The Throne Room

Draft Recap And a Look Ahead To Free Agency

The second day of the draft came and went without much fanfare for the Kings. The biggest news of the day was the trade of RFA center Brian Boyle to the New York Rangers for a 3rd round pick in next year’s draft. The move was not a surprising one, as Boyle hasn’t lived up to expectations in Los Angeles at all. Some would argue that Boyle was never really given a fair shake in his appropriate role. I can understand that opinion, Boyle did look very impressive at times last season, however I understand the deal completely. The Kings weren’t likely to retain Boyle as an RFA this Summer and were able to get something back in return for him. The former 1st round pick had just 10 points in 36 career games. It’s possible he could succeed in New York, but the Kings organization felt he didn’t have the physical toughness or compete level a guy his size should possess.

To recap the Kings draft choices in rounds 2-7:
2nd round: (35) Kyle Clifford, LW - Barrie, OHL
3rd round: (84) Nicolas Delauriers, D - Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL
4th round: (95) Jean-Francois Berube, G - Montreal, QMJHL
4th round: (96) Linden Vey, RW - Medicine Hat, WHL
5th round: (126) David Kolomatis, D - Owen Sound, OHL
6th round: (156) Michael Pelech, C - Mississauga St. Michael’s, OHL
6th round: (179) Brandon Kozun, RW - Calgary, WHL
7th round: (186) Jordan Nolan, C - Sault Ste. Marie, OHL
7th round: (198) Nic Dowd, C - Wenatchee, NAHL…committed to St. Cloud State

The recurring theme for day two of the draft seems to be - toughness.

With two days upcoming before the free agency signing period starts on July 1st, it’s possible that a trade could still be made in the next 48 hours. I’m not holding my breath for it though. The hope of seemingly every Kings fan right now is that one of the big 3 Left Wingers is landed on Wednesday - Hossa, Havlat, or Gaborik.

Hossa is the best overall player of the bunch but he left Pittsburgh for Detroit with the express purpose of winning a Stanley Cup. He will probably be searching for a longer-term type of deal for big money, and it will probably be with Detroit yet again, or with another contender. As much as I’d love to see it happen, I don’t think the Kings are going to be lifting Lord Stanley’s Mug come next June, so I’d say the chances of Hossa ending up in LA are very slim.

Havlat, well, maybe. My inclination with Havlat is that he’s been injury prone and will be asking for a big contract. The Kings have cap space now but they will have some young players that need extended/resigning in the near future. It just doesn’t make sense to sign a guy like Havlat to a big money, long term deal that could create problems locking up the younger guys down the road.

Gaborik: This one I could see happenning. His history of injury might drive his price down enough, and rumor has it he’s expressed a desire to play in LA. Lombardi won’t bite unless it’s the right deal, but if Gaborik takes a 2 year contract at a reasonable price I think he has the best shot of the 3 at being an LA King when the camp opens in September. I believe a healthy Gaborik would be a big addition to the team. Imagine a first line of Gaborik - Kopitar - Williams. Not too shabby. Biggest concern is whether or not he’s willing to buy into Terry Murray’s two-way play concept, but he has played his entire career up until now in Jacques Lemaire’s system in Minnesota. Will be interesting to see how this develops.

Aside from the prime need being a scoring LW, the Kings need to look at available Centers as this is a hole the Kings weren’t able to fill last season. Jaret Stoll can play 2nd line center but he’s better suited for the third line, which creates another problem, as Michal Handzus excelled in that role last season.

Another veteran D-man (assuming, and hoping they don’t bring back Gautheir) is going to be needed as well. I like the idea of bringing in Jay McKee, who was just bought out by St. Louis, but his price tag is a little, or a lot too high in this case. Francois Beauchemin, Steve Montador and Rob Scuderi are all intriguing options as well here.

For the first time since perhaps 2001-2002 there is no talk of bringing in an experienced goaltender. Jon Quick will have the ball to start the season, with Erik Ersberg likely backing up. The x-factor of course, is Jonathan Bernier, and I expect some great competition between the two in camp this season.

