Sleeksays

LA Kings @ Calgary Flames (11-9-1) 6:30 PST, RSW (Regehr Sucks Wang?) Record: 8-8-3 (49 Goals For, 49 Goals Against) Special Teams: 16.7 PP% (19th) , 84.1 PK% (10th) Top Scorer: Anze Kopitar, 15 points Best Forward: Dustin Brown? Best Defenseman: Drew Doughty Biggest Surprise: Drew Doughty/Erik Ersberg Biggest Disappointment: Anze Kopitar (It's only 19 games in, but tomorrow's Lubo Day so I'm doing this now.) All coaches search for a balance between top-line talent and depth with their forward lines. At the beginning of the season, the Kings were running 3 lines that were of relatively equal strength, with Brownitar on the top line, Frolov/Handzus on line 2, and O'Sullivan/Stoll on the 3rd. These lines helped spread out the Kings' talent but probably did so a little too much and the Kings had trouble hanging with the top-level talent on other teams. Then Terry Murray apparently had a stroke and screwed with the lines for about 4 or 5 games, banishing O...

LA Kings (6-6-2, 4th in Pacific) @ Dallas Stars (5-7-3, Dead Last in Pacific) 5:30 PST, Fox Sports West Raitis Ivanans can not skate a regular shift in the NHL. I'm sorry, he just can't. It breaks my heart, because I love the lumbering Latvian, but he plays like dog piss tastes. (No, not delicious, terrible and slightly acidic.) Since the Kings began skating Raitis on their "third" line, that line has not recorded a point. Not a one. Ivanans is like the anti-Thornton, he sucks all the talent out of his linemates. " I just want to see the inside of your skull." Basically, the Kings are rolling two good 4th lines instead of one good 3rd. There's Ivanans-Handzus-Simmonds and O'Sullivan-Boyle-Harrold, one of whom is okay defensively but can't score while the other can do both but is just kind of... weird. Meanwhile, the Kopitar line and the Frolov line are left fending for themselves on both offense and defense. Terry Murray claims the K...

Los Angeles Kings (3-6-1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (7-5-1) 7:30 PST, Fox Sports West Two games ago, the Kings were sitting at 3-4-1 and had just put in a workmanlike effort against the Detroit Red Wings. The Kings had been competitive in every game but the first one and were especially effective in rotating three scoring lines. Then coach Terry Murray decided to reunite the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown line from last season. Okay, fine, our third line sucks now but that line was good last year so maybe it'll work. The result? 4-0 loss. " Oscar, please stop hugging me." Terry Murray then decided that maybe the problem was the Frolov-Handzus connection and moved Alex Frolov to Jarret Stoll's line. Oh, and he also gave up on the O'Sullivan-Kopitar-Brown line after one game and moved O'Sullivan to Frolov's spot with Michal Handzus. The result? A 3-2 loss, during which Terry Murray decided Patrick O'Sullivan wasn't doing anything and moved him down to th...

Los Angeles Kings (3-4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2009 Stanley Cup Champs) 7:30 PST, FSN West -Jason Labarbera is playing fucking again today. I actually like it because I wanted him to get a chance to prove himself but give Eric Ersberg a chance, huh? Did Ersberg spit on Terry Murray's grave or something? (Because he looks like a corpse, you see.) -Anze isn't looking that great to start the season. That's not bad. I've always found hockey to be cyclical: you feel great for a month, then you notice a little hitch that bothers you and it throws you off, then it seems like nothing is going right, and then all of a sudden you're fine again. The important part is that Kopitar is still being productive even though he's struggling. Both him and Frolov look like they're pressing a little bit, probably because they expected to be the leaders of this team, but they'll be fine. -Detroit is a shithole. Prediction: Kings win, 4-1, with dominant puck possess...

A few things I like about Terry Murray: -He puts Frolov, Brown and Kopitar on the penalty kill when they haven't played in a while and paired them for a shift when Frolov got out of the box -He's trusting his young guys and giving them playing time in important situations: Doughty is playing 20 minutes a game, Moller is getting regular time on the power play, and Simmonds is getting regular minutes with Alex Frolov -He seems to have instilled a team commitment to defense that is actually working and players are actually sticking up for one another A few random thoughts about last night's game: -Patrick O'Sullivan was again excellent. Since the Kings only have 2 games in the next 9 days, I imagine the Kings will work O'Sullivan in with one of the top 2 lines. -Dustin Brown has been asserting himself a lot more carrying the puck, but I don't think Kopitar is comfortable moving without the puck. And Brown pasted Sammy Pahlsson in one of the best hits you're g...