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VCRW
Lurker
The Kings won’t win anything with Kopitar leading the team in TOI and points. The team will only become a Cup contender when Kopi has been supplanted in both areas, and Anze becomes Handzus.
***LA Kings @ Vegas Golden Knights DAY GAME GDT 3/19/22 1:00pm on BSW***
- Thread starter Nyssa42
- Start date
The Kings won’t win anything with Kopitar leading the team in TOI and points. The team will only become a Cup contender when Kopi has been supplanted in both areas, and Anze becomes Handzus.
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shoot2scor
Lurker
On to the next! Not much positive to take out of that one. It’s gonna be a wild ride to the finish. With the injuries they have; games like this are bound to happen.
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Ice24
Lurker
Those laces are going to get tighter and tighter in the next week. If you want to be in the playoffs you obviously have to beat the teams that are chasing you. I'm not sure this team can overcome their injuries like other teams can and will do. I am amazed they are even
in a playoff race. I thought it would be two seasons from now.
in a playoff race. I thought it would be two seasons from now.
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hokiecat
Lurker
Don't get caught up in the Faust playoff hype baloney. Vegas was always going to make a run and they have as many injuries as the Kings if not more. It is going to be a dog fight to the finish in the Pacific and potentially to get in if Dallas does anything with their games in hand. Luckily for us, they have 2 points in their last 5 games.
Kings need to stop being awful on special teams and the first line needs to at least play something like a first line.
Kurisu
O Captain, My Captain!
That's really it right there. Without that Danault line, we'd all be opining in a draft lottery thread.
Durzi's been a revelation, and the fourth line was a surprise for a while, but the whole idea of managing Kopi's minutes this year crashed and burned.
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VCRW
Lurker
Believe me, I don’t listen to the announcers’ opinions. They are paid to be overly positive. My expectations for this year were always to see the team become competitive and play relevant games in the spring. That much has been accomplished. Expectations for next season, however, should be far higher.
Exactly how does the power play achieve NHL top 10 results? How does the PK become less porous? And how does a first line with a fading superstar at center get better? If the answers are supposed to come from this coaching staff, it will be a cold day in hell before the improvement is noticeable.
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Dorian20
Lurker
I feel bad just solely putting the blame on Kopitar, but he is 34 after all. Is QB really Rob Blake's answer to replace Kopitar? Or does he have some magic up his sleeve and goes out to try and sign Filip Forsberg? Kopitar needs some help and maybe needs to be taken off the PK to have enough in the tank for offense.
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hornman
Lurker
Ah Poop...I watched the first period and thought they looked okay...didn't get to watch the rest of the game because a friend who i haven't seen in a long time came over and hung out for a few hours.
Needless to say we had a beer (if you must know...haha...Planktown (Springfield Oregon) Honey Dopplebock 11.1 ABV)..and I missed the game. I'll watch the NHL highlights and see what happened but that is a disappointing loss...
Needless to say we had a beer (if you must know...haha...Planktown (Springfield Oregon) Honey Dopplebock 11.1 ABV)..and I missed the game. I'll watch the NHL highlights and see what happened but that is a disappointing loss...
Disappointing loss for sure, considering they were playing a team, with plenty of injuries themselves, chasing them for a playoff spot. These are the games the Kings can't lose on a regular basis. Lose to the Avs? Fine. Even a loss to SJ is somewhat manageable since they're out of the race. But, not games like today. On the other hand, think of where the Kings would be if they had not stolen 2 points each from Florida and Boston (each after tying the game late), or even CBJ (when they were down 3-1 in the 3rd).
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hokiecat
Lurker
The frustrating thing to me is I have hoped for several weeks that the PP1 would get split up, at least between Doughty and Kopitar. It is old and stale and other teams have to practically know what we are trying to do. You'd want to split it up but you can't really do that to your 1C and 1D. Drew's injury has granted my wish and the dang PP is still bad. That said, I feel like we still have the same 2012 PP where we pass it around and settle for a shot from the blueline or the sides and then hope for a rebound. Meanwhile other teams have more motion and try to use the bumper in the middle or use a skip pass to hit an open shooter on the far side of the ice. It would be one thing to have a conservative PP which didn't take chances so they didn't score. But somehow we have managed to not score while giving up a bunch of SHG. That sucks.
PK just needs guys like Doughty and Roy and Edler back. Danault can only cover for so many players.
Regarding first line, we definitely need to limit Kopi's minutes and hope one of the kid centers becomes a elite. The only good news is Kopi's recent minutes have been averaging 20 or less. But 1G, 1A in 11 games is terrible. This is an epic slump for Kopi. He's also in his mid-30's. As much as I generally agree with the Sutter's philosophy of letting guys play their way out of slumps (cough Quick cough), maybe we need to limit Kopi's minutes so that he can be more productive because he's fresh. Try something to offset the combination of increasing age and games every other day.
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VCRW
Lurker
Taking Kopitar off the PK is a sensible and blatantly obvious way to cut down a couple of minutes/game. As far as the PP is concerned, Iafallo needs to be permanently removed from either unit. If Kopitar and Doughty want to play a slowdown PP, then put grinders out there with them. Move Kempe and Danault to PP2 with Moore and Durzi. Then call that unit PP #1 .
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Bill Hicks
Lurker
By any measure, so far, the season is a success.
The number of kids, more than expected, have got significant minutes in a playoff push which is crucial to development.
