LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings reacts after an overtime shootout goal to Kris Letang #58 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Staples Center on November 5, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
- Ethan Moreau with two truly bone-headed penalties, one of which contributed to the first Pens goal. "Veteran presence."
- Dustin Penner with a nice no-look backhand pass to the other team.
- Dustin Brown with a few of his familiar offensive zone giveaways.
- Drew Doughty looking like a talented but nervous rookie with potential.
- Jack Johnson playing the best hockey of his professional career.
- Matt Greene contributed to both Kings goals. Okay? Matt Greene. My Matt Greene stock goes up, everyone else goes down.
- Mike Richards can make as many mistakes as he wants. He's amazing. He almost scored on the 5-on-3. That was probably my favorite moment in the game, when he was in the corner with four Pens and the crowd was going nuts.
- 0-2-2 qualifies as a slump, I think.
- I'm remembering Lombardi's comments from last season about how elite teams don't take nine games to bust out of a slump. We're at four games.
- Traditionally, Lombardi would be preaching patience at this point, and maybe he will be again. "Let the kids work their way through it," etc.
- Except...
- ...who are the kids?
- Justin Williams, Simon Gagne, Penner, Richards, Jarret Stoll, Moreau, Trent Hunter, Willie Mitchell, Rob Scuderi, Greene, Anze Kopitar, Brown...that's 12 veterans. Scott Parse is...26? 27? Brad Richardson isn't a kid. The only "kids" in the line-up are Doughty, Johnson, Trevor Lewis, Kyle Clifford and Alec Martinez. You can count the goalies if you want.
- But I wonder if the whole "kids have to learn to play with expectations" meme didn't become non-operational when Lombardi traded for Mike Richards and signed Gagne, Moreau and Hunter.
- Meanwhile, Terry Murray's sound-bytes still sound like they're from the "it's all part of their NHL education" playbook.
- Does anybody think Lombardi is going to insist "we're still ahead of schedule" if the team plays significantly worse this season than the last two seasons?
- One thing I do know: Lombardi frequently talks about the window a month or so into the season when GMs evaluate what they've got and make adjustments.
- Me, I see the same problems as last year. With significantly different personnel. What does that tell you?
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