GDT ***LA Kings @ Tampa Bay Lightning GDT 1/9/24 4:00pm on BSW***

Helvetica said:
FWIW, since were all jumping in here with blame... here's how i saw things.

• 1st goal- Lafferriere tries to carry teh puck up. Gets pinched, falls down. Turns teh puck over just before the red line. Kings get caught expecting the puck in deep. Cant recover.

• 2nd goal - Gavrikov makes the decision to be aggressive at the blueline. Gets his man, but the puck gets in deep to Hagel. Grundstrom gets undressed by a great individual effort. Goal against.

• OT - Puck is on it's way out. Then it isnt. Moore got greedy. Turnover. Last guy back out of position. Game over.


Blaming the coach or the structure is, i think, missing the forrest for the trees. This was a series of individual mistakes that lead to goals against at really unfortunate moments. Also, this was probably the most physical game i can remember seeing from the kings in quite a while. They didnt play soft. They simply made mistakes at the worst possible moments. Execution matters. At the end of the day, the players play. Maybe a time out could have somehow calmed some nerves, but i dont really think players made bad reads, so much as they made mistakes late in the game. The structure didnt fail. It was all on the players.
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Correct. The issue is when things are going as poorly as they are right now you literally have to play a perfect game to break the trend.

So yeah the team has been unlucky and yes it’s only a couple bounces or plays here or there but those small things are all adding up to losses.
 
Sevenhole said:
On the other hand this team was playing well under his system until six games ago, the entire league didn’t figure this out in the last six games. It’s execution that is lacking, not protecting in front of the net, lack of effort on the forecheck, playing offense on the boards without driving to the net. Ever since Todd got here he’s been the scapegoat for many, no one gave credit during the great start this year. Let’s all be fair, he’s not on the ice and the futility of this team in the last six games is in the on the players
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When you’ve lost 6 games in a row it’s hard to trust the process but it absolutely is the only sure path forward.

The hockey gods hate is us right not but I’ve been watching this game long enough to know if you commit to playing to your strengths the puck will bounce your way again.

Trust the process and the wins will come again.
 
Statue4Deano said:
Correct. The issue is when things are going as poorly as they are right now you literally have to play a perfect game to break the trend.

So yeah the team has been unlucky and yes it’s only a couple bounces or plays here or there but those small things are all adding up to losses.
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i mean... yeah. I've been chatting with some LGKers recently, and one thing that came up was a quote by Sutter from way back. Something to the effect of, "when you're on these streaks, you win some you should lose, and you lose some you should win". The details matter. The execution matters. On a winning streak, maybe Laf falls down, but the puck hops over TB's stick, or it still manages to bounce into TB's end. Maybe grundstrom gets a stick or skate on the puck and Hagel never gets teh sot off. Maybe the puck somehow finds it's way out of the zone in OT and Moore doesnt get caught jumping the play.

But none of this is structural. It's execution. It's decision making. It's luck. Just prior to Lafferiere's turnover, i thought the Kings were making a string of great decision making. They were moving the puck, but also getting it out of the zone when needed. Most of the plays were on the safe side, but they were probably the right play, push comes to shove.

this was agame that they probably should have won based on effort. Unfortunately, they strung together several examples of poor execution, and TB jumped on that and buried their chances. I cant blame the coach on this one.
 
The team now plays not to lose as soon as they have established a 2-goal lead. You can see them getting wound up tighter until the eventual mistake occurs. It's up to the coaches and the captains to break through that expectation of imminent defeat and get this team believing in itself again.
 
Halfwall said:
Nonsense, it's time to PANIC.
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While I am not quite fully on board with this, you may be right. What concerns me is watching this team play the last 6 games or so. Then thinking about the 2 quick playoff exits we have witnessed the last two years. Even if they turn this around and start to play better now I have zero confidence that they can get by anyone come playoff time.
 
This streak the Kings are going through right now reminds me of the losing streak the Oilers went through earlier in the season. Bad bounces, indecisive playmaking, shaky goalkeeping. I’m not suggesting anything, but after Woodcroft got turfed, the team’s fortunes turned on a dime. Could it be that, like the Oilers, the Kings are beginning to tune out the coach?
 
Statue4Deano said:
When you’ve lost 6 games in a row it’s hard to trust the process but it absolutely is the only sure path forward.

The hockey gods hate is us right not but I’ve been watching this game long enough to know if you commit to playing to your strengths the puck will bounce your way again.

Trust the process and the wins will come again.
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If the puck bounces to Moores stick on that break we could be having a completely different conversation, that is what makes this sport so incredibly great to watch, positive or negative
 
Sevenhole said:
If the puck bounces to Moores stick on that break we could be having a completely different conversation, that is what makes this sport so incredibly great to watch, positive or negative
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Exactly. Same thing with the Carlson goal against Washington. He shot it through Danault’s legs, ticks his shin guard and beats Cam high. Pure chaos.
 
Panic? No.. but my policy from here on out would be simple. Blow a third period lead, earn a bag skate.
 
Pevsfreedom said:
Columbus? They'll take anyone. Oh wait.
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Don’t worry, we only have 7.5 years left on this albatross of a contract. Almost there!

But to be fair, he has his moments. He’s got that good, consistent no look pass. It’s often right on the tape, and consistently to opposing players.
 
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VF said:
Don’t worry, we only have 7.5 years left on this albatross of a contract. Almost there!

But to be fair, he has his moments. He’s got that good, consistent no look pass. It’s often right on the tape, and consistently to opposing players.
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When this madness first began, I was pretty upset. But now I just laugh. Why?


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It's not just that the Kings are losing, it's the way they're losing. And to make it even more hilarious, throw in PLD tonight. His Brian Boitano routine in overtime would have been side-splitting if it wasn't so sad. And even sadder, it was all too predictable at this point.

I don't care if we have to eat that fat contract...sit him. It's called cutting your losses. Enough is enough.
 
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