The clock is ticking. July 1st is coming up fast.

-JS

Kings Keep #5 Pick, Draft Schenn

Amidst speculation there would be a deal for a proven scorer on draft day, the Kings decided to keep the #5 overall pick and draft center Brayden Schenn on Friday. While I was initially a little disappointed in the team not acquiring a player who would add scoring NOW, I do love the pick. Schenn is a kid with a lot of heart who will make a solid 2nd line center in the future. He’s gritty and he can put the puck in the net. I think he’ll be a good one.

It’ll be interesting to hear the post-draft comments from Dean Lombardi. I have to imagine that the Kings were thinking deal maybe even all the way up till today. With Ottawa asking WAY too much for Heatley, especially given some possible character issues, it probably became clear that picking was the best option available. Despite comments made by Hextall and Lombardi for the past week or so, I still thought that when the rubber met the road on draft day, Heatley would end up coming to the Kings for the #5 overall pick and possibly a prospect. The idea of the Kings giving up two roster players and the pick for a guy who requested a trade is ludicrous to me. I have a feeling Heatley is stuck in Ottawa until Bryan Murray can wrap his head around a reasonable asking price for the prolific sniper.

12 more draft picks to go Saturday, and there’s always a possibility that some wheeling and dealing could go down.

More tomorrow
-JS

Lucky Luc to the Hockey Hall of Fame

Former King Left Wing and current Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille has been selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 1987 Calder trophy winner, considered by many to be the greatest Left Wing in NHL history; joins Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Brian Leetch in the HHOF’s class of 2009.

Robitaille played in 1,431 career NHL games, scoring 668 goals and 1,394 points, the most prolific totals by any Left Wing in NHL history. Lucky Luc got a Stanley Cup ring with Detroit in 2002.

Luc was and continues to be a huge fan favorite in LA. He’s my favorite King of all time that wasn’t a goalie. And he’s a great human being to boot. Even though he played seasons for the NY Rangers, Pittsburgh and Detroit, Luc was always a King at heart.

Hearty congratulations to Lucky Luc for his Hall of Fame selection today - as if there was any doubt.

(And as an aside - can we get Rogie Vachon in the Hall already? Seriously!)

Draft roundup to come this weekend.

-JS

One to Go

One game is all that remains for the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008-09 season. What looked as if it had so much hope and promise turned very sour from the second week of February on. What did the Kings in was lack of 5 on 5 scoring, something that the team promises to address in the offseason. Tonight was another example of that problem.

Given there were a lot of weird bounces, and none of them went the Kings’ way. But they were unable to beat Roberto Luongo (for my money the best goalie in the world), though he didn’t have much work.

So, I will reflect on the season more after the final game on Saturday. If the Sharks play as awful as they did tonight, hopefully the Kings can at least end the season on a good note. If they don’t collect points in the season finale, they risk finishing last in the Pacific again - behind Phoenix. I called Phoenix at the beginning of the year one of the two most overrated teams in the West, and they’ve proven me right this year. Phoenix is a bad hockey team. Gretzky for all his greatness as a player, doesn’t seem to possess it as a coach. In my eyes at least, it would be a huge disappointment to finish behind the Coyotes.

Me personally, I think all this talk about better draft position is balderdash. We’ve drafted enough guys to keep the team well stocked. Nobody that we’re going to draft at #5 or whatever is going to have an impact for years. I see this years first round pick as a bargaining chip and nothing more. It’s worse for the development of a young team to mail it in the last couple games of the season than it is to play hard, win and lose a couple of positions in the draft for a pick you’re likely to trade for someone who can contribute now and in the long run.

Kings and Sharks face off, with the Presidents Trophy likely on the line for San Jose. See you at Staples one more time.

