Unfortunately for supporters of the Staples Center’s “other tenant” — and despite the trade rumors, no I do not mean the Clippers — , the Kings looked dreadful for most of the evening. A mere twenty-four hours after GM Dean Lombardi announced his decision to fire head coach Terry Murray, the Kings were unable to respond, and dropped their fifth game in a row. Shutout for the 3rd time this season, Los Angeles 29th ranked offense couldn’t get anything past a flawless Tuukka Rask en route to their fifth straight loss. Playing through a transitional period such as this, with high levels of uncertainty surrounding the team, it’s coaches and management obviously an understandably difficult task. However, Kings’ netminder and Milford, CT native Jonathan Quick was not making any excuses for his team on Tuesday night:

“There is a lot of stuff going on, but there is no excuse. You can’t take stuff like that and call it a distraction, use it as a reason not to win the game.” – Jonathan Quick

It was only 6:32 into the game that the B’s would take the lead as Rich Peverley cashed in a beauty of a feed from Zach Hamill for his fifth goal of the season. A relatively uneventful first period would come and go with some back and forth play by both squads, and the score remaining 1-0 Boston. At the 7:43 mark of the second frame, it was Boston’s impressive prowess in the face-off dot that paid huge dividends as Brad Marchand snapped one past Quick after a clean win in the circle by Patrice Bergeron. Often the most underrated aspect of Bergeron’s all-around game is his proficiency in the face-off circle, something Marchand certainly understands the importance of:

“He’s if not the best, one of the top in the league. He’s very consistent every night. He’s very, very strong on the draws and it’s huge for our team. The amount we start with the puck because of how well he is on draws is, it’s a big thing.” – Brad Marchand

Early in the third, some hard work and battling in the corners once again paid off for Boston’s second line, as Bergeron and Marchand connected for the second time of the night. In what some might describe as a “typical Marchand goal”, the 6’1” winger dangled the puck onto his backhand and slipped it passed a downed Jonathan Quick. Boston’s third goal turned out to be more than enough for Rask, who continued to dominate the Los Angeles forwards, shutting the door each and every time the Kings had a chance to get on the board.

After tonight’s shutout and Saturday’s win in relief, Rask has won six of his last eight decisions.

“Well he was good tonight, arguably our best player tonight. He got better as the game went on and I thought he did a good job the other night coming in and kind of settling himself in in the third period and then he just carried that into tonight.” – Claude Julien

On a night when the B’s were without the services of their ever reliable captain Zdeno Chara, the performance of their goaltender was undoubtedly the most crucial factor to victory. Tuukka’s 41-save shutout tonight most definitely goes along way to solidifying no. 40′s spot on this team and perhaps earns the 24-year-old Finn a bit more playing time than usual. Normally goaltenders do not see action in both games of a back-to-back set, but when asked who would be in the Boston net tomorrow evening, Head Coach Claude Julien jokingly replied “That’s none of your business.”

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

LA Kings’ Jonathan Quick

KEY STATS

Goals–                       LAK (0)                BOS (3)

Shots–                       LAK (41)              BOS (22)

Power-Play–           LAK (0-5)           BOS (0-3)

Penalty-Kill–           LAK (3-3)             BOS (5-5)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Rich Peverley ….. 2.) Brad Marchand ….. 1.) Tuukka Rask

What’s Next?

It’ll be another quick turnaround for the Bruins as they will depart the Hub late Tuesday night on a flight to Ottawa. The Black and Gold are slated for a Wednesday evening contest against the Senators at ScotiaBank Place. The Kings will continue their four-game eastern swing as they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday at the Nationwide Arena.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley

Caron–Hamill–Thornton

DEFENSE

Seidenberg–Boychuk

Kampfer–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Rask

Thomas

Scratches– ….. Chara (Leg–OUT), Paille (Concussion — GTD), Campbell (Lower Body–OUT)

– Tonight’s game can be seen on NESN (Edwards, Brickley) and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers), the flagship radio station of the Boston Bruins.

NEWS & NOTES

– In net for Boston tonight will be their 24-year-old Finn Tuukka Rask, who steeped in o relieve Tim Thomas who allowed 3 goals in two periods in Columbus on Saturday. B’s head coach Claude Julien noted this morning that Thomas will be in net tomorrow night when the Black and Gold visit the Ottawa Senators at ScotiaBank Place. On the other side of the ice is Kings’ netminder Jonathan Quick. The UMass-Amherst product has been an absolute workhorse for the Crowns this season, starting 23 of his team’s 29 games.

– One day after firing head coach Terry Murray, the Kings will be playing their first game under the direction of interim bench boss John Stevens. Stevens takes the reigns amid rampant speculation that Kings’ GM and Ludlow, MA native Dean Lombardi has eyed former Flames’ coach Darryl Sutter for a possible hiring. Tonight’s game could very well be both the first and the last game for John Stevens as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

– Bruins’ agitator and beloved sports figure in the city of Boston Brad Marchand was today fined $2,500 by the NHL’s discipline committee on the heels of his slew footing of Penguins’ defenseman Matt Niskanen last Monday night in Pittsburgh. Coach Claude Julien denounced such actions, stating  “I want him to be a good brat, not a bad brat”.

– Former Philadelphia Flyers’ captain Mike Richards will be making his first appearance in the Hub since being dealt to Los Angeles this past June, in a deal that sent Wayne Simmonds, and top prospect Brayden Schenn back to Broad Street. Skating on the Kings’ second line this season, the 5’11″ native of Kenora, Ontario has posted 11-9-20 splits in 25 games of action.

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

B’s Captain Chara Speaks For The First Time Since Being Injured

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However, I feel it is time to take a deeper look at what next season’s Kings roster can potentially look like, some UFA’s that might be targeted, whether it is to solidify the top six or bottom six as pluggers, and the pure needs for this team from my perspective.

Also, we take a look at what some of the core combined with the kids can mean for this club heading into next season.

The Kings had plenty to celebrate this season.

The Los Angeles Kings had quite the exciting season, making the playoffs for the first time in six NHL seasons and seven years overall.

Unfortunately for the Kings, though, it was a short-lived postseason as they ran into one of the top three offenses in the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks eliminated them in six games, but not without the Kings acquiring something they did not have prior: playoff experience.

Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Wayne Simmonds, Scott Parse, Alexander Frolov, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick all skated on playoff ice and obtained their NHL ‘playoff badge’. A vital piece to this Kings future, which looks very bright.

With 15 players signed on through next season and only minor raises needed to keep the restricted free agents on board, the over $15 million in cap space the Kings have will play a key role in their off-season.

A look at the roster breakdown for free agents and salaries. Hat tip to Rich Hammond over at LAKingsInsider.com for having this posted on his site.

UNDER CONTRACT
(with next season’s cap hit)
Dustin Brown (through 2013-14) — $3.175 million
Drew Doughty (through 2010-11) — $3.475 million
Davis Drewiske (through 2012-13) — $616,666
Erik Ersberg (through 2010-11) — $750,000
Matt Greene (through 2013-14) — $2.95 million
Michal Handzus (through 2010-11) — $4 million
Peter Harrold (through 2010-11) — $583,333
Jack Johnson (through 1010-11) — $1.425 million
Anze Kopitar (through 2015-16) — $6.8 million
Jonathan Quick (through 2012-13) — $1.8 million
Rob Scuderi (through 2012-13) — $3.4 million
Wayne Simmonds (through 2010-11) — $821,667
Ryan Smyth (through 2011-12) — $6.25 million
Jarret Stoll (through 2011-12) — $3.6 million
Justin Williams (through 2010-11) — $3.5 million

BUYOUT
Alyn McCauley (through 2010-11) — $666,667

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
(with this year’s cap hit)
Rich Clune ($625,000)
Scott Parse ($550,000)
Brad Richardson ($587,500)

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
(with this year’s cap hit)
Alexander Frolov ($2.9 million)
Jeff Halpern ($2 million)
Raitis Ivanans ($600,000)
Randy Jones ($2.75 million)
Fredrik Modin ($3.25 million)
Sean O’Donnell ($1.25 million)

PROSPECTS UNDER CONTRACT
(with next year’s cap hit)
Justin Azevedo ($553,333)
Jonathan Bernier ($843,333)
Andrew Campbell ($580,000)
Kyle Clifford ($900,000)
Thomas Hickey ($1,316,666)
Bud Holloway ($650,000)
Martin Jones ($526,667)
Ray Kaunisto ($900,000)
Dwight King ($591,666)
Brandon Kozun ($575,000)
Andrei Loktionov ($845,833)
Alec Martinez ($875,000)
David Meckler ($561,666)
Juraj Mikus ($562,500)
Oscar Moller ($875,000)
Patrick Mullen ($875,000)
Jake Muzzin ($900,000)
Brayden Schenn ($3.14 million)
Colten Teubert ($945,833)
Viatcheslav Voynov ($845,833)
Kevin Westgarth ($525,000)
Jeff Zatkoff ($850,000)
John Zeiler ($558,333)

That is the entire roster for the Los Angeles Kings for those who were signed, are signed and those who have question marks as to whether or not they will return. As for unsigned and free agent prospects, you can find the list at the end of this writing.

Starting with the blue line.

