Random Stuff

So the Kings are off for another six days. It's been two-plus already. They went 1-2 on their trip through Western Canada, losing in Vancouver, winning in Edmonton, and losing in Calgary. They played well enough to win all three games, but of course, you can't win 'em all.

Now they're in the midst of an eight-day vacation. Wish I could have vacations like that!

So far, they've surrendered the top spot in the West because of the long layoff while San Jose keeps playing. They've also relinquished the division lead, as well. But, they did get Ryan Smyth back. So the next time the Kings play - next Saturday in Phoenix - they will have Smyth back, and Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams should be thrilled! Those two have missed Smyth immensely over the last five weeks.

In the meantime, with the long layoff, I've been trying to get my hockey fix elsewhere. But when you're a Kings fan with Center Ice living in Stars territory, it's kind tough. I don't get as amped for games like I do for Kings games. Seriously, the Stars just don't cut it for me. And some of these other games on the dish just seem to bore me to death.

I suppose the busy holiday will keep me preoccupied until next Saturday night. So until then, I leave you with a litte something-something...

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.

This Team is Really Starting to Impress

Who would have thought that the Kings would be the first team in the West to win 20 games this year? Certainly not me, but with a three-game winning streak that includes two big shootout wins against division rivals San Jose and Phoenix this week, the Kings did just that. And, with those wins, the Kings pushed themselves to within a point of first place and the top spot in the conference with 43 points. (They currently sit two points behind San Jose, who lost in another shootout last night, this time to Dallas.)

The Kings still do have some questions, though. Their penalty kill unit is near the bottom of the league, they're dealing with injuries to key players such as Ryan Smyth, and now Wayne Simmonds, and Anze Kopitar has struggled in his last 12 to 14 games to put points on the board, mainly because of the loss of Smyth.

But they are getting solid contributions from everyone on the ice. They have the most players with at least 20 points than any other team in the league, Jon Quick has been stellar in net and is tied for second in the league with 18 wins, and they got an important player back from an injury on defense in Rob Scuderi.

Add it all up, and the Kings are off to one of their best starts in team history with a 20-10-3 mark.

And, for the Kings, the important thing is keep pushing forward, and keep picking up points in the standings. Tonight, on Dodger Night at Staples Center, they'll get a chance to add two more points to their season total when they host the Dallas Stars.

2010 NHL Draft in L.A.

The Kings and the NHL announced today that the 2010 NHL Entry Draft will be held in L.A. at Staples Center on June 25th and 26th. The first round will be held on Friday the 25th with the rest of the draft (rounds two through seven) to be conducted the following day. This is the first time ever the draft will be held in California.

Kings Offense Breaks Through in Win Over Sens

Justin Williams took advantage of two Ottawa turnovers in front of their own goal late in the game and converted them into two goals, turning a close 4-3 lead into a 6-3 win out at Staples. With the win, the Kings have now won three in a row and four of its last five, including a 3-1 win at Edmonton last Wednesday, a 2-1 shootout win at home against Chicago this past Saturday, and a 4-3 shootout win at Staples against the Ducks two nights ago.

The Kings improve to 17-10-2 on the season, good for 36 points and second place in the division behind San Jose, who lost tonight in a shootout at home to St. Louis. The Kings pick up a very important point in the standings.

Drew Doughty got credit for tonight's game-winner that gave the Kings the lead for good late in the second period, and Jon Quick earned his 16th win of the season while in net for the Kings. Wayne Simmonds added a goal on a penalty shot late in the first period.

On the flip side, Anze Kopitar's streak of games without a goal continues to grow as it has now reached 11 games. It's pretty obvious the loss of linemate Ryan Smyth, who isn't expected back until the middle or the end of the month, has had a major impact on Kopitar's game.

As for St. Louis, they head south down the California coast and take on the Kings Saturday afternoon at Staples.

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.

Ugly Week for the Kings

After an impressive win against the Stanley Cup Champions last Thursday night, the Kings have suddenly taken a nosedive losing three of its last four in pretty ugly fashion: a 3-1 loss at home last Saturday to a poor Nashville team, a 4-1 loss in Chicago on Monday night, and a 7-0 blowout loss tonight in Atlanta.

In the middle of all that, they managed a solid 5-2 win in Carolina on Wednesday, but that's been the only bright spot for the Kings all week. And with that, Anze Kopitar continues to lead the league in scoring with 30 points.

Fortunately, I was unable to watch the Nashville and Chicago games as the Nashville game wasn't televised and the Chicago game was a Versus exclusive, which wasn't exclusive to me since I don't have access to the network on DirecTV. And I almost wish I didn't waste two and a half hours of my evening tonight to watch that ugly game.

The game was scoreless midway through the second period when the Thrashers rattled off four goals on what seemed like four shots in about five minutes time. Starter Jon Quick was then yanked for Erik Ersberg, who didn't fare much better, when he gave up three more goals.

Definitely not a game to remember. This was one of the ugliest losses I've seen by a Kings team in quite some time.

The Kings still have 24 points, good for second in the division, five points behind San Jose, and fifth in the conference.

Next up: at Tampa Bay tomorrow.

"Lucky" Gets his Ring...

His Hall of Fame ring, that is. Kings legend Luc Robitaille, the all-time leading scorer (1,398 points) and goal-scorer (668 goals) for left wingers, got his ring this morning, then was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame tonight in Toronto, along with Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch and New Jersey executive Lou Lamoriello.

