Kopitar, who was easily the best player in the world not at the Vancouver Olympic games, sits with 30 goals and 37 assists with 18 games remaining. I stated both at the beginning of the season and just before the Olympic break that I thought 40 goals was a real possibility for Kopitar. Heading down the stretch I still think 40 is a realistic goal, particularly when you factor in Justin Williams’ potential return.

So, for those who read, I’d like to ask you: How many goals/points does Anze Kopitar finish the 2009-10 season with, and why. I’m interested to hear what any readers who don’t follow the Kings regularly may have to say.

Go Kings!

-JS

From Dallas, the Kings moved on to Nashville, a perennial thorn in the Kings’ side. There are a handful of things in life you just know you can count on. Death, taxes, and the Kings playing like shit against Nashville are among them. The Kings tallied first but Nashville took advantage of two turnovers behind the Kings’ net and sent the Kings back home losers by the final count of 4-2. It was, as coach Terry Murray put it, a poor effort.

Last night against Montreal, the Kings were hanging on for dear life from the gate. Montreal’s Brian Gionta scored 22 seconds in after Jon Quick made 3 or 4 saves and appeared to have the puck covered. Montreal is Montreal, and no matter where they go, the ghosts of the old Montreal Forum seem to follow them. As far as East teams go, I like the Canadiens, but I can’t recall the last time I watched them play a game where they didn’t seem to get a few favorable calls. Saturday at Staples was no exception.

Anze Kopitar tied the score at 1 on a beautiful highlight reel goal, his 30th of the season, but that was as good as it would get for the Kings, who added a late goal - the first as a King for Fredrik Modin - but failed to come all the way back and lost 4-2 after Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec scored an empty net goal.

The effort wasn’t as bad as the Nashville game, but not enough to get the job done.

It’s easy as a Kings’ fan, to search frantically for the panic button in this situation, having horrible flashbacks of 2005-06 when the Kings fell from 2nd in the conference to out of the playoffs over the last two months of the season. It’s easy to question the acquisitions of Jeff Halpern and Fredrik Modin (even though the Kings gave up nary anything of value for either of them) and wonder why at the very least, the “new guys” couldn’t watch from the press box after the asswhooping delivered to Dallas without them in the lineup. It’s easy to wantonly criticize Dean Lombardi for not being willing to give up enough to get a legitimate scoring threat like a Raffi Torres or a Ray Whitney at the deadline. Forget all of that, I say.

It’s only two games. DON’T panic. The Kings are, by all accounts, ahead of schedule this season. While many (myself included) expected a playoff berth this season (and we’ll get one, rest assured), I don’t think many outside of the locker room thought a 4/5 seed was possible, but as of right now it looks not just possible, but plausible if the Kings can play .500 hockey the rest of the way. Kings goaltending is in it’s best hands in 30+ years with Quick (as much as Hrudey was one of my heroes growing up, Quick is better, sorry), who barring any tragic turn of events should one day retire as the best goalie in Kings’ history (meaning at some point, one of 29 other team’s is going to give up a lot for Jonathan Bernier). If there’s one thing about this season’s Kings’ team, it’s been the mental toughness and resiliency shown. Two losses are not the end of the world. The ship will right itself, maybe as soon as Monday when Columbus rolls into town. Seems like every time the Blue Jackets are on the schedule, Anze Kopitar is good for at least a goal, maybe two. As long as the Kings don’t take the struggling Jackets for granted, Monday presents a quality opportunity to get back in the win column.

So, don’t panic. While teams like Anaheim, St. Louis, Dallas and Minnesota - and dare I say one of either Phoenix or Colorado -  go extinct in the NHL’s version of natural selection - the playoff push, the Kings are fit to survive. They have one of the Western Conference’s best young goaltenders, the NHL’s best young defenseman PERIOD in Drew Doughty, one of the league’s most talented center icemen in Kopitar and a veteran coach in Terry Murray who knows what it takes to prepare the Kings for the postseason.

