Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down LA Kings
- Updated: December 18, 2015
It’s been a great few weeks for the Mighty and Glorious Kings of Los Angeles. With one or two exceptions, it’s been a mostly thumbs up kind of December!
Thumbs up: The Kings overtime record
Last season one of the major reasons the Kings didn’t make the playoffs was their OT record. 15 losses in OT or the shootout. (In fact Jonathan Quick got so bad at the shootout that when it came to that moment I was an advocate for putting in Jones, who when with the Kings stopped 16 or 17 shootout shots.) This season the Kings have gone into the now 3 on 3 overtime (which I also give a thumbs up!) 9 times. 3 of those went to a shootout and we won two of those three. Quick won 5 of 5 OT games, Jhonas Enroth conceded the Kings first OT goal this season. Nevertheless winning 7 of 9 OT contests is a huge improvement and one of the reasons the Kings are doing so well. I can’t count how many games the Kings had a third period comeback to tie the game. In fact at one point the Kings were second in the league in third period goals and league leader in third period comebacks. So being able to finish the game in overtime is a huge thumbs up.
Thumbs down: Ottawa
In a fortnight of amazing games the one that stood out as a clunker was against Ottawa. Quick (who I will rave about later I promise) gave up 4 goals on 4 shots. He only faced 21. That’s a .762 save percentage. 3 goals in 3:34. Defense was all over the place, which is ironic because that was the night Darryl Sutter was rolling 7 D and 11 forwards. (Let’s never do that again, shall we?) The Kings were tired and it showed. Penalties all around, a habit the Kings had kicked recently, and it cost them. Drew Doughty was supposed to begin his Norris Trophy showcase in the East Coast swing but instead showed voters why they haven’t voted for him before. It was a sub-par evening all around.
Thumbs up: Chicago
Damn I hate losing to Chicago. And for the first two periods it looked like the Kings would do just that. Then one of those third period comebacks I mentioned that led to one of those OT wins I mentioned blew me away. Patrick Kane was the first to score and kept his NHL record (for an American) scoring streak alive. (Stick tap to the Colorado Avalanche and particularly Semin Varlomov for his shutout that ended the streak. Major thumbs up to them.) Then Niklas Hjalmarsson in the second period. Jeff Carter opened up the scoring for the Kings 52 seconds into the third period, picking up his own rebound to elevate the puck over Scott Darling. Marian Gaborik tied the game on a breakaway 14:05 into the game. And scored the OT game winning goal 2:04 into it. Seriously 3 on 3 is gorgeous hockey. And beating the Blackhawks? Feels like a playoff win every time. I can’t even describe the feeling in stadium. It was Chicago’s first loss in 42 games when leading after 2 periods. Can I say suck it Chicago and still sound professional?
Thumbs down: Ex player’s new teams
Jonathan Bernier is winless this season in the NHL. He got sent down to the minors and did quite well, but winless in the NHL. Martin Jones is a Shark. I literally can’t type that without tearing up. Ben Scrivens couldn’t t make it as the Oilers goaltender, they sent him down to the AHL to play. The Oilers. Consider that for a moment.
Jarret Stoll who went to the Rangers after the Kings didn’t offer him a contract extension (and rightly so with the drug charges) got put on waivers this week and was picked up by the Minnesota Wild. Rob Scuderi who helped us win a Cup in 2012 went to the Pittsburgh Penguins only to be traded this week to… I can barely type this… the Chicago Blackhawks. Dustin Penner and Mike Richards aren’t even playing in the NHL any more. Is leaving the Kings the worst thing that can happen to a player? How good is the Kings system?
Thumbs up: 9 game point streak
7 wins and 2 overtime losses. That’s a really nice record. Considering how many of us (*cough* I totally believed in the Kings the whole time *cough*) wrote off the Kings when they lost the first three games of the season (though let’s face it, there were a lot of red flags in those losses) winning 6 in a row is just beautiful. And they made it happen in different ways. A 3-1 win in Florida. (Miss ya Willie Mitchell.) A loss in Tampa Bay but in the shootout and a hard won point. A win 3-2 comeback OT win in Chicago. 2-1 OT win against a divisional contender in the Vancouver Canucks. A 3-5 win over Pittsburgh, proving
ng that while usually a shut down defensive win is their usual style they can also activate defense to score! This Oprah style ‘you get a goal, and you get a goal, everybody gets a goal!’ game saw Doughty, Christian Ehrhoff and Jake Muzzin on the board. In fact Doughty and Lucic saw their names light up the scoresheet twice, Muzzin three times. 3-1 over Tampa Bay, this time activating Brayden McNabb (who I’ve appropriately named McSmash) and Andy Andreoff. (It’s nice to see some of the new kids on the scoreboard.) A 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets (who I’d like to thank again for Jeff Carter in 2012 and Marian Gaborik in 2014. And our subsequent Stanley Cups.) This was another third period comeback (technically a late second period/third period comeback) and overtime win. Technically the loss of their goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky helped but it was nice to see the Kings jump and capitalize on their chances. Then a 3-2 shootout win in Pittsburgh; also a hard fought game. Stick tap to Marian Gaborik’s shootout goal and Jonathan Quick’s behind his shoulder save. Truly a star. Finally a overtime loss to Buffalo only made possible by a successful coaches challenge overturning a second period Buffalo goal.Thumbs down: injuries
Trevor Lewis went from ‘a little banged up’ during practice to being scratched against the Blackhawks to IR. What’s that now? Matt Greene was retroactively placed on long term injured reserve. Dwight King (remember him? Yeah) is still out but back skating. Lewis finally joined the team in Montreal (thumbs up to the Kings 10th regulation win in that building in 49 years. Thumbs down to that abysmal record but stick tap to this LA Kings team who managed who managed to win 3-0 despite being outshot 45-20. That’d be Jonathan Quick.) He didn’t play but he is at least on the road with the team. Last year we had higher caliber players out and it hurt the team a lot. Thumbs up to theLA Kings for coping much better this year. It’s really hard to find thumbs down this week guys – the LA Kings are on fire!
Thumbs up: Drew Doughty, MVP of the week
Give the man a Norris Trophy already! East Coast bias you are ridiculous. DVR’s were invented for this reason. If the Kings play too late, watch the game later and GIVE THE MAN A NORRIS TROPHY ALREADY.
He’s 3rd in ice time with games to spare. He’s been active in scoring and assists. If I have to explain why watching Drew on the ice is a thing of beauty, you don’t know hockey.
Thumbs up: Top of the division baby!
And not by a small margin mind you. This was NHL standings as of Thursday evening.
Can you see that clearly? Because it’s pretty stunning. I know I said I don’t look at the standings until February, but when it looks as good as this, how can I not?
Thumbs up: Doggie calendars
Because of the cuteness you guys! The cuteness is off the charts.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
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