-JS

Quick’s Outstanding Play Finally Rewarded With Victory

If you’ve ever played the sport of hockey as a goaltender, there are few things more pressure ridden than backstopping a team that isn’t scoring many goals. Following the Kings’ dramatic comeback victory in Boston last Thursday, the Kings had scored a whopping 2 goals in 3 games - no surprise all losses. Enter the recent world of Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. There was the cheap-shot laden 4-1 loss in Pittsburgh (I’m still upset that the league gave Malkin a free pass on his head shot to Wayne Simmonds), followed by games in Chicago and St. Louis in which Quick was outstanding but the Kings were only able to score once. Quick has been the constant positive in an otherwise dismal road trip for the Kings, who at this point can’t convince me they could score with a ten dollar hooker. You can see the frustration in the faces of the team and coach Terry Murray. Meanwhile, Quick has held the fort, waiting for the metaphorically dry group to bear water.

Thursday night in Dallas, it didn’t. In a game where both goaltenders (Quick and Dallas backstop Marty Turco, who wasn’t too shabby himself) will get credit for a shutout, the Kings managed to put the puck in the net for the first time in over 125 minutes of hockey. Too bad it was in the shootout where it doesn’t count statistically.

The first two periods and change of the game were not only painful to watch, they were literally painful to both teams. The Stars lost Trevor Daley and Krys Barch to injury in the first two periods and the Kings lost center Jaret Stoll to the all too vague “lower body injury” (Kings are expected to release more information Friday) early in the third. If the Kings were truly alive in the playoff race, losing a key contributor (the team’s best face off man) would be potentially devastating. Since they’re all but mathematically eliminated by now, it won’t make much of a difference. Best hope is that Stoll isn’t seriously injured and is ready to come back for training camp.

A little before the halfway point in the 3rd period, the game started to open up. Despite the fact it was a showcase between two teams that are likely to miss the playoffs, the game took on a playoff type atmosphere. Both teams traded chances for the remainder of the 3rd period and overtime but both Quick and Turco kept the puck out of the net.

Quick stopped Stars scorer Mike Ribeiro in the opening frame of the shootout and Anze Kopitar beat Turco with a beautiful move that was reminiscent of the move he put on Minnesota’s Nicklas Backstrom back on 10/16/07. Judge for yourselves:

The goal against Minnesota (10/16/07):
Kopitar Shootout Goal vs. Wild (10/16/07)

Last night’s goal:
Kopitar Shootout Goal vs. Dallas (03/26/09)

After James neal hit the post for Dallas and Jack Johnson was denied for the first time in…I can’t remember, Jere Lehtinen placed a perfect shot over the left shoulder of Quick to even the shootout at 1.

King newcomer Justin Williams won it for the Kings on a bizarre play in which Turco appeared to make the save but the puck seemed to trickle through him and Turco’s momentum carried his entire body across the goal line. The referee initially signaled no goal, for what I’mnot completely sure, but it was quickly overturned, giving the Kings the win and two points.

The Kings are 4-0-1 against Dallas this season and will win the season series with the Stars regardless of what happens at Staples next Tuesday in their final meeting.

So, now the Kings are at 72 points - ahead of last season’s 71 with 8 games left to play. The win is nice, but the scoring thing is still a huge issue.  Technically the Kings have been shut out in two straight regulation games, and if they want to post any sort of respectable record.

The win was Quick’s 4th shutout of the season. WIth the playoffs all but impossible now, Quick is clearly playing to help secure himself a job for next season and beyond. It’s nice to see at least one guy in the Kings’ locker room that hasn’t mailed it in.

The worst news of all: Kings travel to Nashville for a date with the Predators Saturday, against whom they are 0-3 this season. Nashville is a perennial thorn in the Kings side, a team that, while not impressive on paper seems to have the Kings’ number. Kings don’t seem to have an answer for the Predators. Hopefully Jon Quick will have something to say about that on Saturday.

-JS

From Disappointment, To Excitement, and Back Again

The past 3 Kings’ games, much like the season as a whole, have been a roller coaster ride. After a loss that was frankly, extremely disappointing at home against Nashville Monday night; the Kings mounted a collosal comeback to kick off their road trip in Boston and then played one of their worst games of the season in an awful 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh.

