Kings Pick Up Right Where They Left Off

And it really wasn't even that close of a game.

In their first game since the break, the Kings ripped the Stars here in Dallas tonight, 5-1.

There had been some talk about whether or not the layoff would hurt Jonathan Quick. Quick was a member of the U.S. Olympic team but never once suited up. He was the third string goaltender behind starter Ryan Miller, and Tim Thomas. So Quick simply sat and watched.

Well, obviously it didn't affect him too much. Quick looked very sharp, and the Kings as a team simply outplayed Dallas all night, and it showed in the score. The Kings got goals from Jarrett Stoll, Alexander Frolov, who also had two assists, Brad Richardson, Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar with his team-leading 29th goal of the season. Olympic Gold Medalist Drew Doughty also picked up three assists on the night.

The Kings now sit in fourth place in the West at 80 points, fourth most points in the league. Jon Quick continues to rack up wins, adding to his single-season franchise record with his 36th win, which is also tops in the league.

So, next up for the Kings is Nashville on Thursday, with the trade deadline tomorrow afternoon. I don't expect the Kings to be very active, and if they are, I don't expect much more than a role player or two. And don't expect Frolov to be moved either.

Another Shootout Win

Is there any stopping this team now? The Kings continue to roll as they earned another shootout win with a 3-2 win on Dodger Night at Staples Center over the Dallas Stars. The Kings improve to 21-10-3 on the season, good for 45 points and a pull into a tie with San Jose for the division and conference lead, who lost in Phoenix tonight, 2-1. (The Kings technically leapfrog the Sharks by virtue of having more wins.) The Kings have the most wins in the West and second most in the league.

It was well played game on both ends of the ice by both teams as they skated to a 2-2 tie through overtime. But in the shootout, after Michal Handzus scored in the fourth round for the Kings, Stars center Mike Ribeiro took his turn. But Kings goalie Jon Quick poked-check the puck away as Ribeiro approached, but it ricocheted off Ribeiro and into the net for what appeared to be the equalizer. The referees got together and ruled it a no-goal because once Quick touched the puck with his stick before it went into the net, the play was considered dead.

Kings win.

Anze Kopitar picked up his second goal in as many games, his 16th of the season, and Alex Frolov added his eighth goal of the season for the Kings. Quick picked up his 19th win of the season, second most in the league.

As I mentioned earlier, this team is really starting to impress. They are now 7-0-1 in their last eight games, with seemingly no end in sight the way they're playing. The Kings now travel north of the border for three tough road games in Western Canada next week at Vancouver on Monday, Edmonton on Wednesday and Calgary on Thursday.

Kings Rebound Nicely

After an ugly week last week, the Kings have looked much better in their last three games, at Tampa Bay, at Florida and back home last night against Philadelphia, going 2-1-0 while posting two shootout wins in the process. But the news hasn't been all good.

Defenseman Rob Scuderi has missed all three games with a lower body injury, but he is listed as day-to-day. And before last night's 3-2 loss to Philly, the Kings learned they would be without the services of Ryan Smyth for up to a month with what is being described as an upper body injury.

Smyth was off to fantastic start for the Kings, netting nine goals and posting 14 assists. The top line combination of Smyth and Anze Kopitar had made for one of the league's top scoring lines so far in the young season. Kopitar continues to lead the league in overall scoring with 32 points (14 goals and 18 assists).

But with Smyth out for a while, the Kings have opted to move Alex Frolov onto the top line with Kopitar and Justin Williams. Only time will tell if Kopitar can continue to lead the league in scoring with Frolov to his left instead of Smyth.

The Kings, second in the Pacific Division with a 13-8-2 mark for 28 points, are off until a date with Calgary at Staples on Saturday.

Kings with Another Four-Game Win Streak

Red-hot Anze Kopitar and Alexander Frolov each netted two goals tonight as the Kings improved to 8-4 with a 6-2 trashing of Columbus at Staples Center. Kopitar's two goals give him a league-high 10, and he continues to lead the league, now with 21 points. The Kings also lead the league with 44 goals in 12 games, and their 16 points are second-most in the West behind Colorado's 18. Pittsburgh also has 18 in the East.

The Kings are off until Thursday when they host Vancouver.

Kings Beat Stars Again

This is almost becoming routine again.

Anze Kopitar netted a hat trick and Michal Handzus netted the game-winner less than a minute into overtime in a 5-4 win at Staples. The Kings played two solid periods and skated out to what appeared to be a rout in the making, leading 4-1 after two periods. But they become lackadaisical defensively in the third period and allowed the Stars to hit the back of the net three times to tie the game at four apiece before Handzus's winner.

Meanwhile, to go along with Kopitar's three goals to give him a team-high eight, Ryan Smyth assisted on one of them to give the Kings top line four more points. Between Kopitar, Smyth and Justin Willaims, the top line now has 39 points in 10 games. Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov, who returned to action tonight after being benched on Monday night in Dallas, each grab a pair of assists, as well.

