***LA Kings @ Anaheim Ducks GDT 4/9/24 7:00pm on KCAL Ch9***

[symbology]

Our road record ended up being 22-15-4. PATHETIC after starting off 11-0. Did I think they would go 41-0 all season? Of course not. But I will stand by my theory that something happened in the 3rd period of that Islanders game that completely changed their play on the road.

80 out there doing his usual floating around last night. Someone mentioned that albatross of a contract that Flake doled out to him. Good luck getting out of that unless you can find some poor fool to eat some of it. In fairness though, he wasn't alone. Just no intensity, no establishing any forecheck, p*ss poor passing, no physicality, etc. Disappointing to see that so late in the season heading into which will likely be a very short playoff stint.

Yeah, that was back in the first part of December. Around that time the Kings had a few games where they were getting goals on really pretty passing plays. Their game and work ethic took a turn then. They started to think they had the skill to pass the puck into the net. They stopped shooting and driving the net. That Islander game then deflated them more somehow.

Their play before that was pretty lucky though. Goaltending was good, but lucky. I remember the Montreal game that the Kings won 4-0 just before the Islander game. The score could have been 3 - 0 Habs early on if they could just hit the net. They had great scoring chances early and Talbot was not in position to make the save. The Kings winning ways early on was an anomaly. There are two teams that the Kings may be able to beat in a 7 game series, the Canucks and Vegas (if Stone does not return for game 1. Pretty much against any other team the Kings will be lucky to win more than a single game IMO.

Also, look at Byfield's game since he scored that "goal of the year" goal. He started trying to make plays out of nothing every chance he got. He worked really hard out there, but he stopped producing. Now, he seems to be out of gas. Something similar happened to the Kings in December. They got so confident in themselves that they felt that they could make passes that they should not have been attempting. The result was turn over after turn over. They played ok and were in games, but they turned the puck over so much they were giving away to many easy goals. Goaltending started to slide as well.

All I can say is, Go Oilers!!!!!!! Win the division.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Seriously, LA's best line really was the 4th line tonight. The other 3 lines played so poorly in this game, despite their chances in the O-zone at times.

The 4th was the only line that was noticeable where at some point, I was questioning whether they had the most ice time of any line. Everyone else was invisible...outside of the glaring mistakes.

 

[Rog or Reg?]

The Kings can be very soft at times. They can also dominate. Their inability to turn it on every night is mind-boggling...I don't expect them to win but as fans, we should expect a consistent effort.

As for Ducks fans, this was their playoff win, the high point of their season. They deserve to enjoy it but their franchise still sucks.

Yeah, that was the high point of the Ducks season, for sure.

I was offered a free ticket, but it's such a brutal drive. I decided to watch it on TV instead. I'm just glad I wasn't there in person for that one.

And I agree: The Kings can dominate. They have the ability. But who knows what Kings team will show up night after night?

I thought Kempe played a great game ...and it was nice to see Thomas out there playing hard... but after that first goal it just appeared the Kings were coasting for the rest of the
game.

Not a good look with four games left in the season.

Anyway I got tickets for the last two games.
I certainly hope the good Kings show up. But nothing will surprise me at this point.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Yeah, that was the high point of the Ducks season, for sure.

I was offered a free ticket, but it's such a brutal drive. I decided to watch it on TV instead. I'm just glad I wasn't there in person for that one.

And I agree: The Kings can dominate. They have the ability. But who knows what Kings team will show up night after night?

I thought Kempe played a great game ...and it was nice to see Thomas out there playing hard... but after that first goal it just appeared the Kings were coasting for the rest of the
game.

Not a good look with four games left in the season.

Anyway I got tickets for the last two games.
I certainly hope the good Kings show up. But nothing will surprise me at this point.

My wife and daughter will be there Thursday, I'll be at the Ducks and Hawks games. And then the inevitable first round of the playoffs debacle.

 

[DRGinLBC]

But we can't beat the Ducks.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

They deserve to enjoy it

No

 

[Kurisu]

it’s kind of amazing how quickly this team gets satisfied with themselves. They very clearly didn’t feel like they had to give their full effort tonight and the hot start just reinforced that sense of entitlement. Very bad game.