What can be said about Doughty?! In only his second full season in the league he ended as a Norris finalist, won an Olympic gold medal as an integral figure to his country’s lineup, and earned his role as the team’s number one defenseman and power play quarterback.

Johnson also took strides with his game, bringing his level of play up a notch as well. He tallied career-highs in goals, assists, and points.

With veterans Rob Scuderi and Matt Greene signed on through next season, the blue line has four key contributors already locked in with these two, along with Doughty and Johnson.

Rounding out the defensemen who are locked in for next year, youngsters Davis Drewiske and Alec Martinez along with Peter Harrold could also take that next step to becoming regulars on the Kings blue line.

That leaves the Kings with seven NHL-ready defensemen and question marks to surround the future of Sean O’Donnell, who played a key role in the developments of both Johnson and Doughty.

Other prospects on the rise — Thomas Hickey, Viatcheslav Voynov and Colten Teubert — all will be part of training camp giving their best in order to impress the coaching staff and earn a roster spot of their own.

With the Kings AHL Affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, Martinez earned 30 points with a plus-12 rating and Voynov 29 points and were the top offensive defensemen for the mini-Kings.

The new wave of NHL defensemen all seem to have a very well developed two-way game and we are starting to notice a trend where the “shut down” defenseman is becoming somewhat obsolete.

Look around the NHL and you will notice that even shut down type players such as Marc Staal and Braydon Coburn, to name a few, have an offensive touch to their games even if they are known to play more of a shut down role.

Up front for L.A., the core for these Kings remains in tact and brings a very positive outlook.

Returning are the aforementioned Brown, Kopitar, Simmonds, along with veterans Ryan Smyth, Michal Handzus, and Jarret Stoll. Without panicking, restricted free agents that are likely to be re-signed are Scott Parse, Brad Richardson and Richard Clune.

Andrei Lokitonov and Oscar Moeller, two youngsters who both have limited NHL-time, remain positives to make the club next season.

Moeller appeared in 43 games for the Monarchs this season earning 33 points (15g, 18a). He was a plus-six for the team. An injury limited his time, but currently has appeared in eight Calder Cup playoff games notching six points (2g, 4a). A player the Kings will need to have elevate his game to the NHL standards when looking ahead to the future.

Lokitonov, who also missed a chunk of time due to an injury, has five assists in eight playoff games in the AHL. Only appearing in 29 regular season games for the Monarchs, Lokitonov earned himself 24 points (9g, 15a) and has taken strides since returning from injury.  Another bright spot for the future here in Hockeywood, LA.

Also, it still seems to be a long shot, but Brayden Schenn who was this past seasons first round draft choice for the Kings will be given every opportunity to show what he has learned over the course of a full season in the WHL.

In 59 regular season games and 15 playoff games, Schenn earned 118 points. Something the Kings should take their time with is the development of Schenn and not rush him to Southern California.

Quick and his single-season record-breaking year has provided the Kings with quite the competition heading into training camp next season.

After their six-game elimination at the hands of the Canucks, Terry Murray made a bold statement in naming Quick the number one goaltender for next season. Of course, a bit premature, but his statement could possibly have been made to really challenge the man considered to be the future between the pipes, Jonathan Bernier.

Bernier appeared in three games for the Kings going 3-0 with a 1.30 goals against average and a .957 save percentage. Of his three wins, one came by way of a shutout.

The future looks outstanding for this Kings club. In what many experts feel, as well as myself, they are only one or two pieces away from completing the puzzle and becoming a pure Stanley Cup contender.

Let’s take a break down of the free agents and discuss who we feel should return and who is likely to walk.

UFAs:

Alexander Frolov ($2.9 million)
Jeff Halpern ($2 million)
Raitis Ivanans ($600,000)
Randy Jones ($2.75 million)
Fredrik Modin ($3.25 million)
Sean O’Donnell ($1.25 million)

RFAs:

Rich Clune ($625,000)
Scott Parse ($550,000)
Brad Richardson ($587,500)

Although many might disagree, I personally feel Frolov should be given an offer by GM Dean Lombardi. Of course, nothing near the same $4 million price tag which he earned this season, especially if both parties can find a balanced middle ground. Bringing Frolov back for another two years is something Lombardi should consider.

However, due to the unlikely scenario presented above, Frolov along with Randy Jones and Jeff Halpern are all likely candidates to test the free agent waters and find new homes.

I feel Freddy Modin, who had a strong close out to the year with LA, should be considered to stay with this club.  You can never underestimate the value of a veteran presence on a club filled with youth.  Handzus and Stoll, along with Scuderi can carry the leadership roles however, Modin can contribute just as well both on and off the ice.

Of course, his value from his original price tag has dropped.  If Lombardi is smart, a $2 million per year deal at two years brings stability to this roster when thinking ahead to next year.

Speaking of Dean Lombardi, he is neither disappointed nor frustrated with the season his Kings had.  The steps have been taken, with a few short cuts. He felt he had a competitive club but knew there were still some adjustments needed before they could be considered a true cup contender.

The entire team gained many things, that would likely be too long to list here, by making the post-season. A team many feel is one piece away from being a true threat within the wild, wild Western Conference.

The final piece to the puzzle:

One piece, who could be the absolute missing link, is Ilya Kovalchuk. Uncertain over his future with the New Jersey Devils leaves the Kings with an opportunity to throw close to the max in Kovalchuk’s direction.

If you are questioning why Lombardi did not make an attempt to acquire Kovalchuk at the trade deadline, I will explain it to you.  Why throw away pieces of your future for an uncertainty?  Or better yet, why take away from your foundation for a player that you can obtain without it costing your organization anything significant other than payroll?  Dean Lombardi answered both of those questions in a very simple matter.  You do not.

There was no reason for the Kings to over pay for a player that was not a guarantee to sign an extension with the club he was traded to.  That is proven to us as Kovalchuk has not re-signed with the Devils and with the coaching carousel that the Devils organization goes through, he likely will not return.

If he truly wants to keep to his word about playing on a championship caliber team, as well as earning a long term contract, playing for the Kings would make perfect sense.

They are a young team with plenty of talent and the  focus from the organizations brass remains to build this club from the core out to develop a dominant force out on the left coast.

An opportunity to gel and grow with an organization whose core are all players 25 years of age and younger. Surrounding Kovlachuk with the young talent of this Kings team would be a win/win for both.  Kovalchuk would not be relied upon to be “the man” and would have a solid group of playmakers dishing pucks in his direction.

Less pressure makes for a valiant performance on the ice.  In LA, Kovalchuk will be provided with less pressure and would likely provide the team, from the non-pressure cooker type atmosphere, with a valiant effort.

There is plenty of cap room, and minimal roster space. For the Kings, these are all positives in moving forward from an already stellar season. A few patches into the line up an we could very well have ourselves a force to reckon with.

Yes, Los Angeles, the future is very bright!

Quick hits:

The list of Restricted, Unrestricted and Unsigned prospects.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENT PROSPECTS
Marc-Andre Cliche ($850,000)
Vladimir Dravecky
Corey Elkins ($803,100)
Trevor Lewis ($855,000)
Brady Murray
Daniel Taylor

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT PROSPECTS
Drew Bagnall ($605,000)
Gabe Gauthier ($525,000)
Joe Piskula ($650,000)

UNSIGNED PROSPECTS
Niclas Andersen
Jean-Francois Berube
Constantin Braun
Robert Czarnik
Nicolas Deslauriers
Nic Dowd
Johan Fransson
David Kolomatis
Mikhail Lyubushin
Jan Marek
Igor Melyakov
Jordan Nolan
Martin Nolet
Michael Pelech
Garrett Roe
Andrei Shefer
Joshua Turnbull
Linden Vey
Geordie Wudrick

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Congratulations to the Vancouver Canucks who truly stepped their game up when they realized how for real this Kings team was. The veteran leadership and experience played a huge factor throughout this entire series. The Kings gave a valiant effort from the second the puck dropped in game one to the final buzzer after sixty minutes Sunday night.

A lot can be said for the cardiac boys from Hockeywood, LA.  A lot of positive words pointing to many bright spots in moving forward.

A list of players who earned some valuable experience in moving forward for the Kings are:

Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds, Scott Parse, and Alexander Frolov.

Next season has some question marks, of course.

GM Dean Lombardi knows his troops will rebound well.  As does head coach Terry Murray.

From Rich Hammond at LAKingsInsider.com here is what Terry Murray had to say post-game:

A quote to note: “So I think the team has taken big strides in the right direction here. Our best players are the young guys, the kids that are 20, 21, 22 years old. That’s a great nucleus to continue to work with. The organization seems to be in pretty good shape, with the depth that it has in the minors and in junior.”

Of all the words that fell from Terry Murray’s lips to Rich Hammonds ears, to me that quote stands out above all. In my opinion, Murray is absolutely correct in saying that his best players are the kids. The nucleus that has been developed in Los Angeles is one that will have the Kings competitive for as long as they can hold onto the stars of the team who are currently 25 years of age and younger.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings on a very successful season.  Next year holds great potential.

In my next feature, we will take a look at the roster, the salary cap, those under contract and what (who), in my opinion, is needed for this team to climb even higher next season.

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For the Los Angeles Kings, it is something that hey have already accomplished during the early stages of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Facing off against a team that presents a challenge to beat them at home was be no easy task for the Kings last night, regardless of already taking one game on the road in this series.

