injury looks to be really big.

The good news is, there is always tomorrow. By tomorrow, that means Saturday’s game when the Kings play host to the Calgary Flames. A Western Confernece match up that requires at least a point. No, Ryan Smyth will not be back for Saturday’s contest but hockey is a team sport and this team needs to come together and bounce back.  Smyth is not the reason they will win or lose games on a nightly basis. Yes, he will help the cause and his loss is going to hurt but the team, as a whole, need to step up when a player of Smyth’s calibur goes down.

Let’s see what happens on Saturday in Calgary.