It’s All Thumbs Down LA Kings
- Updated: December 17, 2018
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down…
Which for this week, let’s just re-title Thumbs Down. Because it’s hard to find the positives in a week in which the Kings lost all four games they played. They were winning in Buffalo then lost two defensemen in the third period to head to overtime. (The injuries are just piling up for the Kings aren’t they? As of Tuesday, they’d lost 123 games to injury, so add two more games with how many players do we have out now???) They managed to scramble back to force overtime in Pittsburgh, a feat unnecessary had Tyler Toffoli’s goal actually counted. So 2 points in 4 games, and circumstances that prevented any better outcomes. Yeah… Not much to celebrate this week. The Kings sit clearly, once again, or really still, on the bottom of the ladder, challenged for the last place only by the Chicago Blackhawks, who managed 3 points this week including a 6-3 win against Pittsburgh. Le sigh.
Thumbs Down: Offside Calls
I hate these. Now I completely understand the point to offside. You don’t want someone parked in their offensive zone waiting for a long pass and no defense. The rule makes sense. But when you’re being this picky and finicky about it, it doesn’t seem to me to be in the spirit of the game. Explain to me how Adrien Kempe being half a toe ahead of his teammate here has any bearing on Toffoli’s goal?
It’s not just Toffoli’s goal being waved off (though gosh if anyone needed a goal on this team it’s Toffoli. His last was November 16th against Chicago and he’s only tallied 5 in 34 games this season.) It’s the whole concept that a technicality will win you the game. That was a great shot. It beat Murray clean. Whether it wins the Kings the game or not is beside the point – he deserved that goal. I’ve seen offside challenges where they subsequent goal is 3-5 plays *after* the original zone entry occurred. How does that have any bearing on whether the goal is good or not if it happened over a minute ago and play has moved around the net seven times since then? That’s my rant, I know nothing will ever change, but there it is.
Thumbs Down: Overtime
We’re so far removed from our 2015-2016 season when 3-on-3 was introduced and we only lost 3 games in overtime, it’s not even worth talking about anymore. We’ve now lost 3 in overtime, and considering we’ve only been to OT 5 times, winning only in a shootout to Chicago in October and once to Vancouver in November, that’s not a trend I like seeing. It only took 1:49 to lose to Buffalo in extra time, and while it took longer in Pittsburgh and involved a penalty, the Kings still had chances to put the game away and didn’t. Seriously what snake bit Tyler Toffoli? I’m at the point of feeling bad for him, he just can’t put a thing in the net, even when all alone. And our goalies used to be practically flawless with that few players on the ice. Quick was unstoppable! I believe it was Enroth, then Budaj who helped out our record the year after. No matter how you slice it though, the Kings just aren’t formidable any more, no matter how many players you have on the ice. I said this last week – when you have our big boys on the ice, they should be doing more. Toffoli, Kopitar, Doughty, Carter – any combination of those and Quick in net in a 3-on-3 situation, should be an easy win.
Thumbs Down: This whole season.
Really it’s been quite depressing. The Kings are 11-20-3 for a total of 25 points through 34 games. Even the Coyotes have 20 points in 32 games! The Flyers have 28 points in 31 games, and the Panthers 30 in 31 games (to compare to other division losers.) I’ve run out of ways to say ‘this needs improvement.’ I sadly have no new points for the Thumbs Down because they’re still doing all the same things wrong they’ve done in weeks and months past I’ve already written about. Everything is awful, the sky is falling, the team is on a 4 game losing streak which is also the worst in the league, so enjoy some eggnog, ‘tis the season, and hope the two games this week bring something to drink in celebration to instead.
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