Monday’s game was frustrating to watch at times. Every time the Kings were able to gain momentum, they weren’t able to hold on to it. Nashville answered each of the Kings’ 3 goals quickly, scoring 3 of their 4 goals in the final 3 minutes of each period, including the game winner for Nashville. I was at the game live and chose not to DVR it (more like I forgot) but from where I was positioned at Staples Center, it looked like the officials blew a call that led to the GWG - Dan Hamhuis appeared to fail to hold the puck in at the blueline but the linesman didn’t blow the play down off sides. Hamhuis took a shot on net and Ryan Jones banged home the game winner. Frustrating as the apparent missed call was, it’s hard to say that the Kings deserved a point in that game.

Thursday’s game in Boston was a reversal of fortune in one period of play. The Kings were dominated by the East-leading Bruins for two periods, and trailed 2-0 going into the third period. Michal Handzus got a power play marker assisted by Wayne Simmonds and Teddy Purcell at about the halfway point of the period. Jon Quick held fort for the Kings and Drew Doughty scored assisted by Simmonds and Armstrong with 1:36 remaining to tie the game at 2. Dustin Brown would score from O’Donnell and Doughty with just 35 seconds remaining in OT to cap a huge comeback victory against the best team in the East (though they haven’t played like it lately by admission). I thought for sure the Kings would carry the momentum into Pittsburgh on Friday and would mount one final charge toward the 8th spot.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. The Kings played a mediocre game and got walked all over by the red hot Penguins. The Kings mounted little offensive pressure in the game and most of their 24 shots on Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury were from the perimeter. Many an Eastern Conference competitor has complained about the league’s officials giving Sidney Crosby superstar treatment, and after last night’s debacle at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh I can vouch for that. The Kings were called for a couple of penalties that were merely lovetaps on Crosby. I know Gretzky used to get calls like that but I don’t ever remember it being this bad. I have the utmost respect for Crosby as a player, but hockey is a contact sport. If the officials feel the need to protect Sid the Kid from any sort of contact, he ought to be Ice Dancing instead. I realize he is the league’s superstar darling and a huge marketing rake for the NHL, but how much more impressive would it seem if he were putting up the same numbers AND not getting an instant power play every time an opposing player breathes on him? I’m not in the camp who thinks Crosby a huge crybaby - anybody who thinks that hasn’t ever seen Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry play - but it’s a bit frustrating to know you can’t check the guy no matter what.

The Pens other superstar player, NHL leading scorer Evgeni Malkin, will likely be suspended by the NHL for a blatant cheap shot on Wayne Simmonds with seconds left in the 3rd period. As enraged as I am at Malkin for the hit, I’m equally enraged with Raitis Ivanans, who’s only job in the King lineup is to play the role of enforcer, for not pummeling Malkin at least enough to put the fear of God in him. Ivanans would likely be suspended but it would send a strong message that you don’t take a blatant head shot against one of the Kings’ young players. It’s the second time this season a similar incident has happened to a young Kings’ player and no retaliation has taken place. Fortunately, unlike the Artyukhin hit on Doughty (I still maintain that Artyukhin has no place in the NHL if he’s going to make a living hitting guys knee first, which he’s done to two other players since the Doughty hit), the NHL is stepping in to take disciplinary action. I expect Malkin to get off light since he is who he is. I’d be pleased with a 1-2 game suspension, ecstatic with a 3-5 game suspension. We’ll be lucky to get two. Malkin is a marketable superstar with no past offenses of this kind. The NHL has made a big deal about needing to crack down on head shots, and this is the perfect opportunity - a blatant headshot that occured at the end of a game in which the outcome wasn’t ever in doubt. A flat out cheap shot. Will be interesting to see if the league steps up and gives Malkin much more than a fine and a slap on the wrist.

