***LA Kings @ Dallas Stars GDT 11/01/22 5:30pm on BSW***

[Kurisu]

Twitter is screaming about Durzi, but I didn't see the game. Was that 90 second stretch on him?

 

[xcheck]

Can't believe I have yet to watch the Kings actually win. I'm seriously 0-4 watching this team. Did this team really win 4 games?
Don't even know what happened. I stepped away to chat and then the score was 4-1.

 

[jammer06]

Congratulations to the following posters who correctly guessed within +/-3 of 32 shots on goal and/or came up with a 2 game goal total of 7:

7 Total Goals (1 point):
Clif
DRGinLBC
Helvetica
Rusty
John a90
DRice
empire
LeftyKing
forum gold
RoS
pray4mojo
Sevenhole
JETS GARAGE
Liz4LA
Dr. Tran
KHenry14

29,35 SOG (1 Point)
Helvetica
forum gold
SirJW
beedee
waynet

30, 31, 33, 34 SOG (2 points)
HTK
Clif
kopinator
DRGinLBC
srm1105
Sonnyboy11
randdog
LeftyKing
KHenry14
Kurisu
Bill Hicks
Rusty
Liz4LA
hornman
hihocarp

32 SOG (3 Points):
Chateau Bow Wow
AngelEyes
John a90
beady eye
RoS
JETS GARAGE

I missed this one and it seems that the kings PK did too. I hate Dallas and wish them the feeling of stepping on a melted ice cube in their socks.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Twitter is screaming about Durzi, but I didn't see the game. Was that 90 second stretch on him?

It’s bigger than Durzi. It’s a team that lacks attention to detail from top to bottom. It actually starts up the middle not on the blue line.

I’ve said it in multiple threads but Phil Danault looks nothing like the player from last season. Kopitar is getting beat in his own zone regularly. Weak along the boards and physically out muscled. Byfield and Kupari are still learning how to be a dependable pivot at the NHL level. Lizotte is a human bottle rocket. Point him in a direction, light the fuse and watch him go. Sometimes it works out fine but he cannot play anything resembling effective defense.

It starts up the middle. You’ve got 4 lines with Centers who are not fully committed to responsible play. Now some have traded their focus on D for offense and some are just unable to make the plays on D. But this is what a team looks like when their Centers aren’t cleaning up the play in their own end. It’s Marc Crawford hockey.

The d-men and goalie play come right behind the poor center play. It’s a domino effect and if one falls the other two are right behind. So yeah Durzi is a problem but he’s a problem you can hide if he’s got better support. That’s kind of the whole concept of team play. Right now the team does not show up to play every game.

 

[DryKing]

It’s bigger than Durzi. It’s a team that lacks attention to detail from top to bottom. It actually starts up the middle not on the blue line.

I’ve said it in multiple threads but Phil Danault looks nothing like the player from last season. Kopitar is getting beat in his own zone regularly. Weak along the boards and physically out muscled. Byfield and Kupari are still learning how to be a dependable pivot at the NHL level. Lizotte is a human bottle rocket. Point him in a direction, light the fuse and watch him go. Sometimes it works out fine but he cannot play anything resembling effective defense.

It starts up the middle. You’ve got 4 lines with Centers who are not fully committed to responsible play. Now some have traded their focus on D for offense and some are just unable to make the plays on D. But this is what a team looks like when their Centers aren’t cleaning up the play in their own end. It’s Marc Crawford hockey.

The d-men and goalie play come right behind the poor center play. It’s a domino effect and if one falls the other two are right behind. So yeah Durzi is a problem but he’s a problem you can hide if he’s got better support. That’s kind of the whole concept of team play. Right now the team does not show up to play every game.

