Comments / New

Off-Day Watch 2/27: Bunch of jerks

Posted on by Sarah Avampato

Since Justin Williams left the Los Angeles Kings in free agency after the 2014-15 season, he’s played in 307 NHL games and scored 79 goals.

Only one of those has come against the Kings: the final goal in a 5-0 rout by the Washington Capitals in February 2017.

In net for the Kings? Peter Budaj and Jeff Zatkoff.

Is that better or worse than a 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes last night? Sure, the Kings had Jonathan Quick in net, rather than a Budaj/Zatkoff tandem, but that Kings team at least was still clawing for points, chasing a playoff position that was within reach. (Spoilers: they didn’t make it.)

This Kings team looked exhausted and disinterested, unable to keep up with the pace set by the Hurricanes after giving everything they had to try to come back against the Tampa Bay Lightning the night before. No one had more than three shots on goal (Kopitar, Iafallo, Lewis, and Brodzinski, who has looked fine in the limited action he’s seen since his return). Derek Forbort and Kyle Clifford both took misconduct penalties when the game was already out of hand. Ilya Kovalchuk played 9:54, his third lowest time of the season, with just one shift in the third period. He did go down the tunnel at some point in the game, though unclear if it was for medical attention or an equipment issue.

Per Natural Stat Trick, the Kings ended the game with a dismal 36.36% Corsi For at even strength, 16 scoring chances (as compared to Carolina’s 31), and one of the most depressing heat maps I’ve seen in quite some time:

Yikes.

Eight different Hurricanes recorded points, and not one of those points came from Justin Williams. How terribly rude.

Kings Things

The tank is full speed ahead with loss number nine. [Jewels from the Crown]

Complete domination. [Canes Country]

Post-game notes and reactions from Willie Desjardins, Tyler Toffoli, and Derek Forbort. [Kings Insider]

The game against Tampa Bay may have been a loss, but we did learn a few things about the Kings along the way. [Los Angeles Times]

Hoy Los Angeles talks with Francisco X. Rivera and Nano Cortés, the Spanish-language broadcasting team for the Kings:

Your Semi-Regular Check-In With Justin Williams

Elsewhere

Seth Jones is cool, but his mom is cooler. [The Players Tribune]

The personal price of Dan Carcillo’s quest for truth. [The Athletic]

The Toronto Furies clinched a post-season spot and will face the Calgary Inferno in the first round. [The Ice Garden]

Andrei Vasilevskiy: really good at shoot-outs. [Raw Charge]

Rangers fans say goodbye to Mats Zuccarello. [Blueshirt Banter]

On the creation and importance of the Black Girl Hockey Club. [The Undefeated]

In 2014, Shandor Alphonso became the second black on-ice official in the NHL, and he found inspiration in Jay Sharrers, who made his officiating debut in 1990. [NHL]

Speaking of Sharrers, here’s a look at his path to making history in the NHL. [Sportsnet]

Miss any trade deadline coverage? Look back on what all of the SBNation sites did. [SBNation]

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded for Erik Gudbranson. Why? [PensBurgh]

Something is very wrong in Ottawa. [Silver Seven Sens]

Brad Marchand reached out to Marcus Johansson, who he once concussed in a game, after Johansson was traded to Boston. [Bar Down]

In Minnesota, a new world record for the longest ice hockey pass. [StarTribune]

A photo retrospective on the Flyers/Penguins Stadium Series game. [PensBurgh]

Evening Entertainment

There are five games on the NHL schedule tonight. You can do some advanced scouting of one of the Kings upcoming opponents, the Chicago Blackhawks, as they’re in Anaheim to take on the Ducks. The Blackhawks have a bunch of guys who can score, but can they keep the puck out of their own net? The game’s on NBCSN and kicks off at 7:00 pm Pacific time.

Talking Points