***LA Kings @ St. Louis Blues GDT 2/22/21 5:00pm on FSW & NHL Network***

[Bollocks]

The "old core" guys are carrying the team. It's so much fun to watch Brownie in his second childhood. I really like this team.

I'm not surprised - they have something to play for again, something to look forward to, someone to pass the torch to.

Brown said that he doesn’t kill penalties anymore which makes him much fresher and he does look faster.

This is the way to go. I hope Kopitar, Carter and Doughty get the same treatment - minimal SH TOI in order to preserve their conditioning and bodies, and also decrease the ES TOI a bit, too. This increases their ES and PP effectiveness now and also preserves their bodies a bit so they can stay effective for longer into their expensive a$$ contracts.

By limiting their ice time a bit and giving that time to the young kids that proved ready is the smart thing to do. At this point there really isn't any need for Kopitar to be in comfortably in the TOI top 10 league wide. So, I think that's the next step for McLellan.

[gokor84]

I would cut Doughtys minutes first before kopitars. He still should not play too much pk moving forward

[Bollocks]

I would cut Doughtys minutes first before kopitars. He still should not play too much pk moving forward

Yeah, I just saw DD is #2 in TOI. Truly unnecessary, especially seeing his play is not what it used to be. The Kings don't benefit from this from any perspective.

PS: 35yo Burns is #1 . On the mediocrity dwelling, aging Sharks with bottom 5 prospect pool. With 4,5 seasons left @ 8 million AAV. Yikes. I'd maybe understand this from attendance filling standpoint, but that's really a factor now lol.

[Ice24]

That was a fun win, well done. I did notice that the Blues were missing 5 good players. I still believe the Kings will be streaky this season, however this streak is fun to watch right now.

[Reg or Rog?]

I expect St. Louis to look at the next one as a must-win game given their record recently. Going to be dangerous but Kings are so dialed in right now I can’t wait.

The Blues will be a grumpy group tomorrow night.

Five thoughts on last night's game:

1.) All that was missing from Brown's highlight reel goal was Chris Berman's "whoop, whoop whoop".
2.) I know it doesn't count because one came during a shootout, but Vilardi has three 'game winning goals' in a row.
3.) Quick's 'whatever it takes' style looks a lot like he did during the Cup runs.
4.) More than anything else, Carter just seems to get in the way.
5.) Walker's new 'temporary' nickname should be "Picasso".

[jammer06]

Congratulations to the following posters who correctly guessed the gwg would be scored in the first or by Vilardi, nobody got both:

First period:

AngelEyes
JayWells24

Vilardi gwg:
jammer06
CIrvine
KHenry14
VegasHockey
MaxwellSmart
randdog
Stormy2213
Rawley19
John a90
Helvetica
forum gold
Rogie-Vachon
Clif
MBreeden
pray4mojo
hornman
kingsmen93
hokiecat

What can you say, this team went toe to toe with them, then again that was a depleted lineup, but still. Glad to see them take advantage of it and continue to really show some creative game play.

[KingJ]

Feels like we are on the right track again. Trending back towards legit contention.