Yes, special teams is an embarrassment and coaching is the primary reason. There has been no desire to make dramatic changes.
This year has sped up the rebuild by at least one year if not two. I'm trying to take the larger picture into focus. Making the playoffs is obviously the
focal point and if we do, that will speed up development that much more.
Blake seems to have his finger on the pulse of the org. and hopefully doesn't rush things too much with trades and makes upgrades in the
off season & draft day trades. The pipeline is solid if not spectacular and the time will come to pull the trigger on a serious move. I don't
believe that time is now.
Hopefully, we play Vegas or Edmonton in the first round cos we can beat them both. If we get everyone back healthy, which it looks like we will, who knows
what we can do. We have an identity that we play up to, goaltending is good enough and promising youngsters will taste what it really is about. And you really find out who is worth keeping and who to move. I don't think we can beat anyone else due to our clear lack of size & grit. Calgary, Colorado, St Louis, Minny & Nashville would push us around all game, like Vegas did in 2018. Of course I can be wrong (fingers crossed). We're not there yet but a lot closer than most of us thought we would be at this point.
I'm keeping the faith.
The number of kids, more than expected, have got significant minutes in a playoff push which is crucial to development.
Yes, special teams is an embarrassment and coaching is the primary reason. There has been no desire to make dramatic changes.
This year has sped up the rebuild by at least one year if not two. I'm trying to take the larger picture into focus. Making the playoffs is obviously the
focal point and if we do, that will speed up development that much more.
Blake seems to have his finger on the pulse of the org. and hopefully doesn't rush things too much with trades and makes upgrades in the
off season & draft day trades. The pipeline is solid if not spectacular and the time will come to pull the trigger on a serious move. I don't
believe that time is now.
Hopefully, we play Vegas or Edmonton in the first round cos we can beat them both. If we get everyone back healthy, which it looks like we will, who knows
what we can do. We have an identity that we play up to, goaltending is good enough and promising youngsters will taste what it really is about. And you really find out who is worth keeping and who to move. I don't think we can beat anyone else due to our clear lack of size & grit. Calgary, Colorado, St Louis, Minny & Nashville would push us around all game, like Vegas did in 2018. Of course I can be wrong (fingers crossed). We're not there yet but a lot closer than most of us thought we would be at this point.
I'm keeping the faith.
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Rogie-Vachon
Lurker
Attended my 2nd game ever in Vegas. More impressions:
Constant ?Make some
Noise? encouragement (so many faceoffs - music was constant)
Cheerleaders - with Pom poms - little girls in stands with their Pom poms (wanna be future knight cheer girls)
Vegas PA - obnoxious
Constant ?Make some
Noise? encouragement (so many faceoffs - music was constant)
Cheerleaders - with Pom poms - little girls in stands with their Pom poms (wanna be future knight cheer girls)
Vegas PA - obnoxious
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JayWells24
Lurker
I agree Bill, the coaching is the primary reason the special teams has been embarrassing. If anyone recalls the first 2 assistants Andy Murray had. One was Dave Tippett. Ray Bennett May have been the other. PP was up in the top 3 of the league. Sturm and Yawney ain’t getting it done, but at the end of the day the buck stops with T Mac.
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Illegal_Stick
Lurker
It seems so annoying. At one point they’re announcement of a Vegas power play finally finished and I swear the power play was almost half over.
Agree with this entirely. The goals of this year were to play meaningful games at this point of the season (check!) and evaluate where the prospects are (check!). The rash of injuries, while unfortunate, have also allowed the Kings to evaluate several more prospects at the NHL level than would have otherwise have happened. This has revealed some diamonds in the rough. Durzi and Spence come to mind. But yes, the special teams must be corrected before the Kings can even think about being a contender. At their current level, making the playoffs would probably mean one and done in 5 games, depending on the opponent. Better than no playoffs, but not exactly any where near cup contention.
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Rogie-Vachon
Lurker
Correct - the dude has to elongate his intro - it takes him 29 seconds to complete his speech. If the knights score in first 20 seconds - he’d be talking right over it.
I miss the days of JOHN RAMSEY or DAVID COURTNEY - Great voice. Keep it simple.
Dr. Tran
Super Star
I just looked up Kopi's TOI for this game & among forwards he was 2nd in overall TOI, 1st in PP TOI, & 2nd in SH TOI. So I agree they should limit his TOI because he does look a bit worn out.
I'm not going to get worked up about a single game loss. Of course it sucks but in our last 4 games we've gone 2-2. With all the injuries .500 is not bad. Special teams is a problem & it has been all season. I don't know what the solution is. I'd hope the team got better as the season went on but we're kind of past that now. Maybe if we're lucky we can get in the playoffs, get to the Finals, & in the last game to win it we can get a major penalty & score 3 goals on that power play.
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JayWells24
Lurker
I miss David Courtney’s calls as well. I think any Kings fan will have “Los Angeles goal.......” forever ingrained in their minds. Fun times.
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Illegal_Stick
Lurker
Kupari and Vilardi had their moments tonight. Byfield had one or two, but he often looks like the "problem" on that line. He's just not NHL ready imo. So your first line is hot garbage, you have two first rounders who need a center - Line one - Danault, Moore Line 2- Kopitar with Kupari, Vilardi. Force Kempe and Iafallo into less ice time and more of a defensive role. And not bashing 55 btw, still have faith he will be great, but right now it's starting to look a little silly we burned a year of the contract.
Now Chirping
- No one is chatting at the moment.