The Canucks, during the regular season at GM Place, posted a record of 30-8-3 and are now 2-1 at home for these playoffs.

Last night, the Canucks were simply the better team knowing they could not go down 3-2 playing at home. It is not something they wanted to have happen; being on the brink of elimination.

Now the tides have turned.  Los Angeles returns home with adversity staring them in the face. Oh yea, elimination is as well.

Jonathan Quick looked like his head was in the clouds last night. The young netminder surrendered 5 goals on 26 shots.  He was pulled in favor of Erik Ersberg who, was then pulled after giving up two goals on four shots. Re-enter Quick yet the Canucks just kept on coming.

Last night’s final score, in case you  missed it, 7-2 in favor of the Canucks.

Mikael Samuelsson, my vote for the best signing from the off-season, had a three point night with an assist on the game winning goal as well as adding two goals of his own.

For the Kings, they must regroup and forget about this loss. They travel home for tomorrow nights game, a game which is now a must win.

It’s do or die time for the Kings. Which team will show up?  One thing is for sure, all of Hockeywood, LA will be in “cardiac” mode.

After Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson were key players for the Canucks in game one, both players continued to be the story for the Canucks in game two. After a poor performance in game one, Ryan Kesler responded in game two delivering a solid performance with two assists, the first of which was directly responsible for the Canucks first goal; Kesler’s one timer on the Canucks opening power play rang off the post behind Jonathan Quick, laying all alone for Steve Bernier who was in perfect position to hammer home an easy one, his first of the playoffs.

Two minutes later at 9:49 of the first, Mikael Samuelsson continued his strong playoffs with a sneaky low wrist shot that skipped slightly in front of Jonathan Quick, enough to throw off the King’s netminders and give the Canucks a 2-0 lead in the first. The shaky goal for Samuelsson and the Canucks should have been a bit of a back breaker for the Kings who had gone down a game and two goals on the road, however Terry Murray managed to rally the Kings immediately after Samuelsson’s third of the playoffs.

After Shane O’Brien’s roughing penalty put the Canucks a man down at 9:13 of the second, a sloppy penalty kill by the Canucks caused a scramble in front of Luongo allowing Fredrik Modin to jump on the loose puck and fire home his second of the post season. Immediately following the Canucks opening goal, the Canucks responded with an aggressive offensive shift that came within inches of restoring the two goal lead, however after the puck came loose to Anze Kopitar a three on one in the Canucks end gave Wayne Simmonds enough space to allow Kopitar to slide him the puck and put the puck home behind Luongo. Just like that, the Canucks had lost an encouraging two goal lead in just 35 seconds.

After a cagey and nervous third period, the Canucks and Kings were destined to decide the game in overtime; unfortunately for the Canucks the Kings were able to take advantage of the power play once again, a power play that has been the Kings’ key to success so far in the series.

In OT, a brutal Canucks line change ended up leaving seven skaters on the ice at one time, after the puck was thrown into the bench area and struck a Canucks skater referees were forced to make the call and put the Canucks down a man for two minutes or less.

Thanks to Anze Kopitar, it would be less. After working the puck around on the man advantage, Kopitar blasted a shot that was ferociously blocked by Ryan Kesler, unfortunately for the pain stricken Canucks’ penalty killer Kopitar was able to then pick up his own rebound and fire another shot on net that made its way through a maze of bodies into the net. A camera shot of an injured Ryan Kesler skating gingerly to the Canucks bench said it all, the Canucks gave a full effort but came up short paying for their overtime mistake.

Going Back To Cali

As the two teams head south to Los Angeles, both the Canucks and Kings head back to Cali with things to work on in preparation for game three, Vancouver’s game plan is simple, discipline. The Canucks penalty kill has come under fire throughout the series in Vancouver, without Ryan Johnson the previously stingy Canucks’ penalty kill unit has become the Achilles heel of the Canucks allowing 4/5 of the Canucks goals in the series. The Canucks need to focus on team discipline on both sides of the whistle in order to keep out of the penalty box and force the Kings to beat them five on five. With only one goal allowed at even strength, the Canucks are fully capable of taking the Kings head on. The Canucks will have to follow a disciplined game plan and avoid the penalty box in order to really take control of games and finish the Kings when up multiple goals, as I said earlier in the week an inability to burry teams can be deadly in the playoffs.

Andrew Alberts has been the source of a couple bad penalties this series against the Kings, with 23 penalty minutes this series, 13 of which have put the Canucks at a disadvantage Alain Vigneault had no choice but to sit the tough defenseman recently dubbed “A-Minor” in favour of the more steady and recently healthy Aaron Rome.

The Canucks will also be replacing pound for pound fighting champ Rick Rypien with Tanner Glass, who will play in his first ever NHL playoff game. Pavol Demitra will also find himself demoted possibly all the way to the fourth line, although Alain Vigneault wouldn’t confirm what line Demitra would find himself on.

Injuries, News and Notes

• As mentioned above, Aaron Rome has overcome his injuries and should be healthy enough to take the place of Andrew Alberts on the Canucks’ blue line.
• It’s no surprise that there is a lot of trash talking going back and forth in any series featuring Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler, but apparently rookie trash talker Rich Clune crossed the line on Saturday night. Doesn’t he know sloppy seconds jokes are off limits?
• Speaking of Alex Burrows’ trash talk, Drew Doughty seems to be starting to enjoy the frenglish verbal barbs of Burrows and is apparently flattered by the attention all the same.
• The Canucks “Behind the Lens” segment, Day One in Los Angeles.
• The ice conditions in LA for the morning skate “wasn’t good at all” said Ryan Kesler this morning, another unnecessary distraction for both teams to be honest, just win guys.
• With both teams “Going Back To Cali” why not get your gameface on with some West Coast rap. Warning: Not Safe For Work lyrics, listen with caution. Canucks vs. Kings, 7PM from the Staples Center, get your game face on.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Taking the series back to Hockeywood, LA all tied up at one means that the Kings are doing more than many might have expected.

The obstacles that the Kings had in front of them have been avoided. With only two games of playoff experience under their belts, Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson, Drew Doughty, Wayne Simmonds and Jonathan Quick have all stepped their game up, especially in game 2 and have knotted this series up at one game a piece with the Vancouver Canucks.

Aside from one shaky goal against, what can be said about Kings netminder Jon Quick. He has been stellar, that is what.

Quick, along with Doughty, has been one of the standout performers for this Kings club.  Something that was truly important when heading into this first round playoff series.

When the doubters all had the Kings down and out, they have, to this point in the series, proven them all wrong.

Even if the Kings do not escape from this first round series, what you have witnessed over the course of the first two games becomes a marker on the map for the Kings.  The experience they are learning this year will carry them even further next year.

In his first two playoff games ever, Jonathan Quick has posted some fantastic numbers.  Those numbers, a 2.21 goals against average along with a save percentage of .929 shows just how important Quick has been to his club all season long.

When you are able to match, or play above the way you played all season long heading into the playoffs, it shows true maturity. And no matter what the outcome is, whether the Kings advance or not, they are gaining experience in a season that many will never get no matter how long a career they have in this league.  This, alone, will help the franchise mature into next season.

Tonight, the Kings will play their first home playoff game in eight years.  The Staples Center is ready to reach capacity in both fan attendance as well as noise levels.

The fire that will spark under the team from the home crowd is something that will give everyone out in Hockeywood, LA the chills.  In what is already an entertaining series, the Kings can take it to the next level tonight.

A win on home ice presents a huge opportunity for the Kings to truly take control of the series now that it has shifted back to Los Angeles.

Game 3 drops the puck at  7:00 p.m. PST, 10:00 p.m. EST.

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Enjoy the game.

Roberto Luongo’s clutch goal line save was just the extra kick the Canucks skaters needed after controlling the game from the third period onward. Henrik Sedin parked behind the LA goal and Mikael Samuelsson found some open space in the high slot, burying home the Art Ross winner’s pass from a certain persons “office”. Samuelsson’s second goal of the night capped off a dominating performance for the Canucks who got stronger as the game went on.

The Canucks’ domination of play and intense pressure in overtime would have been rendered irrelevant if not for Roberto Luongo’s brilliant desperation save on Jack Johnson in overtime. Luongo’s quickness and presence of mind to swat the puck off the line as it trickled towards the red line was an early indication that the Canuck captain is ready to answer the critics in the playoffs. In the duel between Jonathan Quick and Roberto Luongo, Luongo is simply capable of and has proven more as a goaltender; Thursday’s guarantee for highlight of the night is a prime example of just that.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While the shot totals indicate the Canucks handily took care of the Kings Thursday, the play of Jonathan Quick and the lack of finish from Canuck skaters pushed the game into extra time. In the NHL playoffs, the inability to burry opponents when with momentum on your side can be a killer; lucky for the Canucks their late game intensity was enough to finish the Kings shortly after 60 minutes.

Alex Edler’s dominating play Thursday night was the most impressive of all individual performances in game one. Edler’s play was not only impressive enough to draw comparisons to Nick Lidstrom, the physicality that accompanied Edler’s smooth game forced CBC commentators to comment that not even the Red Wing’ captain’s game combined such a smooth, physical style. Edler’s highlight of the night came after Drew Doughty’s coast to coast rush was ended with a bang as Edler lined up a hit just below the Canuck faceoff dot.