Next up, the Kings take to the desert to take on a revitalized Phoenix Coyotes club on Saturday.

Kings Drop Opener

And it wasn't pretty. The Kings lost 6-3 to Phoenix in their season and home opener last night, and were booed off the Staples Center ice after the game. They made several turnovers defensively in their own zone that led to at least two Coyotes goals. The Kings didn't handle or pass the puck well all night.

Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov and Drew Doughty had the three Kings goals.

One other note, Dustin Brown has a muscle strain in his glute and was held out of today's skate-around. He is expected to be back on the ice tomorrow.

BREAKING..................??

Update (10:10 PM CT): How about another link. This one has a little more to the story in that it breaks down how ESPN seems to be ahead of the game in reporting deals and whatnot of late.

Not to say this is dead or alive, but something about this Puck Daddy story tells me there's more to this than we know, and that this one is far from over as I mentioned an hour ago.

In other words, there's still tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

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Update (9:15 PM CT): Kings GM Dean Lombardi, as well as Ottawa GM Brian Burke and San Jose GM Doug Wilson, has denied this trade. In a two-word text back to ESPN and to the Daily News' Rich Hammond, Lombardi says the deal is "complete bull".

So much for that!

The deal didn't make any sense from the Kings standpoint anyway.

Stay tuned. We probably haven't heard the last of this one.

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UPDATE (8:06 PM CT): Here's ESPN's link to the trade. Still no confirmation from any of the teams.

Talk of this deal was reported yesterday by The Fourth Period.

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ESPN's John Buccigross is reporting a blockbuster three-team trade that sends Dany Heatley to San Jose, Patrick Marleau to the Kings, and Alexander Frolov and Jarrett Stoll to Ottawa.

More on this as information becomes available.

O'Sullivan Traded

In what appears to be a salary dump (at least to me, after a first glance), the Kings shipped forward Patrick O'Sullivan to the Carolina Panthers today just before the trade deadline, for forward Justin Williams.

I've been reading some of the feedback from fans at both LGK.com and some of the other hockey sites, and obviously most people don't like this deal straight up. But after looking a tad further into this, looking at some of the other factors possibly involved behind the deal, I came to the conclusion (along with a friend of mine who will remain unnamed) that this was probably a salary dump, and the Kings were probably gearing up for a busy off-season this summer. (Remember O'Sullivan signing that big four year, $21MM deal in the off-season?)

Personally, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if the Kings went hard after Marian Gaborik this summer. It's the only explanation I can think of after giving up on such a promising young kid in O'Sullivan. The offense this year has been inconsistently sporadic at best, and my feeling is because they don't really have a proven veteran scorer on their top two lines to take the scoring burden off Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar or Alex Frolov.

I was also reading from the fans that their impression is the Kings have all but given up on this season. They haven't played well in the last week or two, and have fallen further behind the pack for that elusive eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with some tough losses, too many, in fact. But because there is so much parity in the conference right now, there is still hope, albeit a longshot at this point with too many teams ahead of them to climb.

Having said all that, would it be that bad to miss the playoffs one more season, then go sign that big veteran scorer they've really been lacking for a few years, and then make a serious run next season with everyone a year older and more mature? I don't. And I know Kings fans are tired of not making the playoffs, but obviously Dean Lombardi has a plan, and the best plan of is to stick to your plan and let it play itself. The Kings were never expected to be in contention this far into the season anyway. But should they manage to get into the playoffs, that would be nice, too.

A couple of other notes, both Erik Ersberg and Sean O'Donnell agreed to contract extensions today, and Tom Preissing was assigned to Manchester this afternoon after clearing waivers.

Kings Lose Game, But Get A Point

So much for the four game winning streak. The Kings lost their second in a row today, 3-2 at Staples to Edmonton, in a shootout, which means they still managed a very important point in the standings. The game was very physical, and it showed early on. In the first period there were several squirmishes; the Oilers led 2-0 after one period. Kings got one in the second, and then Dustin Brown tapped in the equalizer on a shot from Alex Frolov with about 26 seconds left in the game.

These are very important games for the Kings, who are still fighting for a playoff spot in the West. Their defense continues to be a strong point for them, and they did get a goal today from a defenseman, Drew Doughty, who recorded his fourth of the season. The goaltending has been solid for most of the season, thanks in large part to the solid defense in front of them, but the Kings have got to win these close games, especially at home.

Another Road Win

The Kings continue to roll as they picked up their fourth straight win tonight in New York, defeating the Islanders 4-3 in a shootout. The Kings finished the just-concluded road trip 4-1. Jack Johnson scored the game-winner in the last round of the shootout to give the Kings two more very important points in the standings. The Kings got goals from Wayne Simmonds, Anze Kopitar and Alex Frolov, with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. The Kings currently have 55 points, and are tied for 11th in conference, two points behind the eighth and final playoff spot, three point back of seventh, and four points back of 5th place, currently held by Dallas and Anaheim.