The Kings remain 7 points out with 11 games remaining. While there are 22 points left on the table, the Kings, as improved as they are, haven’t given us a reason to believe they are going to all the sudden rattle off 11 straight. A playoff berth isn’t impossible by any means, but it is extremely unlikely. Regardless, this season has been a success in relative terms. Many thought the Kings would be worse than last years team. One point behind last years’ totals with 11 games left, it seems safe that we will pass that. I think the team will finish within one game, give or take of the .500 mark and end the season with around 80 points. Might be good enough for 3rd in the division, certainly good enough to finish ahead of Phoenix and Colorado in the West. While I haven’t given up all hope just yet, I have resigned myself to the fact that we will have to wait until next season to see playoff hockey at Staples. At least the Ducks won’t be in the playoffs either, which is at least some consolation.

Kings continue their road trip Sunday in Chicago against the Blackhawks, who are struggling of late. Kings have an opportunity to take the season series with Chicago with a victory. Game shows at noon California time but won’t be on FSN - if you’ve got Center Ice, enjoy the game.

-JS

Ersberg Shines In SO Loss to Sharks

Back from San Jose today, where I followed the Kings to conclude their short West coast road trip. Friday night’s debacle in Vancouver wasn’t televised in Southern California except on Center Ice. I was already in the Bay Area and wasn’t able to watch the game. In short, the Kings fell behind 2-0 with a sloppy third period that included a bad puckhandling bounce for Jon Quick. The Kings scored twice in 26 seconds to tie the game in the third period and then Henrik Sedin scored twice in two minutes to give Vancouver a 4-2 win on their home ice.

I have been to many road games in Anaheim in previous years. It’s an hour closer to me than Staples and, up until 2007, those games were more like Kings home games than away…Kings’ fans almost always outnumbered Ducks supporters (few that they were before the bandwagon crowd) by a healthy margin. The Ducks’ organization stopped selling group tickets to Kings’ fans and instituted a security policy which includes permitting harassment of the road teams’ fans by ushers and other Honda Center personnel. When you add that to what the teams actual “fans” are like, you have some place that isn’t getting a penny of my money. Of course, as their franchise is on the decline and the bandwagon fans go away, they will have to resort to desperate measures to keep attendance figures at a satisfactory level, so we will probably see a kinder, gentler Honda Center in coming years. I digress…

This was my first trip to the HP Pavillion, otherwise known as the “Shark Tank”. It’s a nice facility, but it is quite different from Staples Center. It seats about 1,000 less and it’s concourses are a little but congested (a’ la the Forum back in the Gretzky days), however the smaller building translates to being very loud when it’s full of fans. While I’m not a fan of the “SUNDAY, SUNDAY!”, tractor pull variety of PA announcing in a lot of NHL buildings these days, and the whole “chomp” thing done for every power play is cheesy to the point of being humorous, I was treated quite well by the fans there. We struck up conversation about hockey and the contrast in regions in a friendly and amicable manner, a much different experience than one would have visiting Anaheim, where you’re likely to be challenged to a fight by someone with the hockey knowledge (or lack thereof) of a two year old. I encountered one person who was borderline rude but otherwise the experience was a good one. After all, Kings and Sharks fans have one thing in common - we both hate the Ducks!

The game itself couldn’t have been much more exciting. There were a lot of bitten-off fingernails during a game that took regulation, overtime, a 7 rounds of a shootout to decide. Erik Ersberg was outstanding in net for the Kings, and should’ve been the first star of the game. He was shunned for the honor in favor of San Jose’s Dan Boyle - who had a lone assist in the game. Definitely a head scratcher.

Sharks got on the board in the first period on a Milan Michalek deflection of a Joe Pavelski wrister from the faceoff circle. It was the only shot that would elude Ersberg for 65 minutes.