And lest I forgot, one third of the Kings’ top line - the most dominant line in the entire NHL for the first third of this season is looking to return ahead of schedule. Don’t be surprised to see Justin Williams in the lineup in the next week or so.

Kings and Columbus face off at Staples Center on Monday night.

Go Kings!

-JS

Kings were badly outplayed in the 3rd period, with few quality shifts in the Detroit zone, but they made them count. Michal Handzus collected his own rebound and tucked it in past a sprawling Jimmy Howard for his second goal of the game and what would turn out to be the game winner.

It’s impossible to understate what a critical cog Handzus is in the Kings’ machine. He wins face-offs, and plays a ton of minutes shadowing the opposing teams’ top center, has great puck possession skills (which is why Terry Murray should keep he and Alexander Frolov on the same line permanently), and makes a perfect screen/deflector in front of the net. 6 of his 15 goals are game winners. Handzus will likely end up one of 4 or 5 Kings with 20+ goals in 2009-10. If he was the Kings’ most improved player last season, he’s even better this year.

The streak of 9 consecutive wins is a new franchise best. Jon Quick continues to lead the NHL in wins with 34, and is now one win short of tying the Kings all-time season high for wins by a goaltender, set by Mario Lessard in 1980-81. It seems as though that mark could well fall before the Olympic break.

The Kings will carry their winning streak into Anaheim on Monday. Expect Honda Center to be 2/3 Kings fans. The Ducks have won 9 straight at home, but the Kings own the Ducks this season - having won all three games between the two clubs this season, and having won the last 5 games. Jon Quick is 5-0-0 all time vs. Anaheim.

After Anaheim the Kings face the lowly Oilers and the surprising Colorado Avalanche at home before the Olympic break. It will be important for the Kings to keep focus and continue to play their game. If they do, winning out to the Olympic break (which would give them 12 straight) is a real possibility.

Kings take on Anaheim at the puddle on Monday night, installment number 4 of this year’s Freeway Faceoff. Kings only need to earn one more point in the final three games to clinch the season series. I suspect they’ll do much better than that.

Go Kings!

-JS

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s pretty obvious by now that the Kings OWN Anaheim this season. 3 games so far (and 3 wins)have shown them to be a superior hockey team. The Ducks are on the outside of the playoff bubble looking in, and all the sudden Honda Center is mostly empty except for road fans most game nights. Not that anybody is really surprised at that.

The Kings weathered a bit of a storm in the first 13 minutes of the game, but after that dominated all but a five minute stretch in the third period. That five minute stretch saw Anaheim score 3 times to rally from a 4-1 deficit - although two of those tallies were the result of Randy Jones blunders. I wonder if this will convince Terry Murray that it’s time to insert Davis Drewiske  or play Peter Harrold on defense against Detroit on Saturday. Randy Jones has been mostly nerve-wracking in his own zone, while being pretty good in the offensive zone. To give you an idea of Jones’ ineptitude inside his own blueline: Jack Johnson was -1 tonight despite scoring 4 points. His defense partner is, you guessed it: Randy Jones.

Kings now lead the 2009-10 Freeway Face-Off 6 points to none. If the Kings gain a mere point in any of their last 3 meetings, they will win this years’ prize. The worst they can do is tie, and in that event, the team with the better overall record wins it, meaning the Kings have all but clinched this years Freeway series.

Up next: Detroit, who the Kings beat to start their perfect road trip two weeks ago. In 3 meetings with the Red Wings this season, the Kings have dominated two of them, but trail the series 2-1 on account of Jimmy Howard making 51 saves and stealing a win in the Wings’ last visit to Staples Center. Kings will be looking to set a new franchise record with 9 straight victories. Detroit is getting healthy again, so it will be a big test for the Kings despite the Wings’ recent struggles.

Kings and Red Wings, 1PM Saturday at Staples.

GO KINGS!