Next up for the Kings: a three-game homestand starting Thursday night with Calgary. Edmonton (Saturday) and Atlanta (Monday) follow.

Brown an All-Star

Earlier today, Kings captain Dustin Brown was chosen to represent the Kings in this year's All-Star game in Montreal at the end of the month. While it seems the fans continue to vote for their favorite players to start (this seems to be a growing problem in baseball and the NBA, as well) rather than for those who actually deserve it, it's nice to actually see the league recognize players who should be there. Brown, who has 13 goals and 13 assists in the Kings 39 games this season, has been a mainstay on the Kings top line for several years now.

The young nucleus built with and around Brown on the Kings has them headed in the right direction, with players like Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov, and Patrick O'Sullivan on offense. And despite a very tough schedule the second half of the season (they finish the season with 12 of their last 16 games on the road), they are right in thick of the Western Conference playoff chase even as they sit in last place in a very tough Pacific Division, just one point behind fourth place Dallas.

The Kings have played some very good hockey this season, especially against some of the top teams in the league, and have gotten some rave reviews from some of their opponents this season. They recently took both San Jose and the NY Rangers to overtime before losing both games, one in a shoot out, and beat Philadelphia last week in a shoot out. They boast one of the league's best and best young defenses, and their penalty kill ranks 7th in the league, thanks in large part to the return of Sean O'Donnell and rookie Drew Doughty. And they have two very good young goaltenders, Erik Ersberg and Jon Quick, with Jon Bernier getting some experience and waiting in the wings with the Kings AHL affiliate in Ontario, CA.

The Kings appear to be in great shape for the future, and have their fans excited about hockey again. Now if they could just find a way to beat their crosstown rivals once in a blue moon, all will be good in Kings Hockeyland!

Checkin' In!

Just thought I'd check in since it's been about a month. Nothing's changed for the Kings, and they still have the worst record in the league! However, they're in a battle with the Lightning for that dubious honor!

By the way, I'd mentioned before that I had been to the first three Kings games here in Dallas against the Stars, and was disgusted with their play each time. Well, I decided I didn't have the time to go to the last of the four here this past Saturday (being Easter Sunday weekend and all). Having said that, the bastards came into town and beat the Stars 4-2, to take the season series lead 4-3, and become the first road team to win in the season series! Now they have a shot to actually win the season series against the Stars for the first time in two years when they play at Staples at the end of the month. Woo-hoo! Something to be excited about!

Ok, that's really about it. I know guys like Frolov, Kopitar and O'Sullivan, just to mention a couple off the top of my head, are having solid seasons, but it'd be even better to celebrate their excellence if the rest of the team was doing well...

Frolov Nets Hat Trick Against Blues

Well, that was a fun game last night, wasn't it? Alexander Frolov scored a hat trick, Patrick O' Sullivan had five points and Anze Kopitar added a goal as the Kings routed St. Louis 5-1. A week ago in St. Louis, the Kings looked lost and weary. Last night at Staples, they looked like Cup champions as they rolled all over former King goalie, Manny Legace for four second-period goals. And while the Kings are still at the bottom of the standings, they're certainly not playing like a team in the cellar of late, if you remove three of the last four games before last night's win.

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In case anyone missed it, Jaroslav Modry was shipped off to Philly on Tuesday for a third round pick in this year's draft. Modry will be sorely missed... NOT!

A New Streak

It's been a busy few days. Since my last post, the Kings have suddenly turned things around and are now on a nice three-game winning streak. The streak started with an impressive come-from-behind 3-1 win in Colorado on Saturday afternoon. They followed that up with a great win in Chicago on Sunday evening, scoring three unanswered goals as they upended the Blackhawks 3-2 in OT. Last night they got the Hawks again, this time at home at Staples and fell behind early 1-0, and then 2-1. But they regrouped very quickly and :13 later Ladislav Nagy netted the tying-goal with what would be the start of a huge night for him and the Kings offensively. The Kings would end up scoring the game's final EIGHT goals en route to a 9-2 romp of Chicago as they started the New Year on a very high note. As for Nagy, he netted a hat-trick and two assists, and Alexander Frolov netted two goals and three assists. The power play was en fuego last night as they completely picked apart the league's best road penalty-killing unit.

The Kings are actually playing very well now (they played well in the last couple of losses during the 'other' streak) and now have some momentum as they try to chase Phoenix in the Pacific standings. Next up: Columbus tomorrow night at Staples.

Frolov Hurt?

Well this is going to suck. I've been hearing all day that Kings left winger Alexander Frolov hurt his shoulder in Russia's Olympic game on Saturday against Khazakstan. The word is he might heave either separated his shoulder, a broken shoulder, or possibly ligament damage in his shoulder, any of which could end his season. Frolov is already on his way back to L.A. from Torino, Italy to be checked out by team doctors.

The worst part about this is... there isn't a flippin' story about this anywhere on the internet, radio or TV about this...