Kings came to life in the second period and tied the game at 1 on Wayne Simmonds’ 6th goal of the season. Alexander Frolov took a shot that Sharks’ goalie Evgeni Nabokov directed just to his left, where Simmonds was positioned for an easy goal. Simmonds was one of the best Kings on the ice Saturday night, and had a chance for a two goal game when he was denied by Nabokov on a shorthanded breakaway chance that frankly I thought should’ve been a penalty shot.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the third period and overtime. Ersberg saved the Kings repeatedly, whilst Nabokov made his share of saves at the other end. Nabokov got some help from the Kings’ offense, which flubbed some golden opportunities, including a 2 on 0 for Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. Instead of Brown driving a shot and forcing Nabokov to leave a far side rebound for Kopitar to bury in the Sharks’ net, Brown appeared to overthink the play and waited to pass the puck to Kopitar until he was too close to make anything happen. In overtime, Nabokov was unable to track down a rebound that lied in the crease for several seconds before he was able to corral it. Had Dustin Brown been in his normal house at the net, it could’ve been game over. For a game the Kings played so well in, there were a lot of “what ifs”.

In the shootout, Dan Boyle and Anze Kopitar failed to score in the first frame. Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks in the second frame and Jack Johnson, the Kings’ most effective shootout player this season even the shooout at one. 8 more players failed to score before San Jose’s Jonathan Cheechoo would pot the eventual winner, freezing Ersberg for a split second with a head fake before shooting glove side high and beating Ersberg by a hair for what ended up being the winning goal. Teddy Purcell failed to score and the game was over.

The officiating in the game was truly weird. There were some calls that seemed to come from nowhere (a second period trip on Drew Doughty and a delay of game penalty against Nabokov), and a host of make-up calls in which the referees seemed to let play go in the face of obvious penalties and then call phantom infractions shortly thereafter to compensate for it. This happened at the behest of both teams Saturday night.

I thought Erik Ersberg deserved a better fate than the shootout loss. He played his best game of the season thus far - seems to always come to play against the Sharks (not well represented in his 1-1-1 record against them). He earned an additional start Monday against Nashville in LA with that performance, and, as previously mentioned, should’ve earned first star of the game.

As much as I approve of the job Terry Murray has done as Kings coach this season, sometimes I question his shootout logic. Wayne Simmonds was the best King on the ice Saturday night save Ersberg, and was conspicuously absent from the shootout lineup. I’d love to pick Terry Murray’s brain about why he chose to sat Simmonds, especially when he praised the young player after the game.

My experience at the Shark Tank and with the fans in San Jose was a good one. I’m going to make a point to get to at least one Kings game each season there.

As of Sunday night, the Kings sit 5 points out of the 8th spot in the west with 14 games remaining. It’s a long shot, for sure, but the Kings have a chance to pass Anaheim (by virtue of this season’s head-to-head) with a win against Nashville Monday night at Staples. The Predators have been a perennial thorn in the Kings’ side this season, a team who seems to match up well with LA. What happens in the next week will either keep the Kings’ playoff hopes afloat or put us out of reach with the Colorado’s and Phoenix’s of the world. Kings have won 3 straight at home but you can bet Nashville won’t be an easy task. Hopefully the Kings step up…

Because I can’t be the only one who thinks a Kings/Sharks matchup in the first round of the playoffs would be intruguing!

-JS

3 In a Row At Home, 3 Points Out

3 Home wins in a row, just when you thought the chase was about over for the Kings. I’m not advocating that they will make the playoffs, after all they have 3 nights without a game which gives all the other teams competing for that 8th playoff spot lots of time to get ground back, but it certainly looks more likely than it did a week ago.

After last Thursday’s dramatic come from behind win against Dallas, the Kings finished a sweep of their season series with Minnesota with a 4-3 win in which they chased the Wild’s ace goalie Nicklas Backstrom for the second time this season.