Perfect analysis and incredibly frustrating. The grit that 2012-2014 teams had just doesn't exist with this group, despite the presence of Kopi and Doughty. It's like they really did need the presence of a Sutter to keep them annoyed and aggressive.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

Perfect analysis and incredibly frustrating. The grit that 2012-2014 teams had just doesn't exist with this group, despite the presence of Kopi and Doughty. It's like they really did need the presence of a Sutter to keep them annoyed and aggressive.

I think Kopitar is a all star HOF awesome dude, but I don't think he's the type of captain that will drag players out of the slumps into the game. Fox kept mentioning that Arvidsson is trying to do that in his way. Brown I think was that type of captain. It is definitely a mental thing from the leadership core and on much higher up.

 

[symbology]

But we can't beat the Ducks.


View attachment 9169

The Ducks have been a tough team to play against at times. They have beaten some pretty good teams. The Kings have been an easy team to play against at times and have lost to some bad teams.

Also, for what it is worth. The above stats are telling..... If that was the playoffs, the Kings would have won 8 games and lost 10 and almost 1/2 of their wins came against the Canucks. Take the Canucks games out and the Kings have 5 wins and 9 losses. This does not make the Kings look good IMO. Their record against the other playoff teams in the west is not very good either. The only top team in the west that the Kings seem to play well against is Vancouver.

They gotta play Vancouver in the first round. Come on Hockey Gods......

 

[symbology]

I think Kopitar is a all star HOF awesome dude, but I don't think he's the type of captain that will drag players out of the slumps into the game. Fox kept mentioning that Arvidsson is trying to do that in his way. Brown I think was that type of captain. It is definitely a mental thing from the leadership core and on much higher up.

He is not, never has been. There were a lot of discussions revolving around this topic many years ago. May have been around the time the Kings traded for Richards, not sure.

 

[JC6388LAKings]

He is not, never has been. There were a lot of discussions revolving around this topic many years ago. May have been around the time the Kings traded for Richards, not sure.

If we're talking about Kings all-time HOF listers, then yeah, Kopi definitely deserves to be on that list. But if we're talking about NHL all-time HOF listers, then unfortunately yeah, Kopi is not worthy enough to make it in that particular list, not at all helped by revoltingly selective [L]east Coast bias.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

He is not, never has been. There were a lot of discussions revolving around this topic many years ago. May have been around the time the Kings traded for Richards, not sure.

Yeah I stopped watching a few years when they stripped Brown of the C and fired Sutter. I restarted when they hired Todd. 2 cups in 3 and weird stuff like that I needed some time off

If we're talking about Kings all-time HOF listers, then yeah, Kopi definitely deserves to be on that list. But if we're talking about NHL all-time HOF listers, then unfortunately yeah, Kopi is not worthy enough to make it in that particular list, not at all helped by revoltingly selective [L]east Coast bias.

We're talking about captaincy styles I think: "the type of captain that will drag players out of the slumps into the game".

 

[Bill Hicks]

Well half of your wish may come true (not the solid game part)... IDK though the WC2 is likely to get DAL- that is unlikely to turn out well.

I'll take the unknown vs. the known in this scenario. The Oil own us and everybody knows it.

 

[Statue4Deano]

But we can't beat the Ducks.


View attachment 9169

Kings are the definition of talented underachiever. If they played to their potential TM would still be the coach and they’d be fighting with Vancouver for 1st in the Pacific.

 

[pray4mojo]

I'll take the unknown vs. the known in this scenario. The Oil own us and everybody knows it.

Yeah, kind of a pick your poison, and i too am dreadfully sick of getting kicked to the curb by the OIL...(and watching the OIL rock VGK 5-1 even without McD tonight doesn't instill much confidence in what the Kings could do) also hard to argue that DAL didn't kind of "own us" too this year... If only we could snatch WC1 from NSH

 

[orpheus]

So the Kings were the bad team?