It’s early and the games don’t matter quite as much as they will next week, but things have gone pretty well for the six members of the Los Angeles Kings in Sochi right now. Let’s review, with the help of the Internet!
In lieu of our usual hot links, here are some kotlety, a Russian meat patty which is popular in Eastern Europe. Don’t say you never learn anything reading this blog!
- Jeff Carter got a hat trick in Team Canada’s second game of the Olympics, and did it with just nine minutes of ice time! Drew Doughty also scored, for the second straight game, as Canada brought home a 6-0 win over Austria. Here’s your handy chart of how our Olympic skaters have fared in the goal department, compared to the terribly annoying stretch preceding it.
Player Goals in Last 10 NHL Games Goals at Olympics Dustin Brown 0 1 Jeff Carter 2 3 Drew Doughty 1 2 Anze Kopitar 4 0 Slava Voynov 0 0 - Dan Bylsma and Team USA have announced that Jonathan Quick will be getting the start against Russia tomorrow. It’s a much tougher assignment, but if Quick performs well and the US triumphs, it should solidify his status as the starter going into the medal rounds. No clues as to whether Quick will start the second game of the back-to-back against Slovenia, though regardless of what happens tomorrow, it’s probably a good idea to start Miller in that one and give Quick a break.
- It appears that the US lineup will feature twelve forwards and eight defensemen on Saturday. Dustin Brown, scorer of that all-important seventh goal on Thursday, will stay in the lineup but switch lines. All of you who were hoping for the Annoying American Captain line of Brown, David Backes, and Ryan Callahan are about to get your wish.
- Kings Vision has links to much of NHL Network’s Olympic coverage, including a postgame interview with Anze Kopitar and the analysis of Bylsma’s decision to start Jonathan Quick.
- Slava Voynov’s Olympic debut was quieter than the rest of the Kings’, but he was second on the team in ice time and looked steady. Jon Rosen has more on LA Kings Insider, including photos from Russia-Slovenia and the rest of the games.
- Finally, if you missed it, here’s our play-by-play of Slovenia’s opening game. We’ll be doing the same thing for Slovenia’s final two games, which are (1) way too early on Saturday and (2) way too early on Sunday!
- Finally, Mike Richards took a break from his Hawaiian vacation to tweet support for his best friend in the whole wide world…
Carter 👍
— Michael Richards (@MRichie_10) February 14, 2014