Based on what it would’ve cost to land the sniper in Los Angeles, and on top of that, what it would cost to keep him there, it’s clear to me that Dean Lombardi made the right decision by taking a pass on Kovalchuk. My reasoning is as follows:

1. The Kings are a playoff team right now, as it stands. To give up 2-3 roster players and a first round pick would be to risk putting a chink in the armor of what has been a successful team this season.

2. Kovalchuk is one of the most talented offensive players in the league, but in Terry Murray’s system, everyone is expected to assume some defensive responsibility. I’m not convinced that Kovalchuk would do just that, and I’m not convinced his new teammates would like the idea of one player getting a free pass from backchecking (which makes his trade to New Jersey even more baffling).

3. With the contract offer Kovalchuk rejected from Atlanta, he’s heading to Russia to play in the KHL next season. If 12 years/$101 million isn’t enough, the only place your’e going to get more than that is good ol’ Mother Russia. This may explain in part Don Waddell’s refusal to allow other GM’s to negotiate a contract. While it’s been speculated for some time, any reliable word that Kovalchuk has the intention of playing overseas for 2010-2011 would’ve effectively neutered his trade value drastically.

When you look at what New Jersey has reportedly given up for Kovalchuk: defenseman Johnny Oduya, forward Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and a 1st round pick in the 2010 draft - all for a player who’s bolting for Russia come July.

Dean Lombardi has kept intact a red-hot team, and still has the assets and cap space to pursue other options via trade between now and the March 3rd Deadline. TSN’s Bob McKenzie already reported that the Kings and Carolina had reached a deal for Ray Whitney to the point where Dean Lombardi was allowed to speak with Whitney’s agent, J.P. Barry about a potential contract extension. When the Whitney/Barry team demanded a 3 year extension in order for Whitney to waive his No Trade Clause for LA, Lombardi killed the deal. Another Smart move - Whitney as a rental or even for one season would be a nice addition, but not for 3 years as a soon-to-be 37 year old. I don’t believe Lombardi is done shopping, and I have little doubt that he will make a small number of quality additions to the Kings’ roster without sacrificing current roster talent.

Kings and Ducks play the third installment of the Freeway Face-Off tonight at 7:30.

Go Kings!

-JS

A big reason the Kings will leave New Jersey having completed a perfect road trip tonight: Two soft goals allowed by Martin Brodeur. The first Kings’ goal, a pass from Parse to Handzus from behind the net saw Handzus with almost no net to shoot at, but Brodeur instead of patiently holding his ground (as he normally does) decided to move, creating a hole that the puck slipped right through. Wayne Simmonds tying goal with under two minutes remaining in regulation as simply a puck thrown at the net. Brodeur failed to hug the post and it had eyes for the net.

The exclamation point for the night was Drew Doughty’s blast from the point. With Ryan Smyth stationed in his customary place, right in front of Brodeur, as well as seemingly half of New Jersey’s roster, Brodeur never saw the shot and never had a chance.

To be frank, Brodeur was soundly outplayed by the Kings’ Jon Quick tonight, who made a handful of dazzling saves, including a glove save on Dainus Zubrus after it looked like Quick was down and out that left the entire New Jersey bench stunned. While Quick would probably like to have Travis Zajac’s second period goal back, he was otherwise the reason the Kings were in the game. Conversely, it could be said that Brodeur was the reason the Devils lost a game they mostly dominated.

The Kings return home to Staples having won all 5 games on this road trip, 6 in a row overall and 7 straight on the road. Their next opponent: The New York Rangers, currently mired in a slump. Again, this will tell a lot about the makeup of this Kings team. Will they allow themselves to take the struggling Rangers for granted, or will they take care of business.

Kings remain firmly entrenched in the 5th spot in the West, as it doesn’t appear Phoenix will blow a two goal lead to Dallas in the third period.

Kings and Rangers from Los Angeles Tuesday. See you at Staples.

Go Kings!

