Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Kings Edition
- Updated: December 9, 2018
In the four-game home stretch, two weren’t awful for the Kings! One should have been winnable which is perhaps more frustrating than the Devils blowout. Though… that was pretty depressing. So without any further ado, here are my thumbs up, thumbs down for this week.
Thumbs Up: The Whole Vegas Game
After the 5 minute mark that is. Let’s ignore the blatant missteps that lead to Vegas’s only goal, and go from there. Special teams that did their job (did someone actually hear my prayer there??) Offense. Oh My Gosh, the offense! Jeff Carter’s sassy bank the puck off their own defensemen’s skate. Forbert, Luff and Scherbak’s stunning rockets perfectly placed in Fleury’s vulnerable spots. Thompson’s goal with about 90 seconds remaining, that wasn’t an empty net but in fact, the Kings still buzzing around Vegas’s net as the period closes instead of letting them get a foothold in the defensive zone in order to pull their goalie. Teamwork in front of Quick. Quick not letting in 4 goals! And the cherry on the cake? A team I loathe. Ah, good times.
Thumbs Down: Quick’s stats
This may be a controversial opinion, though maybe not – Quick needs more rest than he’s getting this season. He’s 2-6-1, his GAA is 3.23 and his SV% is .893. Keep in mind that in those two wins he only gave up one goal, so in spite of two spectacular games and the opening game before his injury, in which I was pleasantly surprised by a 3-2 overtime loss, the six game’s he’s lost have been pretty spectacularly awful. Goals against in those games: 6, 4, 4, 3, 2, and 5. His SV%’s this season has gone as low as .793 and three others have dipped below .9 (.853, .826 and .840). So Arizona’s game this week I’m not going to put on his shoulders, he did what he needed to in order to keep the Kings in it, their lack of offense lost that game for him. But the other 5? You can’t have a starting goalie who gives up that many goals, especially with the offense of this team. Campbell is coming back soon, and we know he’s pretty reliable. So why don’t we give Peterson some experience? I’ve mentioned that I like what I’ve been seeing from him, but he is very green. And given how this season is going, what’s the harm in giving him a few more starts while he’s up here? He’s not going to get better sitting on a bench and given Quick’s age and injuries, we’re not going to be able to rely on him for long. In fa,ct unless the Vegas game was a turning point and the Kings get significantly better from now on, this may be the season where things turn downhill for him. Long term, it makes sense to start grooming a new starting goalie. We can’t trade him, and I’m not suggesting that, but he will need someone to share the load soon, and I fear that time may have already come. Only the Kings are not prepared for that. Their goalie pipeline ends up everywhere else in the NHL. Bernier. Jones. Budaj had a stint out there for a while. Campbell too. If we get complacent – hey it’s cool we have Quick! – that’s going to end badly.
Thumbs Up: We Won Half Our Games
Again, this season has been questionable, so why celebrate only winning half of the games the Kings have played? Because some weeks we haven’t won a single game and it’s important to focus on the good sometimes. And if the Vegas game is to be believe, those games are trending in the right direction. Quick’s shutout was impressive, leading to a 2-0 win over Carolina (sorry J-Will.) And I’ve already waxed poetic about the Vegas game. For the first time in months, I left Staples Center feeling optimistic.
Thumbs Down: They Could Have Won More
Arizona is not a team the Kings can afford to lose to. They’re divisional, they’re sitting close to the bottom, and while their penalty kill is excellent (best in the league at 90.2%, they have only conceded 8 goals and have scored a whopping 11 shorthanded goals! One against us) that’s the strongest part of their game so they shouldn’t be that difficult to beat. But the Kings could only scramble together one goal. Well two, but one was called off. Why oh Why Brown did you have to bat that puck out of the air with your hand and not your stick? (I recently reviewed the rule – a Coyote would have had to have played the puck after the hick stick for the resulting goal to be legal, even though Brown did sneak it in with a low placed stick.) Either way – Quick did his job that game. Where is the Kings offense? They couldn’t pick a spot to save their lives. They couldn’t complete a pass to save their lives. Really is it that hard? For guys who are paid as much of some of our elite are, it was the youngsters who stepped up. Which leads me to…
Thumbs Down: Vets vs. Newbies
Or should I say high paid vets vs. newbies. Here’s a list of players who scored this week:
Martinez (2)
Clifford (2)
Leipsic
Kempe
Scherbak
Luff
Carter
Forbert
Thompson
Martinez and Forbert are defensemen, so while I’m grateful for their contributions, that’s not their main focus. Clifford is only making $1.6 mil a year, so again, I’m grateful for his contributions, and actually, I could have him as a whole separate Thumbs Up, but he’s not the guy I expect to put up big numbers. Everyone else on that list is either new to the team or still on their entry level contract with us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy the new guys are proving themselves to be valuable, the players of the future. Leipsic and Scherbak scored in their second and first game with us respectively, and wow those goals were impressive. My thumbs down has nothing to do with them. It’s the names that aren’t on that list that should be. You don’t need me to name them, you know who they are. Carter, since he did score this week, is still on the thumbs down list and here’s why: his last goal was in Edmonton November 29th, then before that? November 1st and 3rd against Philly and the Blue Jackets respectively. He’s a name that should be on the score sheet way more than he is right now. The Kings need their big boys to step up too.
Player of the Week: Kyle Clifford.
He had 2 goals, some big hits, and was one of the only ones who didn’t give up on the puck. He’s my Trevor Lewis while Lewis is out. Thanks for being awesome Cliffy!
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