Drew Doughty came just as advertised in his first ever NHL playoff game, his solid defence and end offensive flair continue to impress me as I get to enjoy more and more of the younger’s solid play. That seemed to be the theme for many of the young Kings, a handful of skaters (Doughty Included) were playing in their first ever Stanley Cup Playoff game on Thursday night, a “first” that will help them re-focus in game two. Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown and others will be looking for a different result in their second ever playoff game.

Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

After the rough stuff on Thursday night featuring a hard check from behind by Andrew Alberts that cost him five and a game, could we possibly see a fight out of the Kings and Canucks tonight? Rick Rypien is ready and waiting however given his record this season, I don’t see the Kings going after the pound for pound champ. Rick Rypien’s most likely opponent Raitis Ivanans is out of the lineup tonight for the Kings.

Game 2 Tweaks

Los Angeles coach Terry Murray announced this afternoon that there will be three changes in the Kings line-up tonight. Justin Williams, Raitis Ivanans and Randy Jones are out in favour of Rich Clune, Scott Parse and Peter Harrold. It’s a bold move from Murray who told reporters this afternoon “One of the hardest things a coach has to do is taking a veteran player out of the lineup.” Wayne Simmonds will take the place of Justin Williams on the Kings top line tonight.

In Vancouver, youngster Michael Grabner will get his first taste of Stanley Cup Playoff hockey tonight, taking the place of Matt Pettinger who surrendered two goals as part of the penalty kill unit Thursday night. In a role reserved for strictly penalty killing, the lack of performance from the Canucks’ penalty killing unit was a tough break for Pettinger who was brought up to take the spot of Ryan Johnson on the PK. For Grabner, the opportunity to prove himself as an NHL scorer comes against long-time rival Anze Kopitar, the two often played against each other as kids in the same Alpine League that included teams from Grabner’s home Austria and Kopitar’s native Slovenia.

Tonight’s game two matchup should follow the same blueprint as game one for the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks skill, speed and depth upfront should be the difference again tonight, Michael Grabner’s speed should add another dimension to second/third line scoring, another layer of the deep Canucks forward corps. The Canucks’ penalty kill must be better tonight, after allowing two power play goals on Thursday the Canucks will look to bounce back by minimizing the chances the Kings can get with the man advantage, which includes minimizing the amount of time spent down a man, listening Andrew? A five minute major will always mess with a team’s penalty killing statistics, however in order to burry teams like the Kings the Canucks need to minimize their time on the PK as the series progresses.

There isn’t much better than a nice Saturday night in the city to watch playoff hockey. Hockey Night in Canada, the voice of Mark Donnelly and 18,000+ and the downtown nightlife always make Saturday Night hockey a beautiful thing in Canada during hockey season.

On Monday night, the Olympic break proved beneficial to one team and not so much to the other. The Detroit Red Wings who seemed to be healthy for the first time this season were able to hold on and beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2.

This is a Kings blog, why am I talking about two teams other than LA you ask?  I’ll say it again, the Olympics are OVER. It’s time for everyone to focus on the main prize which is Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The break helped heal a mash unit club.  It also returned a Gold medal winning coach and a very long list of Olympians. The game did not fade much from the skates of the Red Wings and it proved that this team can return to the Red Wings everyone is so accustomed to. Until the Vancouver Canucks came to town. However, we can let the Red Wings writers worry about that.

Five key components of the make up of the Los Angeles Kings have returned the game still fresh under their legs. Michael Handzus and Raitis Ivanans were the other two representatives for their respected countries. With that, the Dallas Stars stood zero chance as the Kings were able to pull off a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night. Quick earned his league leading 36th victory of the season and all signs are pointing towards the playoffs. Tonight, the Kings do battle against the Nashville Predators who are another team fighting to keep their playoff position and hopes alive. Pekka Rinne, who was recently signed to a contract extension by the Preds, will be between the pipes while all signs point to Quick getting yet another nod.

The Kings have won eight of their previous nine road games. Signs that prove just how real this team is. Dean Lombardi has created the black and white and Terry Murray has done his job to add the system that has proven to be a winning one all year.

Tonight’s line-up (subject to change):

Smyth-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Handzus-Stoll
Clune-Richardson-Simmonds
Modin-Halpern-Parse

Johnson-Doughty
O’Donnell-Scuderi
Jones-Greene

Quick
Ersberg

Justin Williams, who has been participating in full practices with the club, does not seem to be far off from a return to the line up.  Another offensive threat to add to an already talented roster.  Another reason, also, Dean Lombardi did not have to make any drastic moves on deadline day.

The questions will remain as to what will happen with Alex Frolov come July 1st, but until then there is no need to worry.  Currently, the playoffs are on the horizon and that needs to be the only common thought and conversation amongst the Kings roster.

Quick hits:

The Los Angeles Kings have signed 1st round draft pick Brayden Schenn to a 3-year entry level deal today.

Jeff Halpern, who was acquired yesterday for Teddy Purcell and a 3rd round draft selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, will most likely make his Kings debut.

Fredrick Modin will also be in the line up.  The Kings agreed to acquire the veteran winger for future considerations.

As of today the Los Angeles Kings have posted a record of 9-1 over the course of their last ten games played. Nine straight victories creating a new franchise record for most consecutive victories in a season.

Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Los Angeles Kings have adopted the name “Cardiac” Kings. If the previous two games do not explain this new nickname for the club then one must look at the season as a whole.

We will start with yesterday’s victory.  After falling behind 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings the team held a players only meeting during the break between the first and second period.  It was leaked that the meeting  was emotional , thus creating  a spark to set fire under the players.

However, this was not the first nor will it be the last time these Kings show passion and fire throughout their game. After blowing a lead against the Ducks, the Kings were able to earn two points scoring two goals after the Ducks would tie the game at four.

It has been a common theme tied in to this current season; one which Kings fans have acquired a love/hate relationship with. The love half for the victories, the hate half for the stress all of Hockeywood, LA has gone through. In the end, the former holds the stronger value.

Don’t stop believin’ :

Every team slumps, whether it be a team of superstars or a team of mediocre talent. What the Kings went through in falling from first in the Western Conference to eight has helped them grow together not only as a team but as a family.

Fighting through adversity as well as the simplest form of failing has brought together a unit which at this point looks unstoppable.  Of course they will lose games, as every team does, however the character that has come forth from this club as a whole is something that can not be overlooked.

The Kings are warriors, in their own right.  The “cardiac” style of hockey they play,  as fans leaves us without fingernails, but generates adrenaline pumping like some sort of drug.  The Kings, across hockey nation, have become just that.  Addicting like a drug. Fans from all around the hockey world are discussing this seasons Los Angeles Kings.

No singling out:

From starting goaltender Jonathan Quick to veteran winger Ryan Smyth, there has not been one player on this roster playing above potential. Wayne Simmonds, Scott Parse, Peter Harrold, Brad Richardson and Michael Handzus are some players that deserve a lot of credit. Do not look at the black and white facts, the numbers which are merely fantasy league stats. It is the on-ice play and the off-ice situations that bring more out in each and everyone name on the Kings roster. The battles along the boards, the puck control through the neutral zone, buying into the coach’s system; these are all important factors that must be observed.

Cardiac arrest:

Witnessing this clubs potential of never being out of any single game this season writes a story in itself. Credit is due to the development team, the scouts, the coaching staff, etc.  It is an endless list of reasons behind the making of this Kings team and their success.

Terry Murray has developed quite a system for this young Kings team and it has paid off to date. Do not be surprised if this club plays upset to a few teams within the early rounds of the playoffs.

This season is the beginning of a new chapter for the Los Angeles Kings. From my point of view it will be a very long, entertaining and joyous story.

Quick hits:

After this weekends Kings game there was a Justin Williams citing within the Kings dressing room. Anze Kopitar told him, “Good to see you walking again.”

Jonathan Quick can make his mark in Kings history tonight with a victory against the Ducks.  It will be his 35th victory of the season, most by a Kings goaltender for a single season mark.

So as of today the Kings are in fourth place, due to the Sharks having the tie breaking edge.  Both teams have 47 points, which is a very nice amount of points to have collected at this point of the season.

The Kings will not play again until Saturday December 26th, 2009.  That is a full eight days off.  The joy that must bring to the players who will have some time to rest and relax and even get some very valuable family time, especially with the Holiday season upon us.

Speaking of that season that is upcoming, they say it is the season of giving correct?  Well, what is one thing that the Kings could “get” that would put a smile on the faces of the organization and the fellow Hockeywood fans worldwide?

How about a healthy line up?  Well, Ho-Ho-Ho – Merry Christmas.  As was reported today by Rich Hammond of LAKingsInsider.com, Santa has brought the Kings a very special present for Christmas.  A present that has been in the wrapping stages since Novemeber 17th.

Ryan Smyth is scheduled to return to the line up on December 26th, 2009.  The top line player acquired on July 3rd, 2009 from the Colorado Avalanche for Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing and a fifth round entry draft pick for the upcoming 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Smyth had 23 points in 22 games before going down to injury, so you can only imagine how much anticipation his return brings.

Jack Johnson who was injured in a game against just a few nights back, and missed last nights contest against the Calgary Flames, will also be ready to go again.