-JS

Kings took the first lead of the night on a beautiful Dustin Brown redirection of Anze Kopitar’s shot/pass in the high slot. Kings appeared to take a 2-0 lead later when Wayne Simmonds deflected in a shot from Randy Jones, but it was determined that Simmonds tipped the puck with a high stick. It was very close, and the call could’ve gone either way. In the end, it boiled down to the fact that you couldn’t see the net relative to Simmonds in the shot, making it impossible to find conclusive evidence to overturn Don VanMassenhoven’s on-ice call. Based on what I could see, it looked pretty close and I actually think Simmer’s stick was just below the crossbar, but I get why VanMassenhoven made the call that he did.

The second period began a wave of King penalties that caught up with them. Boston defenseman Mark Stuart threw a clean check on Anze Kopitar and Wayne Simmonds, like any good teammate should, stepped in and dropped gloves with Stuart. Brandon Segal was called for delay of game for clearing the puck over the glass. Ryan Smyth was called for interference and Scott Parse was called for a trip that frankly looked like one hell of an embellishment by Marc Savard. The Bruins were able to even the score on a fortuitous bounce off a linesman that went right to Savard, who fed Marco Sturm wide open in front of the Kings’ net. Sturm outwaited a sliding Kings’ defender and beat Quick low to the stick side to tie the game.

Boston took the lead early in the 3rd period on a power play that carried over from the end of period 2. Alexander Frolov (who by the way, sure isn’t playing like he’s in a contract year) decided to take a break from backchecking and allow veteran Mark Recchi to get straight to the net, where he redirected a beautiful pass from David Krejci to make it 2-1 Boston.

But the Kings would tie the game at 4:29 with another power play goal, this time a well placed wrist shot by Anze Kopitar with Michal Handzus camped out in front of Thomas. All four goals in regulation came on the power play.

The Kings had a great final shift of regulation, and missed a chance to put the game away before the extra frame arrived, but were unable to finish. In overtime, the chances went Boston’s way, but the Bruins couldn’t finish either. Enter the shootout.

After Boston’s Zdeno Chara fanned on a slapshot, Anze Kopitar made a beautiful move, going forehand to backhand and tapping the puck in around Thomas with one hand on the stick. You can see video highlight’s here, courtesy of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rshSbmmKS58.

Boston’s Michael Ryder tied the shootout in the top half of it’s 3rd frame with a beautiful wrist shot that evaded Quick. After Handzus failed to score, Marc Savard and Ryan Smyth traded goals to keep the score even after 4 frames. Patrice Bergeron and Oscar Moller both failed to score in the 5th frame, and Quick foiled Recchi, setting up Jaret Stoll’s laser beam wrist shot to win the shootout for the Kings.

Couple things that stand out to me: Kopitar has 16 points in his last 13 games, many of those without Ryan Smyth on his line. Interesting fact for those pundits whop think Kopi’s success early in the season was owed to having Captain Canada on his line. Brad Richardson and Wayne Simmonds are proving to be quite complimentary as linemates for Kopitar.

Jon Quick now has 30 wins in 49 starts this season, giving him a winning percentage of 61.2, and he has started 49 of the team’s 54 games - a staggering 90.7%. If you use those numbers as a guide, Quick should start 25 of the last 28 and win 15 or 16 games. This of course, could all change if the team suffers key injuries, or could change for the better if the Kings are able to improve significantly at the March 3rd trade deadline. Quick should finish the season with 45-46 wins - and depending on the team’s overall performance, could have a realistic shot at the all-time record for wins in a single season - 48.

Quick will start in goal again Sunday as the Kings wrap up their road trip in New Jersey. The game will pit Quick against Canadian Olympic goaltender Martin Brodeur. Quick has played exceptionally well against other Olympic goalies since he was named to the US team on January 1st. It’s a chance for the Kings to win their 6th straight overall and 7th straight on the road. The game won’t be televised locally, so you’re restricted to radio, or the Devils’ feed on Center Ice.

Go Kings!

