Thread: The real problem w/ the D is...

...the FORWARDS.

In my opinion, the D have been doing a decent job covering their areas of responsibility in the D zone. Its the forwards who have completely lost track of their assignments on numerous occasions. Lots of goals against have come from passes down low to guys who are cutting to the net from a high area. You can see the forward who is responsible for picking up that cutter just looking at the puck.

Watch Brown on the first goal last night - once the puck goes in the opposite corner, his new assignment is that guy in the high slot - he just watches the play...

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...ed-share-video

And then Fraser on the second goal. I'm not sure if he came in on a change or he was just slow getting back in the play, but his assignment scored the goal, and he kind of floats in behind him while looking at the puck...

NHL VideoCenter

I saw the same thing from Kopitar & Richards in earlier games. Kings forwards need to work a little harder.

I brought this up early in the season. TEAM defense has been an issue so far, but our dmen could certainly tighten some screws..

Problem with the D? I got your answer.

Originally Posted by adgy-san

Problem with the D? I got your answer.

Wouldn't this just make it more difficult to skate? (Oops, almost said "harder".)

Originally Posted by RagBone

Wouldn't this just make it more difficult to skate? (Oops, almost said "harder".)

Damn carbon fiber, I prefer wood.

Originally Posted by The Lurker

...the FORWARDS.

In my opinion, the D have been doing a decent job covering their areas of responsibility in the D zone. Its the forwards who have completely lost track of their assignments on numerous occasions. Lots of goals against have come from passes down low to guys who are cutting to the net from a high area. You can see the forward who is responsible for picking up that cutter just looking at the puck.

Watch Brown on the first goal last night - once the puck goes in the opposite corner, his new assignment is that guy in the high slot - he just watches the play...

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...ed-share-video

And then Fraser on the second goal. I'm not sure if he came in on a change or he was just slow getting back in the play, but his assignment scored the goal, and he kind of floats in behind him while looking at the puck...

NHL VideoCenter

I saw the same thing from Kopitar & Richards in earlier games. Kings forwards need to work a little harder.

While I agree that the forwards are often victims of the D breakdowns, we could also pull up videos about the poor poor poor D coverage by the D men. It is a problem. Muzzin, and Drewiskie are struggling.

The Kings thrived most when they had a specific identity and role, and they could count on their partners/teammates to fulfill that role.

Doughty, while playing a two-way game, is being used both as a shut down and offensive defenseman, with the loss of two key defensive defensemen. As a result, his offense has suffered. Scuderi, in his increased age, is being asked to play more key minutes than ever before. Usually you want to taper off some time with older players to give them more time to recover. Martinez is trying to play more of a stay-at-home role with Voynov's superior offense. Muzzin's a rookie who's not thriving out of sheltered minutes. And Drewiske, while good defensively, is being counted on a regular basis when he has spent the past couple years as the temporary fill-in.

I'm not absolving the forward of the responsibility, because they have been lazy and useless at times, but to think it stems more from the forwards is a bit faulty, in my opinion. The only defenseman who doesn't seem to be suffering or playing out of his element is Voynov, and he's by far the most confident defenseman playing right now. Doughty is just being asked to do too much, and while he's handling it like a champ, he also has his stumbles.

Edit: and I know this sounds like I'm making excuses for their poor play, as EVERY team has players who have to make adjustments. However, I'm just saying what I think is a big factor, and why the Kings don't look like the Kings who won the cup 8 months ago.

With mitchell and greene out the dynamic of the defensive game has changed. Players seem to be playing individually and not as a team. They're not collecting rebounds in front of the net and making quick outlet passes. Instead they're missing defensive assignments and not breaking out as a team. Last season they would make 5 or 6 outlet passes in their breakout. Now they make one or two passes and try to force breakouts. Its just not a team effort.

One thing I have noticed and this really isn't helping matters is that Quick is giving up a lot of rebounds, during the play offs everything stuck, now it's almost certain that the puck will rebound straight down the middle of the ice.

He has also started flopping forward as he comes across the net on cross ice passes, this was a habit of his two years ago and it seemed like he had broken it last year.

No I am not blaming everything on Quick, we are being shown how important Mitchell and Greene are to the Kings.

Edit : Actually thinking about it, his play right now is reminding me a lot of Luongo last year.