Monday’s matchup with Vancouver seemed daunting. Roberto Luongo had previously been a beast at Staples. The Canucks came out flying…for the first 40 seconds. The Kings answered with the fast start they needed on a goal by…Denis Gauthier? I was almost in disbelief when Gauthier’s point shot glanced off Luongo’s glove and eluded him to give the Kings a 1-0 lead. It’s likely that Dustin Brown’s stick wave in front disrupted Luongo to some extent, as you don’t see Luongo give up many goals like that. Kings made it 2-0 on a power play goal by Jaret Stoll, on a beautiful feed from Teddy Purcell, who has played his best couple games as a King during this recent homestand.

Vancouver evened the “softie goal meter” at 1 and cut the Kings’ lead to 2-1 on a long shot from Alex Burrows that eluded Jon Quick. Again, I could be an apologist and talk about how the puck passing between the skates of Jack Johnson could’ve contributed (and, as a goalie myself I can tell you it’s a definite possibility), but the bottom line is, that’s one that has to be stopped every time. The Kings would get it back before the period ended, on another Stoll PP goal from Purcell.

Vancouver poured it on in the 3rd period but Quick and the Kings held serve. The Canucks got a goal from Taylor Pyatt early in the 3rd to close the gap to one again, but that’s as close as Vancouver would get. In a frantic final minute with Luongo pulled for the extra attacker, the Kings’ got several saves from Quick and several key shot blocks, including one off the face of Matt Greene to hold on for the win.

So, the good news is, we’re 3 points back of the 8th seed, and only one point behind Anaheim in the West with 16 games remaining. The bad news, again, is that we don’t play again until the back half of this home and home in Vancouver on Friday night, giving the competition 3 nights to gain ground.

Again, I’m not implying that the Kings are going to make the playoffs, but it’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

Kings are in Vancouver Friday night.

-JS

Deja Vu For Dallas

Michal Handzus scored the hat trick, including the game winning, in a wild 5-4 Kings’ win tonight at Staples. The Kings looked like last years’ team for the entire first period and a half of this contest. It was so depressing I was considering skipping most of the last half of the second period to make a grocery store run, and then all the sudden, 2 goals in 33 seconds and what seemed like an insurmountable 3-0 lead for Dallas had wilted to 3-2. It seemed like the Kings’ momentum would be crushed when Steve Ott tallied for the Stars in the last minute of the second period to make it 4-2.

The Kings took advantage of 11 Dallas minor penalties - scoring twice on the power play. It was difficult not having a home feed of the game. The Dallas play-by-play team of Ralph Strangis and Darryl Reaugh is hard to listen to when you’re used to Bob Miller and Jim Fox. Reaugh in particular, likes to talk out of both sides of his mouth. Tonight in particular he whined about every penalty Dallas got called for, while at the same time admonishing the Stars for taking stupid penalties. So which is it? For a guy who played in the NHL for some time, Reaugh’s hockey knowledge sure seems lacking. Jim Fox may have his homer moments, but at least he doesn’t argue with the referees calls. In fact, Foxy will point out on the marginal looking ones against the Kings, what the officials’ logic for the call was, a very well-informed touch. Reaugh is a joke in that category. Not to the same level that Anaheim’s Brian Hayward is, but he’s not too far behind. I would’ve argued tonight with Reaugh (after he accused Dustin Brown of “embellishing” when he got cross checked by Mark Fistric hard enough to give him whiplash) that Fistric got away with at least a half dozen penalties he WASN’T called for. But I digress…

Handzus’ second of the game on the power play brought the Kings’ within one, with just over 3 minutes left in regulation time. Dustin Brown appeared to tie the game just seconds later, but the goal was waved off because Brown made incidental contact with Stars goalie Marty Turco. While I don’t think Brown impeded Turco’s movement, he was backed up into the crease and did make contact with Turco. Hard to argue with the call - it was certainly fair. Once Dallas’ slough of penalties had expired, the Kings pulled Jon Quick (who was perfect but not busy in relief of Ersberg) for the extra attacker and Anze Kopitar flipped a harmless backhand at the net. It deflected in off the skate of Stephane Robidas and past Turco to tie the game with 13.1 seconds left. Skate or no skate, it was a bad goal surrendered by Turco, and it assured the Kings at least a point.