Jarret Stoll and Randy Jones have both missed some time this year as well.  How good have the Kings been this year? Good enough for Santa to bring an entire cast of injured players back to the line up?  Well Hockeywood, there is a good chance that you were not on the naughty list this year and December 26th will be a day to rejoice with a full line up of healthy skaters (again, aside from Wayne Simmonds who will be out an undisclosed amount of time).

So Kings fans, enjoy the eight days off till we all get glued to our televisions again.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season.

What? The Kings are in first place in the West?

Yes Kings fans, with 47 points the Los Angeles Kings sit alone at the top of the Western Conference standings in the National Hockey League.  The only bad news for this type of situation, is that the Kings have played more games then the rest of the conference. The Kings, along with only Colorado, have played 36 games on the year.  After tonight’s game against the Flames in Calgary the Kings will have just about a week off before they play again.

So why is that good news and why is that bad news?  Well, let’s start with why it’s bad news.  It is bad news because a lot of the conference will get an opportunity to gain ground on the Kings as they wait and watch the teams behind them attempt to creep up. The San Jose Sharks are only two points behind the Kings, and the Kings have two games in hand on San Jose. A victory tonight against the Flames will give the Kings a bit more of a cushion and well let’s face it, most of Hockeywood, or Kings nation if you may, will be praying for a San Jose loss as well.

The good news, which is always good to hear, is that the Kings will have an extended period of rest. Jack Johnson, Jarret Stoll, Ryan Smyth and others will all get time to really let the injuries heal. It could be a full cast, aside from Wayne Simmonds who was placed on the I.R. list, the next time the Kings are in action after tonight.

Ryan Smyth, who was proving to be a huge acquisition prior to his injury has been missed at times this season for the Kings.  However, the secondary scoring has been a huge part of the success of this team.

Let’s hope the Davis Drewiske experiment at forward showed how it failed and is never attempted again, by the way.

Aside from the respect the club is gaining, the proof of the capability of this team is on the ice. The standings do not lie and with the Kings currently sitting alone at the top, they have gone ahead by leaps and bounds of expectations so far this year.

Jack Johnson will miss some time for the Kings, who have called up Alec Martinez from the Monarchs to take his place on the blue line.  Terry Murray stated (from Rich Hammond’s blog at LAKingsInsider.com) that JJ should be fine after the holiday break.  This week off could not have come at a better time.

Let’s give credit where credit is due:

Jonathan Quick, who at 22 years old is showing that he can handle majority of the games by getting better and better with each game played. Quick struggled, although gaining wins, early in the season. The team in front of him was able to help bail him out of a couple of games early on,  however, as each game passed Quick got better.

Currently, he has started 33 of the Kings 36 games played.  His numbers: 20-10-3 with a 2.60 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. His goals against average has been dropping, which is great to see. His save percentage has improved as well, although it is not an amazing number it shows he is getting the job done. There were points in the season when he was under a .900 save percentage so seeing it rise should put a smile on the faces of everyone involved with the Kings; team and fans alike.

Anze Kopitar saw a very long drought of not scoring a goal end a few games ago.  Since that time, Kopitar has been performing much better. Now, at just over a point per game clip even if the goals aren’t coming, the play making ability never went away. 38 points in 36 games for Anze proves why he is the teams number one center.  ”Kopi” has a plus/minus rating of plus four and only has eight penalty minutes on the year. A very well disciplined player who understands the importance of back checking.  The Kings are gaining their best bang for the buck with Kopitar and the hopes that it continues throughout the entire season should be the least of the teams worries.

Justin Williams not only found a new home at the deadline last season, found his game again as well.  Injuries have seen Williams only play 81 games over the course of the prior two seasons. This year, Williams has missed just five games and is on pace for a very good bounce back season.  Currently he has 24 points in 31 games. Williams has been far from a disappointment.  Riding shotgun with “Kopi” on the top line is right where “Willie” belongs and with the return of Ryan Smyth right around the corner should only improve his production.

Jarret Stoll has become the perfect second line center for the Kings. Although his numbers are not outstanding, Stoll is the type of player that you have to actually watch play to see what he provides on the ice as a player.  Stoll is very responsible at both ends of the ice, wins crucial face offs when called upon, plays big power play, even strength and minutes on the penalty kill.  He is not afraid to get into the “dirty” areas and do battles to win the puck.  He has 25 points on the season and is on pace for his second best point total in a season through  his career.

Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty are proving that it does not take years of experience to play the position at a competitive level. Johnson has been a wall on the blue line for the Kings this year and Doughty, well what can be said about Doughty.  He is having a Norris trophy type season for this club.  An outstanding player with a very bright future lined up.  Dean Lombardi and his staff have done wonders by bringing in some of the prime time talent in the league.  Jack Johnson, if you remember, was acquired for Tim Gleason when Carolina felt they were desperate for another body on the blue line due to “JJ” opting to stay in college instead of making the jump to the NHL. The Kings also received Oleg Tverdovsky and moved Eric Belanger in the same trade.  In my opinion, this is the trade of the decade. Johnson has showed with almost every shift why he was selected third overall by Carolina in 2005.

Johnson is 22 years old and Doughty still a very young 20 years of age.  He may not be able to drink legally in the states, but he sure can help his club attempt to drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup at seasons end.

Although I left some names out of this discussion, one must realize that it is an entire team effort that has gotten the Kings to where they are today. The team has found some amazing chemistry amongst it’s 19 players that dress on a nightly basis to take the ice. Terry Murray is currently in the running for coach of the year candidacy, and rightfully so.

Unfortunately for Erik Ersberg, he has not seen much action but hey, at least he has the best seat in the house each and every game.  His viewing as a spectator comes for free as well, better yet, he gets paid to watch his team play as he learns and develops.  At 27 years young, and not being drafted, Ersberg is providing exactly what the Kings need in a back up netminder.

For tonight, in the final game before the escape as I like to call it, the Kings do battle in Calgary against the Flames.
Tonight’s line up (subject to change):

Frolov – Kopitar – Williams
Purcell – Richardson – Brown
Mollar – Handzus – Parse
Ivanans – Elkins – Harrold

Scuderi – Doughty
O’Donnell – Jones
Martinez – Greene

Quick

As always, the importance will be to lock down the top two lines of the Flames who can be an offensive weapon that is hard to control. It would be very nice for the Kings to hold the Flames to under 30 shots tonight, giving Quick a bit of a break as he has been acrobatic this year.  If the Kings can learn to keep a lead, the “cardiac” title can be erased.  Too many times this season have they given up the lead at times that they could of been more responsible. It’s all about shutdown, defensive, responsible hockey tonight.  Momentum can be built upon, and with the way the Kings have been playing it is very important to get out of tonight’s game with two points going into the break.

As always, Go Kings Go.

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The playoffs are a reality, the Kings are for real and the league needs to respect and understand that.  Last season to this season has been quite the turn around, and the future looks bright.  Dean Lombardi has done a fantastic job in preparing for this season and acquiring the pieces to put the puzzle together as a whole. His decisions in the progress and development of certain players has been outstanding.  The coaching staff has put together a line up from the team Lombardi has given them to work with that is golden.

Battling through injuries, suspensions and the  game that is called hockey has been a challenge over the years for the Kings but now it is all paying off.  To think that this success is short lived is, well for lack of a better word, insane. The Kings are proving that they are for real this year. It has, without a doubt, been well worth the wait.

After weeks of hoping Jonathan Quick would gain some sort of consistency to his game, it seems that he finally has.  Over the course of his last three starts, Quick has gone 3-0-0, with a 1.58 goals against average and a save percentage of .941. Quick was named the NHLs 1st star of the week today. That will say a lot and hopefully go a long way for the 23 year old.

The Kings will look to continue this hot streak as they will be in beautiful British Columbia. The Vancouver Canucks will welcome the LA Kings to GM Place in hopes to cool off the red hot Kings.

The Canucks are a dangerous club, especially when you have to line up against the twins. Henrik and Daneil Sedin are a very lethal one-two punch for the Canucks. They have already beat the Kings twice this season. and the Kings

A huge test for this Kings club as they attempt to stay on top of the Western Conference.

The Los Angeles Kings have recalled (emergency re-call) forward Corey Elkins from the Manchester Monarchs, however Elkins did not make the practice in time and will not be part of the actual line up until tomorrow at the earliest.

Tonight’s line up (subject to change):

Frolov – Kopitar – Williams
Purcell – Stoll – Brown
Parse – Handzus – Simmonds
Harrold – Richardson – Moller

Scuderi – Doughty
Johnson – Jones
O’Donnell – Greene

Quick

The Kings are up against back to back games during this western Canada trip.  The Oilers are up next in a game that most likely will see Erik Ersberg get the start, however, with Terry Murray this year one will never know until it becomes official from the mouth of the coach.

Quick will be making his 32nd start of the season. Although his numbers are not amazing he has been playing some outstanding hockey and Terry Murray’s decision to go with Quick is the smart one.  Now we all hope it is the right one.

A few players to keep an eye on tonight:

Justin Williams – seven points in his last seven games played
Jarret Stoll – identical to Justin Williams numbers
Dustin Brown – four points in his past four games played
Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson – the two young stud blue liners are a huge part of the Kings success so far this season. Also making quite the case for their countries teams in the Olympics.