-JS

The game saw Anze Kopitar get his 100th and 101st goals in a King uniform as well as an outstanding performance by Jon Quick, who for all intents and purposes deserved a shutout. Two Sean O’Donnell mistakes, starting with a turnover in the defensive zone and culminating with O’Donnell putting the puck in his own net after Antoine Vermette’s shot glanced off the mask of Quick, put an end to the shutout bid. I said in many places last night that O’Donnell should buy Quick a new Rolex and a steak dinner for singlehandedly blowing the shutout for him.

Given his recent performance, I would be inclined to sit O’Donnell for a couple of games. He appears to be getting tired and the number of mistakes he’s making on the ice appears to be improving. Perhaps some rest would do him good. One problem with that - Jack Johnson left last night’s game in the second period with an upper body (arm) injury. Johnson was reported by Rich Hammond as skating in practice today, but his status is unknown until tomorrow’s morning skate. Either Randy Jones, or Davis Drewiske who has been cleared to play could take Johnson’s place in the lineup.

Next, it’s on to Boston and a shot at a season sweep of the Bruins. Boston hasn’t been playing good hockey lately, but they may get playmaker Marc Savard back from injury in time for tomorrow’s game, likely another matchup of U.S. Olympic teammates in goal, Jon Quick and Tim Thomas. After that it’s an afternoon tilt in New Jersey against the Devils. While I’d take neither game for granted, the Kings have won their last two games against Boston, and won handily last season at the Prudential Center against the Devils. A strong finish to this road trip would help put the Kings in solid playoff position going into the Olympic break in just over two weeks.

Go Kings!

-JS

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

Adversity mounted early on as Detroit took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Valterri Filppula seemingly skated through a handful of Kings and took advantage of Jon Quick committing to the butterfly block a bit too early to put the Red Wings on the board first, and Todd Bertuzzi tipped a Brian Rafalski shot from the top of the circle on a 5 on 3 power play to extend the lead to two.

But the Kings, instead of folding their tents, stepped up their game in response. Anze Kopitar scored his 20th goal of the season early in the second period - Jimmy Howard stopped his original shot but failed to get a handle on the rebound. Wayne SImmonds chipped the rebound over and behind Howard and Kopitar batted it out of the air into the net. The goal validated the Kings’ efforts and despite some pressure by Detroit, you kind of got the feeling that the Kings were going to get the equalizer sooner than later. That equalizer didn’t come in the second period, but Jon Quick did make a key stop on Detroit’s Derek Meech who broke in alone coming out of the penalty box.

The Kings continued to work hard and tied the game on a great play in the 3rd period. Kopitar curled in the left corner of the Detroit zone and lost an edge, falling to the ice, but managed to keep the play alive by dishing it to Simmonds, who found the trailer, Peter Harrold moving in unmolested. Harrold’s shot beat Howard to the stick side to tie the game at 2.

Kopitar got his third point of the night on the Kings’ third straight goal, a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play in which Kopitar found Scott Parse, who dished it to the front of the net, right to the stick of the waiting Brad Richardson, who buried it past Howard.

The Kings played very solid defensive hockey in the final 7:58 of the third period, and Jon Quick made several key stops to preserve the victory. The win vaults the Kings into a tie for 6th in the Western Conference and gives them a 3 point cushion over Detroit.

The rest of the Kings road trip, is a bit of a slippery slope. It’s easy to look at games in Toronto and Columbus, two of the league’s worst teams this season, and assume that four points are in the bag. However, the Kings have a penchant for the poorly played, letdown loss after a big win, and no Kings fan would be suprised to see a less than stellar effort and loss of points. What I can hope, is that the Kings will continue to work hard, play the game that’s gotten them four points in their last two games, and if that’s the case it’s reasonable to expect the Kings could return home to Staples on Feb 2nd having won at least 3 of 5 on this road trip.

Who knows, maybe there will be some guy named Ilya Kovalchuk on the Kings roster by then too. More of my thoughts on that in the next couple of days.

Kings in Toronto Tuesday night - no local TV feed, so if you have Center Ice, you’ll have to put up with “Holy Mackinaw!” about 50,000 times.

Go Kings!

-JS