You knew by this point that Dallas was reeling. They had been for most of the last half of the third period. It was like the Royal Rebound all over again, albeit slightly less dramatic. 1:31 into overtime, Jack Johnson fired a shot from the point that went wide. Michal Handzus picked the puck up and wrapped it around the net. The puck appeared to carom off the skate of Turco, off Stars defenseman Trevor Daley, but most importantly it was in the net behind Turco.

Yet another colossal collapse by Dallas at Staples Center. They seemed to have the game completely at hand and the Kings seemed to be mailing it in for the night. All of that changed in the blink of an eye. Undisciplined penalties and the Kings’ key players coming to life spelled doom.

Erik Ersberg, coming off yesterday’s contract extension, did not look his best tonight. I’m a big Ersberg fan, but this guy is essentially staying in LA for backup duty and to spell Quick on occasion. Quick only faced 4 shots in relief and wasn’t really tested. I’d expect to see him in goal against Minnesota on Saturday.

Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Alexander Frolov each had a pair of assists. Handzus’ hat trick was only the second of his career.

Kings face the Minnesota Wild in an afternoon matinee at Staples Center on Saturday.

-JS

High Stakes Gambling…

When the clock struck noon Pacific time today, it appeared as though the Kings had done about what most of us expected…very little. Sean O’Donnell (1 year, $1.25M) and Erik Ersberg (2 years, $1.5M) got well deserved contract extensions. It looked as if the trade deadline would come and go with little fanfare. Then, at about 40 minutes past noon, BOOM. The NHL finished the paperwork on a 3 way deal that was Patrick O’Sullivan and a 2nd round pick go from the Kings to Carolina and finally Edmonton, Erik Cole return to Carolina and Justin Williams to LA. My initial reaction, as was the reaction of most Kings’ fans was an astounding “WHAT!”.

It does seem like Dean Lombardi grossly overpaid for a 27 year old player who hasn’t been healthy most of the last 3 seasons. As the story goes, the Kings spent lots of time looking over Williams’ medical records, making sure that he would make full recovery from his laundry list of injuries sustained over the past 24 months. Williams is on Inured Reserve currently and will likely not play before the season ends, lest the Kings’ make a huge push to get in the playoffs. Patrick O’Sullivan and a 2nd round pick for a guy on IR? For me, this is a gamble of the Cloutier variety, and we all remember how that turned out.

The positives of this are, assuming Williams is able to get healthy and stay healthy, he is one hell of a hockey player. Before the injury bug seemingly infested him he had back to back 30+ goal seasons and was an All-Star in 2007. He is a big winger with lots of grit, who likes to go to the net. The pre 2007-2008 version of Justin Williams is exactly the type of player the Kings need. Check out the highlights of some of the goals he has scored on NHL.com and there’s no doubt the guy can play. The flipside of that is that if he can’t get healthy and remains perpetually on IR, the Kings gave up a very talented player for not much really.

This is not a popular trade, as O’Sullivan was a fan favorite in LA. Sully is immensely talented, and frankly it’s going to suck having to play against him 4 times a year in Edmonton. I had envisioned O’Sullivan as part of the Kings core long term.

The only guy who knows the full story on why this went down is Dean Lombardi. We won’t ever know if Sully wasn’t a standup guy in the locker room, or if his holding out this preseason left wounds that simply didn’t heal. Hard to imagine that there wasn’t some other subplot to giving up that much for a guy like Williams.

Perhaps the most difficult part, as much as this seems extremely risky right now, is that as Kings’ fans collectively, we won’t get to find out if this was a good or bad deal until next season likely. For the remainder of 2008-09 our roster is simply short one very talented #12.

Dean Lombardi is a smart guy. He does his homework. Let’s hope his gamble pays off. If it doesn’t, it will bite this team in the ass.

Kings face Dallas at Staples Center tomorrow evening.

-JS