PIT 2 - LAK 1 ... Postgame Bullets
by Quisp on Feb 10, 2011 11:46 PM PST
in Game Recaps
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Print- Andrei Loktionov drew a penalty, helped Brown draw another one on the 2-on-1, should have drawn another when he was thrown to the ice in the crease, hit the post, had three shots, was 3-for-3 on face-offs, and could have scored a handful of goals. Yes, I know: he didn't. But that same performance will get him a hat-trick in the future. At least he looked alive, and made room for himself, and others.
- Anze Kopitar. Not to pile on, but jeez! Two shots, looked asleep. I wrote a post about a year ago with a title like "Teddy Purcell is not making Anze Kopitar suck." That was of course during his giant dry-spell, which now just blends together with this year's giant dry-spell. He made several nice defensive plays, and that's important. But he's on pace for 25 goals, which would be his worst total since his rookie season.
- Kopitar is 9th among Kings forwards in 5-on-5 G/60 (goals per 60 minutes of icetime), behind Moller, Williams, Parse, Sturm, Stoll, Simmonds, Brown and Smyth. He's 2/100ths of a goal ahead of Loktionov.
- On the power-play, he's 6th among Kings forwards in G/60. That sounds better, until you realize he's last among the forwards who have scored on the PP at all. Everyone below Kopitar has played less than 50 minutes PP time all year. Kopitar leads the team, with 196 minutes.
- The Kings are 12-3 when Kopitar scores a goal.
- The OT goal is not really on Johnson if you ask me. I blame Smyth for not getting the puck in the zone, just a couple of seconds prior. But those things happen. Shouldn't have gotten to OT in the first place.
- I just skimmed through several irate "trade Brown" comments over at LAKi. Although I myself wondered if that wouldn't be a good idea, about a year ago, I'm not ready to sign that petition this season, just yet.
- I must remember, though, not to read his content-free post-game quotes.
- I'm not arguing for trading him. That seems a little panicky to me. But every time it comes up, and people protest that Brown is untouchable, that seems equally foolish. He is one of the four remaining non-Lombardi picks/acquisitions, the others being Kopitar, Quick and Parse.
- I thought Martinez looked especially good tonight. Could have scored, too, on that shot at the end of the second period (the second of the Kings' two shots in that period).
- I'm glad Scuderi stopped the wrap-around with one second left. Put that in the file of plays to remember if the Kings make the playoffs by one point.
- I think if the Kings insist on scoring just one goal a game leading up to the trade deadline, things are going to get interesting.
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Didn't see the game
All of a sudden we’re getting the benefit of that Bettman point… It’s still stupid though…
If there was ever a time to beat Pittsburgh, this was it… No Malkin, no Crosby, and Pennsylvania (except Philadelphia) still moping that the Steelers lost… Crap…
The more people I meet, the better I like my dog
The Bettman point refers to the point awarded to a shootout winner, and to be honest, we’re definitely beneficiaries. We could have taken even greater advantage if we could have just held on 15 seconds longer.
"After months of reading other people’s catchy sigs (like yours), I decided I needed one, too." -- DougX
by VoluminousTuna on Feb 11, 2011 12:29 AM PST up reply actions
A very bad loss..
…for a team fighting for a playoff spot. The Kings were rested, Penguins are seriously injured and coming off two bad losses. Wouldn’t it have been great to get the win…and get some momentum going into the very difficult back-to-back this weekend. Instead the team looked flat…slow…and predictable.
This was in a lot of ways a “trap” game. You go in to Consul, expecting a win will be handed out on a platter because the top guys are out (and Kunitz, Comrie, Cooke,………..) and what you find is a team full of hungary young guys deperate to earn a roster spot.
And what do you know, the Sterling/Jeffery/Johnson line has history in the AHL and obvious chemistry.
Maybe the Kings should watch the Islanders
….8-2 Islanders over Pittsburgh…some perspective on the Kings effort last night!
by RRMac on Feb 11, 2011 6:00 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I think it would be better to put the A on Brown instead of trading him.
Kopi hitting a wall is damn disappointing. There have been stretches where he was the only guy really making it happen, and now this. I had to step out and miss the second period the first time around — getting to go back and watch it was noooot fun.
In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC
Matt Greene or Rob Scuderi.
Taylor Morgan: "My abortion was botched!"
