The Throne Room

Continuing Winning Ways on the Road in Toronto

If you looked at the score of tonights Kings-Leafs game, you might get the impression without having watched that it was a close game. Not really the case. The first period and change definitely had me thinking “crap, here comes the proverbial letdown game after a big win”, especially since it was just poor execution - by Jon Quick on the first Toronto goal and by Rob Scuderi - for flubbing a clearing attempt AND Anze Kopitar for missing a backcheck assignment on the second goal that allowed the Leafs to remain in the game. A friend of mine pointed out that Kings coach Terry Murray elected to sit Raitis Ivanans for most of the second half of the game. It definitely made a difference. Dustin Brown fed Jaret Stoll for a one timer that Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson had no prayer of stopping, and the Kings never looked back after that. Ryan Smyth added a goal on a bullet shot to give the Kings a 4-2 lead at second intermission.

The Kings played good, smart defensive zone hockey in the third period - with Quick making his best saves of the game - until the last two minutes, where for a rare second time in one game, Scuderi and Doughty failed to clear the puck and allowed Hagman time and space to score his second goal. Kings left no doubt as to the game’s outcome though, when Alexander Frolov scored an empty netter on a give and go with Doughty. DD had a goal and an assist on the night, Dustin Brown had 3 points, and Stoll had a goal and an assist, final score Kings 5, Toronto 3. But again, if you watched the game, it wasn’t as close as the score indicated.

Kings certainly didn’t play their best game tonight, mistakes led to goals and despite the fact that Nikolai Kulemin’s shot deflected off Peter Harrold’s stick, you have to believe that Jon Quick would love to have that first Leaf goal back. Two points is two points, and all are important this time of year, but these aren’t exactly the Chicago Blackhawks the Kings were playing tonight either. Toronto has a few promising pieces but is having a long season. We Kings fans know the feeling.

Up next, the slippery slopes continue. Columbus has been less than stellar this season, and their goals against is a conference-high 182 on the season. Regardless, the Kings must prepare for this game as if they’re playing Chicago, Detroit or the like. It’s another game that has potential for the classic letdown. The Kings avoided that in Toronto tonight, let’s hope they can avoid it Thursday in Columbus.

—————————————————————————————

On the minds of many Kings fans right now is one captain in Atlanta: Ilya Kovalchuk. While Atlanta GM Don Waddell is claiming that he isn’t discussing trading the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent winger, several sources have said there have been discussions and that the Kings have been in the center of things.

My thoughts are as follows: Kovalchuk is a game breaker, a superstar of a magnitude the Kings haven’t had since Gretzky. There are a lot of conditions to a potential trade. I have a hard time believing that Dean Lombardi will give up key guys for a mere rental. In fact, I am inclined to think the deal doesn’t even happen unless Kovalchuk at least agrees in principle to a contract extension in LA. The Kings have the best available mixture of talent and prospects to get the deal done, they key will be not to overpay.

There’s one name that’s popped up in trade rumors that I would not under any circumstances deal: Wayne Simmonds. Simmer is a heart and soul guy, and most nights the hardest worker on the team. He’s looking to pot 20 goals this season and he’s a catalyst on the ice who is good at both ends of the rink, and will only get better.

Speculation abounds as to what it will take to get Kovalchuk, and Lombardi does have a tough decision to make. He’s looking at a team that’s likely in the playoffs anyway - so you have to carefully consider that what you would sent to Atlanta doesn’t leave any glaring holes in the roster. With the organization’s depth at defense, one would imagine that either/or Thomas Hickey and Colten Teubert could go, and there’s the ever present talk of trading Jack Johnson. If a deal for Kovalchuk gets done, it’s hard to imagine Alexander Frolov not being part of it. Perhaps Frolov + Moller + Johnson + pick(s) conditional on an extension being signed? It’s mere speculation on my end. Word is that Atlanta is looking for current NHL talent, but trading Kovalchuk doesn’t put them in position to do anything but rebuild, which makes me believe prospects will be involved. At any rate, I do believe there is a better than average chance that Ilya Kovalchuk will be wearing a Kings’ uniform by the trade deadline, it’s just a matter of for whom. Then again, who knows, maybe Chicago steps up to the plate and makes their cap situation even worse.

Go Kings!

-JS