The Kings are hot, red hot that is. How much fire will it take to melt the Canucks? We will find out tonight.

Wayne Simmonds will be out “a while” according to head coach Terry Murray with a lower-body injury. (NHLHotStove.com) Simmonds has been a beast for the Kings lately.  In 33 games played this year he has 20 points (9 g 11 a). Over his last nine games Simmonds has registered nine points and is a plus-9.  This is going to put a dent in the line up for the Kings.  With Ryan Smyth still out, and most of the Monrchs already called up (or also out with injuries) the Kings will need to find a very quick solution.

Is there an answer at this point?  Yes.  Step up.  This team is blessed with some very gifted forwards in the likes of Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll.  Teddy Purcell and Scott Parse will have some serious opportunities over the next few games to prove to the coaching staff that they can fill in within the top six in LA.   Purcell had a lot of hype coming into this season but has yet to find his groove. Six points (three goals) in 31 games played is a very big let down for this Kings organization. Tonight he gets his chance, again, in a top six role.

Tonight’s line up (subject to change):

Frolov – Kopitar – Williams
Purcell – Stoll – Brown
Parse – Handzus – Moller
Ivanans – Richardson – Harrold

Scuderi – Doughty
Johnson – Jones
O’Donnell – Greene

Quick

Quick will make his 31st start of the season and it’s something that Terry Murray has addressed.  You can find out all the information at Rich Hammonds blog: LAKingsInsider.com.

Is Jonathan Quick getting burnt out?  He is only 23 years old. However, he is on pace to play 75 games this year at this rate.  Goalies like Brodeur and Kiprusoff get an average amount of starts per year in that range but no one plays in 75 out of 82 games a year.  It’s time for a break and with back to back games coming up again for the Kings you can bet your last dollar that Erik Ersberg will be getting a start in the immediate future.

Tonight, the Stars are in LA to take on the Kings from the Staples Center. With an opportunity for first place in both the Pacific Division and the Western Conference, the Kings will hope that their current three game win streak will be extended to four.  And, let’s hope it is not another three point game within the Conference.

Go Kings Go.

In his first game back from an ankle sprain, Scuderi helped the Kings keep the Flames to under 30 shots.

Scott Parse continues to impress the coaching staff.  In a little over eleven minutes of ice time, Parse was able to find the back of the net to open the scoring for the Kings. The goal came off of his only shot on goal for the game.  However, it is his strong pay in the corners, his skating and his ability to be a smart hockey player that have the coaches impressed.

A little over six minutes after Parse put the Kings up 1-0, Curtis Glencross beat Jonathan Quick to tie the game at one.  The Flames were pressing a bit throughout the first period and it seemed as if the Kings were flat.  Although a low amount of shots for both teams, the Kings needed to re-group.

Re-grouped and refreshed, the Kings came out and took a bit of control over the game. It wasn’t until the third period when Calgary really started to apply a lot of pressure, but Quick was there to answer the call.   In the end, two points that were needed were obtained.

The good:

As stated above, holding the opposition to under 30 shots is always a good thing.

The Kings were also able to score a goal on a power-play. Jarret Stoll sent one passed Miikka Kiprusoff in the second period which turned into the game winning goal.

Again, this game was won because of the defense and goaltending from the Kings.

The bad:

Anze Kopitar goes another game pointless. This is bad because it has now been thirteen games since Kopi has notched a tally.

The Kings had a rough time offensively, even with a 2-1 victory. There were only sixteen pucks shot in Kippers direction.  Even with two squeezing by, this is unacceptable.

Terry Murray, even with the win, can not be pleased by his clubs performance.  You can not sugar coat a victory.  The Kings were somewhat lucky to come out of this one with two points.  The coaches will have some work to do heading into San Jose. Films will have to be looked at and the importance of generating more offense and more shots will be something brought up prior to the Sharks game. What to watch for?  How the team carries itself after a tough victory, and to see if they improve in the areas they did not perform so well in.

Jonathan Quick stood tall when called upon and if this type of play continues from him, it would be safe to say the Kings could even gain home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  Wishful thinking?  Not in my opinion.

Extra session:

Randy Jones missed the third period of action last night because Terry Murray felt that his play did not warrant any ice time. Let’s hope Jones recovers from this let down and performs at the level he is expected to tomorrow night against San Jose.

Erik Ersberg will finally get a game between the pipes. Terry Murray confirmed today that Ersberg will get the start against San Jose on Wednesday night.  That should be a fun test for a cold goaltender. Good luck Erik.

Ryan Smyth participated in practice drills for the Kings, the first time he’s been on the ice with the team since his injury.

Recent call-up Oscar Moller only had 6:52 of ice time playing on a fourth line role.  I can see the fourth line being shifted game by game depending on match-ups. Peter Harrold, for one, will wind up back in the line up when Terry Murray feels that he will be a benefit to the line-up over one of the other members of the fourth line.

Go Kings Go

Queue the trade rumors. We have all heard how “possible” it is that winger Alexander Frolov is looking for a change of scenery, especially that he is an unrestricted free agent at seasons end. Word on the street is that Ryan Smyth could possible miss another six weeks still, causing for a huge hole within the top six.  If you are Dean Lombardi do you attempt to get a band-aid, who could fill in nicely the rest of this year (and possibly thereafter if this “fix” has an extensive contract)? I would not be against it, as Smyth could return to regular top line duty upon his return and player “X” could fill out the top six which seems to be always changing with Terry Murray, and rightfully so.

Matthew Barry of Hockeybuzz has stated a few different scenarios and I suggest you follow up on his blogs if you have any interest in observing his views and his ideas.  I personally do not feel that a Jack Johnson for Jordan Staal type of deal is something that will benefit these Kings. I will also leave the speculation to the appropriate writers and I will stick to my views on this.  No reason to reiterate what has already been stated, plus it wouldn’t be fair to those who took the time to write about the thoughts of “potential moves”.

Moving on. Now, understand that the Kings have finally stepped up and out of the offensive struggles as a whole.  It is the individual matters that strike problems. The aforementioned Kopitar is the most obvious, and not to call him out but where has the scoring touch gone? I can understand, as a former player, a slump of a few games but when you start to get into double digit scenarios of slumping there needs to be an adjustment made.

Does it not alarm us to still see Ryan Smyth as the teams second leading scorer, even with missing eight games? The bells are ringing in my head!

Jarret Stoll is having a great year as a second line center for the Kings.  He has 22 points in 28 games and plays a huge role within the face-off circle and on the penalty kill.

Drew Doughty is currently fourth on the team in scoring.  Fantastic that a blue liner has quite the offensive gift, but what does that say for the rest of the team? I will tell you in four words: step your game up. Adjustments are needed, not to panic, but to tweak. There is a fine line between panic and tweaking and we all need to understand that just a fix is needed and not a complete push of a panic button.  Forgive me if I am sounding that critical, for the Kings would be a playoff team if that season were to start today.

Speaking of adjustments, the never ending casualty to my blogs, Jonathan Quick, has yet to “fix” his average play. The kid shines one game and flops the next. A situation of concern? I beg to differ, although I constantly rant on the struggles that come with Quicks game. He is a solid goaltender, and has kept Terry Murray from giving the nod to back up Erik Ersberg which I will not argue but I will, again, argue the consistency of Quicks game.

The Kings are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games played. However, they are coming off a shoot-out loss to the St. Louis Blues where the team had a lead and then gave it up in the third period.  Paul Kariya scored two timely goals and Chris Mason, although shaky at times, helped the team through overtime into the shootout to gain the extra point in this wild wild Western Conference.

Tonight, the Kings welcome Mikka Kiprusoff and the red hot Calgary Flames to the Staples Center. “Kipper” is coming off a spectacular victory, where he made a save against the San Jose Sharks that, in my opinion, qualifies for the save of the year (at least to date). A true test for this Kings team as the season starts to enter into a more serious time.

A few changes to tonight’s line up as Davis Drewiske and Peter Harrold will be healthy scratches.  Entering back into the line up are Rob Scuderi and Oscar Moeller who was recently recalled from Manchester.

An interesting situation, which also led to potential trade rumors was the fact that Moeller was re-called. It seems, at this time, this is just to try and shake up the lines and get more production on the offensive end.  Moeller will bring speed and size into the line up, and will hope to help generate space and more scoring chances against the opposition while he is out there.

Tonight’s line-up (subject to change):

Alexander Frolov – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Teddy Purcell – Jarret Stoll –  Dustin Brown
Scott Parse – Michael Handzus - Wayne Simmonds
Ratis Ivanis – Brad Richardson – Oscar Moeller

Drew Doughty – Rob Scuderi
Jack Johnson – Randy Jones
Matt Greene – Sean O’Donnell

Quick

Tonight is a test.  One of capability, one of performance, one of seeing if this club is a real contender, or a simple pretender. The first of four meetings went to the Flames, powered by a Jerome Iginla hat trick in a 5-2 victory. Round two is tonight. Considering the Kings are home, it is a much bigger game then one might think. Ric Flair said it best, “in order to be the best, you have to beat the best”.  Can the Kings show just how good they are with a victory tonight?

Go Kings Go

Quick hits:

Jonathan Quick will make his 29th start of the season. He is 16-9-3 on the year.

