Back on Track?

Well, we can only hope after the last two wins.

The Kings had struggled all season against Nashville and Vancouver. For some reason, they just couldn't find a way to beat either team. But in the last two games, with Jonathan Bernier in net giving Jon Quick a little rest, they found a way. On Tuesday, Bernier pitched a shutout as the Kings beat the Preds 2-0 in Nashville.

Last night's game was even more impressive. In fact, it might have been their best game of the season, at the most important time of the season.

The Kings erupted for five goals to start the game before the Canucks ever got on the scoreboard, and with the help of Dustin Brown's second career hat trick, the Kings walloped Roberto Luongo and the Canucks 8-3 at Staples.

The Kings dominated this game from start to finish on both sides of the ice despite Bernier giving up two quick goals to Vancouver in a 39 second span in the middle of the second period.

They did lose Jeff Halpern in the process, unfortunately. He took a hard check into the boards in the first period on a charge from Tanner Glass that resulted in the infamous upper body injury. There appeared to be contact from Glass to the head, which resulted in a power play for the Kings. Glass could receive additional supplemental discipline from the league for the hit.

Meanwhile, Bernier, who was called up last week to backup Quick after Erik Ersberg suffered an injury, was sent back to Manchester this morning. Ersberg will return Saturday as Quick's primary backup.

Last night's offensive outburst, coupled with some stingy defense was exactly what the Kings needed, even as they followed up a pretty impressive win in Nashville two nights earlier. The important thing for the Kings is to not let up. Keep going forward. Keep up the intensity from last night, as well as the sense of urgency.

Next up for the Kings, two against the Ducks: Saturday at Staples, next Tuesday in Anaheim.

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.

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.

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!