Teemu Selanne: "Wow. That sounds awesome."
by DodgerBlueBalls on Feb 11, 2011 12:44 PM PST up reply actions
Matt Greene does seem to be the leader now. Scuderi also seems to be a good veteran presence.
How people are in the room is something we know almost nothing about, so it’s hard to comment. I don’t know how vocal Brown is, for example. But I think he might play better without the C. It’s just a theory, and I admit I can’t know better than people inside the team.
In Dinglebarn We Trust -- JftC
Kopitar
Is it just me or does he often look like he is trying to make the safe play instead of the creative play? So often he will have the puck along the boards down low in the offensive zone and instead of putting the puck toward the net or driving there himself he just hands it back to the blue line. He is also just firing away from the high slot a lot the last 10-15 games, more than I recall in the past. And I’d say a good 90% of his shots are being blocked.
I really don’t know what to do about this, but I kinda think it’s the way he is being coached to play. Murray tells him to shoot so he shoots. Murray tells him to be safe with the puck so he doesn’t make the kinds of risky offensive plays he is capable of pulling off like the other top-skilled forwards around the league would try.
Kind of agree...
One does get the idea that his creativity is being stifled some. Kopitar seems like the quintessential “nice guy”, always polite in interviews. It does not appear that his play is at all consistent with his skill level. Is this a by product of Murray’s coaching style? don’t know. Hope not.
It's easy to blame the coach. No one wants Kopitar to turn out only to be very good.
Wait till this year.
I agree it is easy to blame the coach. But there is clearly something missing from the Kings this year that they had last year. The word “spark” seems too mundane but it does seem like a motivational thing. How many times does it just seem like the Kings go to sleep for a period or two? Isn’t a huge part of the coach’s job to keep players motivated at all times? Isn’t that why the analysts talk about players “tuning a coach out”?
On a different note, whether Kopitar is great or very good is irrelevant if he doesn’t have quality linemates. Look at the forwards everyone thinks of as the best in the league and the other forwards on their teams
•Crosby and Malkin play together in Pittsburgh
•Ovechkin has Backstrom and Semen
•Datsyuk and Zetterberg have Franzen and Filpulla
•Kane has Toews, Sharp, and Hossa
•Giroux, Richards, Carter, and Briere are all together in Philly
•the Sedins have each other and Ryan Kesler
Kopitar has no one! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Dustin Brown would be a 3rd liner on most decent teams. Justin Williams should be a 2nd line winger. Loktionov may be a good sniper in a couple of years but he is too young and inexperienced now. Ryan Smyth is decent in front of the net, but he’s not a top-line left wing anywhere in the NHL.
Kopitar’s wingers are a couple years away, currently playing in junior. When guys like Toffoli and Vey can get to the NHL Kopitar’s numbers will skyrocket.
I really think that’s the kep with Kopitar. He is still young and learning. When Henrik Sedin had been in the league 5 years his best point total was his 5th season, 75 points (a number Kopi is almost definitely going to surpass this season, and has already passed twice) and before that his best season had been 42 points. Then in his 10th season, Henrik puts up 112 points and wins the Art Ross at 29 years old, and now Daniel has a very good shot of winning it at 30.
Everyone thinks nowadays that guys are going to come into the league like Ovechkin and Crosby at 18, 19 and light the world on fire. It’s simply not true. A guy like Kopitar is still learning the game. Let’s not forget that he is only 23 and he is only going to get better. I’m not saying he will definitely win a scoring title but by he is goign to be a better hockey player at 30 than he is at 23.
I agree it is easy to blame the coach. But there is clearly something missing from the Kings this year that they had last year.
It’s luck.
Yes. It's luck and the fact that the Kings react poorly to both kinds of luck
good luck, and they think they’ve “arrived”
bad luck, and they play like they’ll never win again.
Wait till this year.
I really hope they don’t send Loktionov down, even when Sturm and/or Parse comes back. He seems to be getting more and more comfortable with each passing game. Really like what this kid is doing; he just seems to “get” it. Hammond’s practice notes have him centering Brown and Clifford, which I guess is a show of confidence but I’m hoping it doesn’t hurt his adjustment of playing the wing. Whatever it takes to keep him in the line-up is fine with me.
Right Now, I Think it's about confidence
As in, he has one goal in the last month and a half, so he has none, so he’s playing it safer, when really he should be doing just the opposite, and driving to the net harder and shooting more. I suspect that when he puts in a goal or two – whenever that may be – that we’ll see him pick up his game.
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