Scott Parse and Wayne Simmonds have been two name to make sure you keep an eye on. Simmonds has turned up the offense lately, and Parse has been a great addition since being re-called from the Monarchs.

Oscar Moeller playing the fourth line tonight.

Although their record does not show it, the Anaheim Ducks are a very good team.  Aside from that, they are a divisional rival to the Kings, which makes the game that much bigger.  And last night, the biggest thing was the victory by the Kings.

A solid performance on the ice helped the Kings come out on top over the Ducks 4-3. Despite going 1 for 5 on the power-play, the two points were earned in what was more of a four point game.

Brad Richardson, yes you read that right, scored the game winning goal at 17:40 of the third period. The assists went to Jack Johnson and one of my personal stars of the game Randy Jones.

What can be said about Randy Jones except sending a message to the Philadelphia Flyers for their cap issues cause Randy Jones to be a casualty. Jones has been a waiver wire pick up that is starting to become better then the Kyle Quincey pick up from last season. Sure Quincey turned into Ryan Smyth, but it seems as if the Kings have found a Quincey replacement and have rounded out the blue line.

In ten games played for the Kings so far this year, Jones has eight points (3 goals 5 assists) and is a plus-1 rating. Showing responsibility and playing in all situations for the Kings has helped them stay above par this season.

Jonathan Quick, the player I harp on the most, was average last night.  He posted 27 saves on 30 shots for a .900 save percentage.  My guess is I need to go sit down with Ron Hextall and Terry Murray and let them know that they do not need to force it into Quick’s mind, however, acknowledge that he’s played well but let him know he can play better.  Quick can be a true #1 netminder in this league without a doubt in my mind as soon as he develops a better focus on his position.

It was good to see Justin Williams get on the board last night, as well as Dustin Brown on the score sheet.  This is something the Kings are going to need more often for the bigger offensive names on the team.

Recapping the game:

Scott Parse started it off for LA with a great feed from Wayne Simmonds at 5:11 of the first period. Justin Williams would add a power play tally from Jarret Stoll and Dustin Brown just over six minutes later at 11:33 of the first giving the Kings a 2-0 lead.

At 14:41 of the 1st, Corey Perry would score a gorgeous goal off a deflection as he skated through the slot and tipped one home to cut the lead to one goal for the Kings.

Randy Jones would make it 3-1 with an even strenght goal at 6:40 of the second.

The Ducks would again cut the lead to one goal when Ryan Whitney scored on the power play at 17:28 of the second.

Kings fans got a huge scare when it seemed as if the trending third period collapse would present it’s nasty face again.  Todd Marchant would tie the game for the Ducks at 5:29 of the third, changing the entire game.

Brad Richardson would then send Kings nation into a frenzy when he would net his first goal of the season, the eventual game winner, securing the two points for the Kings.  Unlikely hero of the game would finish the night with two points as he had an assist on the Randy Jones goal, and a plus-2.

So the better name players showed up, and the Kings also got secondary scoring in a victory. Now if only they were able to fix the power play, a winning streak could be on the horizon.

Next up, Kings vs Senators from the Staples Center Thursday December 3rd at 10:30 PM EST (7:30 PM west coast).

Quick hits:

GM Dean Lombardi stated that there will be no call ups by the Kings to replace injured Brandon Segal. My guess is that this will bring Peter Harrold back into the line up?

Rob Scuderi is not ready to return, and a time line is still in question.

Kings fans, when do you think Erik Ersberg will get his next start?

Go Kings Go!

Tonight, from Anaheim, Doughty and the Kings get to face off against Niedermayer and the Ducks.

In the first meeting of six between the two clubs, the Kings will look to find a way to get out of their goal scoring drought. It has been a rough time since Ryan Smyth went down to injury.  The good news for Kings fans, as of November 29th, Smyth was back skating on the ice.

Tonight, without Smyth, the Kings will need to have Anze Kopitar and company seriously come out like a team possessed. By possessed, I mean that they need to put fear into the Ducks, score early and control the play often.

One player that has been very quiet since Smyth’s injury has been Justin Williams. Throughout his career, Williams has been bothered by injuries and has missed significant paying time.  When Dean Lombardi went and acquired Williams last year, he was hoping to get that 30 goal presence that Williams once had into his line up.  This year, through 22 games, Williams has 16 points but only 5 goals. With Anze Kopitar centering the top line, and Williams as his winger, more is expected. Both have been held off the score sheet in the last three games the Kings have played. In order to be victorious this evening, that must change.

Jonathan Quick, getting the usual nod to start the game, is 2-1 in his last 3 games played with a 1.63 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. The Ducks have the ability to score goals, and lots of them.  Quick will need to be focused, while playing above the blue paint and staying focused while cutting off angles for the oppositions shooters.

Quick, again, more and more each game seems to be gaining comfort in his position. This will be important not only for him but for the Kings, especially in the wild, wild West. Playoffs are more than possible, especially if Quick can perform throughout most of the season as he has as of late.

Tonight’s line-up (subject to change):

Purcell – Kopitar – Williams
Frolov – Stoll – Brown
Parse- Handzus – Simmonds
Ivanans – Richardson- Segal

O’Donnell – Doughty
Johnson – Jones
Drewiske – Greene

Quick

Sean O’Donnell, who knows about this rivalry better then anyone as he played for the Ducks and now a member of the Kings, knows that tonight is going to be an interesting match up.

The Ducks are wrapping up a seven game home stand where they have gone 4-1-1.

The Kings need to stay disciplined as the Ducks special teams are very good this year. Staying out of the box and capitalizing on your man advantage opportunities could determine the outcome for the game tonight.

Go Kings Go!

Quick hits:

Rob Scuderi still has no time line for a return.

Andrei Lokitonov is out indefinitely.

The Manchester Monarchs have signed players to fill the void due to Lokitonov’s injury and because of Parse and Segal up with the big club.

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.

If there is one word to describe the Kings game last night it is embarrassing. From time to time, teams will not show up and will be flat on the ice. Last nights Kings team was far from that.  They were out-skated, but not outplayed.

The Kings out-shot the Thrashers 38 to 21 but neither Jonathan Quick nor Erik Ersberg were able to stop the pucks fired at them from going behind them and into the net.

After a scoreless first period, the Thrashers came out in the second period and found ways to beat Quick for three goals in less than four minutes time.  Terry Murray felt enough was enough and called on back up goalie Erik Ersberg to attempt to stop the bleeding.  One minute and ten seconds later Maxim Afinogenov found himself skating in on a breakaway on a nice feed from Ilya Kovalchuk and beat Ersberg, taking his head out of the game immediately and helping the Thrashers cruise to an easy win.

Ron Hextall reacts on Jonathan Quick at Rich Hammonds page, LAKingsInsider.com.

It seems as if the Kings are going to let Quick play through his issues and attempt to bounce back, in a mature way, from an ugly defeat.

Tonight’s line up (subject to change):

Smyth – Kopitar – Williams
Parse – Stoll – Brown
Frolov – Handzus – Simmonds
Ivanans – Richardson – Purcell

Scuderi – Doughty
Johnson – Jones
Drewiske – Greene

Quick

Justin Williams was given a match penalty last night on a controversial hit that was called “Checking from behind” and questions arise on disciplinary action. Kings fans across the Internet feel that it was a bad call, but it’s up to the league to determine that. I will leave my bias out of this situation.

It is up to the team to forget about last night and focus on tonight’s contest. The Panthers have the upper hand when it comes to the Goaltending for tonight as veteran Tomas Vokoun has been playing very well this season.  A fast start to the game, with a tempo to match last nights are two keys to the game.  The Kings need to make sure they are focused on the back check, on special teams and very much need to get pucks on net and traffic in front. Two points are a must.

I let another one in?

The Los Angeles Kings were crushed tonight by the Atlanta Thrashers. If you missed the on-ice “epic fail” of the Los Angeles Kings, I’d love to be the one to remind you right here.

The Atlanta Thrashers scored seven goals en route to 7-0 beating of the Los Angeles Kings.

Ilya Kovalchuk, back extremely early from a broken foot, not only did damage last night against the New York Rangers but absolutely helped embarrass the Kings in front of his home crowd.  Kovalchuk had a three point night last night and a four point night tonight scoring twice and adding two helpers on Maxim Afinogenov’s two goals.

What went wrong you ask?  Absolutely nothing except for the fact that the Kings were flat, unfocused and simply did not show up to play against a team who played last night.

Whether or not Terry Murray made the right call in who to start this evening wouldn’t of mattered as both Quick and Ersberg looked like ECHL goaltenders.  Something was seriously wrong tonight in Kings land and it needs to be figured out “Quick” (pun intended).

With little time between tonight, travel, and tomorrows game against the Lightning in Tampa, the Kings will need to wake up tomorrow and pretend tonight never happened.  A very aggrivated coaching staff, furious players, a bit of a change (again) to the line up and a bit of rest for tomorrow will bring opportunity to erase tonight’s debacle.

Let’s see which “Kings” team decides to show up in Tampa.

As Rich Hammond of LAKingsInsider.com mentioned after he talked with Kings head coach Terry Murray, Murray is looking at making some changes to the line up and the way it is structured on the ice.  Two key things are brining in Randy Jones for his first NHL game this year, and maybe giving Jonathan Quick a break by playing Erik Ersberg.