Congratulations, Lucky! You're still one of the most humble, down-to-earth and one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Thank you for all the great memories!

Kings Slam the Champs!

The Penguins were 7-0 on the road this season heading into tonight's game with the Kings in L.A. They led 2-1 midway through the third period. Then the Kings took over.

The Kings scored four unanswered goals in the latter half of the third period, including Anze Kopitar's second of the night, and ripped the Penguins 5-2. Kopitar now has 13 goals, second most in the league, and 26 points on the season, most in the NHL.

The Kings improved to 10-4-2 on the season for 22 points, good for second in the division behind the Sharks who have 24 points. They're also 6-0-2 in their last games.

Kings Win in the Desert

Final: Kings 5, Coyotes 3.

Anze Kopitar got the scoring going for the Kings with his 11th goal of the season. But down 3-2 heading into the third period, the Kings scored three times to ice the game. Ryan Smyth picked up two more goals to give him eight on the season. Along with Justin Williams, who added a goal of his own, the Kings top line poured in eight points (four goals and four assists).

With the win, the Kings improved to 9-4-2 for 20 points, good for second place in the division, one point behind San Jose. The 20 points tie them with Washington, who are without Alexander Ovechkin for an extended period time with an upper body injury, for fourth most in the league.

Shootouts

The Kings have lost their last two games by identical scores of 2-1. Both "losses" were in shootouts, in San Jose on Wednesday night, and at Staples to Vancouver the following night.

I've never been a big of the shootout, but I'm also not a fan of games ending in ties. Kings head coach Terry Murray doesn't like the shootout either. But losing in a shootout doesn't really constitute as a loss in my book because the losing team actually earned a point in the standings by getting the game into overtime.

So how do we solve that issue of no shootouts without games ending in ties? Some people might not agree with me on this but I think the best solution would be to scrap shootouts altogether, and keep playing five-minute overtime stanzas until someone scores, keeping the overtime format just as it is now: 4-on-4.

I'm still 'OK' with both teams earning a point for getting into overtime, but maybe give the winning team two extra points instead of just one, for winning.

Just an idea.

Anyway, Kings are back in action tomorrow night in the desert as they take on the Coyotes in Phoenix.

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.

Another Win Last Night

Kings beat the Coyotes 5-3 in Phoeniex in front of a half-empty Jobing.com Arena. Jarret Stoll had two goals and Anze Kopitar picked up three assists and now leads the league in overall scoring with 19 points. Kings improve to 7-4.

Kings are back home tonight against Columbus.

Kings Sign Two For Three

Both Jon Quick and Davis Drewiske have signed three-year contract extensions, effective next season.

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 Snap Skid

So, I almost didn't go to the game tonight. Bought tickets a couple of weeks ago not knowing that the Dodgers would be playing tonight in Game 4 of the NLCS. After what I just saw, I'm glad I went. (And I took my camera but forgot I had it and didn't take any pictures.)

The Kings rolled into Dallas here tonight and ended a three-game skid with a resounding and convincing 4-1 trumping of the Stars. Jon Quick was solid in goal tonight, and the Kings first line of Ryan Smyth, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams provided all the scoring the Kings would need in the second period.

The Stars had taken a 1-0 lead late in the first period, but Smyth, Kopitar and Williams each scored in the second to give the Kings a 3-1 lead. Smyth's goal was on the power play. He assisted on the other two goals. The first line totaled six more points tonight. Wayne Simmonds scored a back-handed empty-netter late in the third to ice the game for the Kings.

The finished the six-game trip 3-3, and head back to L.A. 5-4-0 (10 points) to take on the Stars again on Thursday night.

Kings Drop Third Straight

Well, this wasn't how they planned this road trip. After winning the first two on the current six-game road trip in St. Louis and on Long Island, New York, the Kings have dropped three straight, to the Rangers on Wednesday night, Detroit on Thursday and Columbus tonight. With the 4-1 loss tonight, the Kings are now a break-even 4-4-0 on the season. Dustin Brown had the lone goal for the Kings tonight, his second of the season. A win in the road trip finale in Dallas on Monday night would certainly be nice.

Kings Win Again

For the second straight road game, the Kings managed just two goals but made it stand up in a 2-1 win on Long Island against the Islanders. Anze Kopitar netted his fourth of the season on a late second period power play, and Drew Doughty added his second on a hard shot in the third period. Jon Quick, the league's Second Star of the Week last week, stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced, allowing just a late third period goal by Matt Moulson.

The penalty killing unit has done a complete about face, killing off its last eight penalties after giving up seven goals in its first nine penalty kills.

The win is the fourth straight for the Kings since their season opener loss.

So far, so good!

Kings Improve to 3-1

After a couple of solid wins in which they scored six goals apiece against San Jose and Minnesota following the loss on opening night, the Kings took to the road to begin a six-game road trip and came away with a well-played defensive effort in St. Louis, beating the Blues 2-1.

The Kings were just 4 of 11 on the penalty kill going into the game, but tonight they killed off all five St. Louis power plays.

Ryan Smyth, his fourth of the season, on a power play, and Michal Handzus, his second, recorded the two goals tonight. The Kings top line of Smyth, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams has now combined for a total of 20 points in four games.

Meanwhile, Drew Doughty took a puck to the face midway through the second period and left the ice, but returned for the start of the third period.

The Kings hit Long Island in New York for a date with the Islanders on Monday afternoon.

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.