I wouldn't say they are not fully committed to playing defense, because I think all of our centers are (to the best of their ability), but you are right in that this is not the style of play we have seen the Kings play successfully in the past. Kopitar is expending too much energy in the offensive zone and on the rush - combine this with already not being the fleetest of foot and we see him getting beat in the defensive zone as a result. Kupari/Byfield simply need to build experience, until they do we have to expect them to get beat, despite effort, at times. You nailed it on Lizotte - he has great energy but should have been converted to wing long ago as he simply lacks the ability to play center in the defensive zone. Danault is the most concerning as you are right he looks nothing like he did last season - he's become a good finisher but doesn't facilitate at the level he did last season nor does he seem to be a shut down center as he has previously been known for. Personally I think the real gap is leadership, both in the coaching staff and on the ice.

On a side note, even if all this gets fixed it still won't matter if Cal plays like he did last night. We really need to send him down to the AHL to find his confidence and give him a heavy dose of minutes/games before this gets worse.

 

[NewCastle]

For all this talk from the head coach re: game management... maybe calling a timeout after 2 goals were scored quickly would help manage things for the team. You know, help the Kings get refocused. But nope... kept sending them out when all the momentum was going the other way. And bam, there was goal 3 in 90 seconds.

 

[waynet]

Turned it off at 4-1, but from what I saw the Kings were physically dominated. Dallas was enthusiastically finishing checks on every shift. Cal was excellent in 1st period facing IIRC 19 SOG, allowing 1. Kings had very little ozone time.

Overall 6-6 at this point isn't turrible, 3-6 at this point last season. Goaltending has obviously been a weakness, Kopitar is losing the puck a lot, Vilardi has been really good. Remain optimistic the defensive play/goaltending will come around. Hawks are a better team this year, should be a good game Thurs.

 

[Clif]

On a side note, even if all this gets fixed it still won't matter if Cal plays like he did last night. We really need to send him down to the AHL to find his confidence and give him a heavy dose of minutes/games before this gets worse.

I thought Cal was one of the only bright spots last night. First period was very strong and he was otherwise hung out to dry by guys so tired on PK they could never clear their zone. Seguin skated in like he was McDavid and three Kings left a perfect lane to him right up the middle to snipe it. Kupari had a beautiful assist for Hintz who skated in all alone. And Doughty bouncing the puck off Fiala’s skate to I forget which Star was as a weird a bounce as you’ll see.

 

[DryKing]

I thought Cal was one of the only bright spots last night. First period was very strong and he was otherwise hung out to dry by guys so tired on PK they could never clear their zone. Seguin skated in like he was McDavid and three Kings left a perfect lane to him right up the middle to snipe it. Kupari had a beautiful assist for Hintz who skated in all alone. And Doughty bouncing the puck off Fiala’s skate to I forget which Star was as a weird a bounce as you’ll see.

First period I agree with you and not all of the goals, to your point, were Cal's fault. He did get beat to the glove side a couple of times (one from high slot) where he had a clear look and poor positioning. He also got beat a couple more time in a similar way, but the Star player missed the net.

I totally get that chaos was going on in front of him but when you have a wide open look and a player shoots from the high point, across your body to your glove side, and you miss it this speaks to poor positioning and fundamentals. Cal's game is about positioning and mechanics so this greatly worries me. Even the Seguin goal, which you mention and I do not fault Cal on, was a great shot but had Cal either be further out or leaning forward it's unlikely that shot gets past him. There were just little fundamental misses in his game last night that were very unlike him.

 

[Clif]

First period I agree with you and not all of the goals, to your point, were Cal's fault. He did get beat to the glove side a couple of times (one from high slot) where he had a clear look and poor positioning. He also got beat a couple more time in a similar way, but the Star player missed the net.

I totally get that chaos was going on in front of him but when you have a wide open look and a player shoots from the high point, across your body to your glove side, and you miss it this speaks to poor positioning and fundamentals. Cal's game is about positioning and mechanics so this greatly worries me. Even the Seguin goal, which you mention and I do not fault Cal on, was a great shot but had Cal either be further out or leaning forward it's unlikely that shot gets past him. There were just little fundamental misses in his game last night that were very unlike him.

Okay, those are some unfortunately good points about positioning. If the team wasn’t a mess in front of him though I think his performance was still going to give them a chance to win, which is where we’re at right now. Thank you making me realize how grateful I’ve become just for average goaltending ha.