So, with the inside info from Rich Hammonds website:

In: Erik Ersberg, Randy Jones and Peter Harrold.

Out: Jonathan Quick, Sean O’Donnell and Raitis Ivanans.

I, for one, am very excited to see what Randy Jones can do and I know that it is just to rest Sean O’Donnell (for the time being), but I think that Jones can be a very good 2nd unit Power Play addition, and as long as his confidence is there he can help out the back end and defensive zone play as well.  His game fell a bit after his suspension last season.  He never returned to be the same player he was capable of being: a good #5 or #6 pairing guy with very good 2nd unit PP capabilities. So tonight we get to see just how much of a help he will be for the Kings.

Erik Ersberg will make just his second start of the season, and everyone including Ersberg himself are hoping he plays better then he did that night a few weeks back against the New York Rangers. The team needs to step it up, and play different tonight then they did that night against New York, and they way they have skated the past two games where they were only able to score one goal in each contest. The offense needs to step up tonight, to a new level.

The alarming issue, currently, is that of the “good month” that Kings had to open the season.  Something they did just as well last season and then the slide began in the standings.  The play of the Kings started to fall off, and lack of determination concluded the Kings season as a team that was on the outside of the playoff hunt looking in.  Then, an off-season of change was performed in hopes to make the Kings, in the least, a playoff club. So far, so good but, at this time, the Kings are starting to slump and need to get their game back on the right track.

Tonight’s line up will look (subject to change) as follows:

Smyth – Kopitar – Williams
Parse- Stoll – Brown
Frolov – Handzus – Simmonds
Purcell – Richardson – Harrold

Scuderi- Doughty
Johnson – Jones
Drewiske – Greene

Ersberg

A bit of a different look for the Kings in hopes of change.  Change, meaning a different outcome from the two game losing streak these Kings are currently on.

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Kings fans: questions or commments e-mail me here

Five games above the .500 mark for this time of year (heading to the quarter-year mark) is an incredible start to this young season. Jonathan Quick is proving his value to this club, even with yesterdays loss, we all understand that you can not win every game.  Quick, who is 10-4-2 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.61 goals against average is giving himself a very good chance to be recognized for Team USA for the upcoming Olympic Games.

6-2-2 over the last ten games, and beating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins has but a very bright spot on the Kings. Although they were discussed to be a middle of the pack team, and a playoff bubble team, I feel they are more then that.  This Kings club has played very good hockey for most of this season to date.  They are able to skate with the bigger named teams in the league, and have defeated, or been on par with every team that they have played against (except for the loss to the Coyotes on opening night and mini-slump they had in mid-October where they lost 3 straight).

With plenty of depth, and hungry young players, this Kings club looks to be for real.

As it stands today, the current statistics for your Los Angeles Kings:

Anze Kopitar:  GP 17 G 13 A 14 PTS 27
Ryan Smyth GP 17 G 8 A 12 PTS 20
Dustin Brown GP 17 G 6 A 10 PTS 16
Jarret Stoll GP 17 G 4 A 10 PTS 14
Drew Doughty GP 17 G 3 A 11 PTS 14
Alexander Frolov GP 16 G 4 A 9 PTS 13
Justin Williams GP 12 G 4 A 8 PTS 12

Seven players are already into double digit points on this Kings roster.  Michael Handzus and Wayne Simmonds are both tied with 9 points a piece.  So not only are the Kings getting scoring from the players that you would expect to be putting up points, they are getting a nice display of secondary scoring as well.  A team that has found chemistry up and down the roster for their coach Terry Murray. It’s the making of what seems to be a very exciting season.

With Jonathan Quick playing majority of the games this season it’s pretty certain, especially after the loss yesterday, that Erik Ersberg will be getting at least one and potentially two (depending on his play) starts on this upcoming five game road trip. The trip begins tomorrow night in Chicago against the Blackhawks. A game that must be played as if it were a possible playoff game.  Now is not the time to start losing points and the Kings need to stay focused and need to be able to obtain at least six points on this five game trip.  After Chicago, it’s an Eastern Conference Southwest Divison battle for the Kings with Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa and Florida all playing host this upcoming week (and into next week).

The only team that should be an absolute guarentee to give the Kings two points would be the Hurricanes, as last night they lost goaltender Cam Ward to an unknown amount of time with a laceration on his leg.  So unless Michael Leighton becomes Martin Brodeur overnight, or the ‘Canes make a move to get a goalie, it might be a very long season in Carolina and it should be a victory for the Kings.

It’s a long week on the road, and a fun one at that. If any Kings news breaks, you know I’ll be here with the information for you.

Follow me on Twitter:  ACHockeyGuys

Something has to give, right?  What was once a very fine clicking offense has turned into a bit of a problem.  The offense has been handcuffed over the past two games and now might be when the Kings start to feel the loss of Justin Williams.

His return is needed, and fast.  It should provide an instant spark tonight to the forward lines.  He steps back up into the top role, and if Terry Murray is smart, he goes Frolov – Stoll – Brown as a second unit to really try to ignite the players.

Jonathan Quick will start in net tonight and look for his 9th win of the season.  However, tonight is not about the goaltending, as it has not seriously been an issue this season.  Tonight is about the offense and how it needs to step up and put more pucks in the net.  Sure, easier said then done, but this team is not a team that lacks offense, so one goal games should be few and not something that happens often.  The fact that it happened on back to back nights is a bit of a shock.  Tonight, it should not be an issue.

Newly acquired Randy Jones is not ready to get his first action of the season just yet, but Terry Murray has stated publically that it should be sooner then later.  Getting that 7th defensemen who has NHL experience was key to this Kings team to obtain. It means that the kids can continue to develop and it leaves Peter Harrold on the 4th line, a place where he has been brilliant. So why try to fix what is not broken?  The Kings aren’t, and will stick with the game plan they have.  It’s good to see this Kings team of to a good start and it’s great to feel a possible playoff presence come that time of the season.

I’ll be back with more after tonight.  Go Kings Go!

Now, winners of four straight games, the Kings will hope that the momentum continues to carry into this week as the schedule does not get too much easier for them.

Lucky for the Kings, they are off until Wednesday which should shore up some rest days for some players. Next up are the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday and then Thursday night against Vancouver. These are two teams that do have very gifted offensive players who can take control of the game in favor of their club.  The defensive pairings will need to be aware of who is on the ice and that their job is to contain them.  The defense units also need to block shots from the perimeters, and clear the lane for goaltender Jonathan Quick to be able to see the shots that are coming through.

One player of note that is going to benefit from a few days off would be Justin Williams.  Although, the Kings have not lost too much offense (if any at all) with Williams injury, it is only a positive to get him back into the line up and soon.  The top line is still clicking well, however, Williams gives that extra offensive push and his return helps round out the top three lines again.

Jonathan Quick is a name I’d like to bring up during this Kings tidbit.  He is now posting a record of 8 wins with 3 losses on the season and has a 2.91 goals against average and a .897 save percentage.  Yes, those numbers are not stand out numbers and do need to improve if the Kings want to stay within the playoff race for the entire season.  In my estimation, Quick would need a .910 save percentage with a 2.62 goals against average in order to really be able to help the Kings dominate within the Western Conference.  Giving up 3 goals a game or more will be problematic in this Western Conference and within the Pacific Division. The Kings have offense, but offense does not bail you out each game.

When the bigger games start being played (although I am one to feel that an entire season from the first drop of the puck until the final day of the regular season schedule are when games count) the Kings need to solidify themselves beyond the blue line towards the goal.  Quick is a very good goaltender, and has shown signs of greatness in his short NHL career however, he needs to step it up one notch, take one baby step and get yourself into the next level of goaltending. What do I mean you ask?  It’s time to grow, to advance into the next tier of goaltenders.  Jonathan Quick right now is still a middle of the pack guy, with respectable numbers that have made him the number one goalie for the Kings, however, he is not a top ten goaltender, maybe not even a top fifteen in this league just yet.  Do I think he has the tools (as well as the team in front of him) to get him to the next tier?  Absolutely. And you will see what I mean as this season continues.

There will be bad games, games where the focus isn’t there, games where the team will be flat in front of him, and the list can go on.  These are expected, of course, but the expectations of merit are those of Jonathan Quick becoming a second tier name netminder.

Kings fans, can and will Jonathan Quick be able to have his name mentioned with the Nabakov’s, Kiprusoff’s, Lundqvist’s, Vokoun’s, and Khabibulin’s of this league? I’d love to hear your feedback on that question.  You can e-mail me your response (or comment right within this blog) at e-mail Anthony .

That would be my goal for Quick’s personal goal for this season.  His name has been mentioned as being called in for Team USA’s goaltending position for the upcoming Olympic Games and if that is the case, then the time to seriously prepare and better your game, Mr. Quick, is right now.

So let’s sit back these next two nights, enjoy the fact that the Los Angeles Kings are second in the Western Conference and first in the Pacific Divsion currently and hope that the winning ways continue throughout the season rather then slide.  Yes, we will have our ups and downs but streaks can make or break a team.  If the losing streaks are kept to small amounts and the winning streaks come more often – hey, welcome to the playoffs Kings fans (and of course, that is an obvious statement – however it is one that is difficult to obtain).