The Throne Room

Kings Overcome Officiating Incompetence for Shootout Win

It’s happened a little too often lately in the NHL, let alone to the Kings: An excellent game, very well played by both teams involved has it’s outcome decided by incompetent officiating. It happened to the Kings back on January 11th against San Jose, it happened to Boston at home tonight against Columbus, when a phantom high stick call against Milan Lucic gave Columbus a 4 minute power play in which they scored the game winning goal. And, it almost happened to the Kings tonight against Buffalo. Fortunately this time, the Kings would not allow themselves to be beaten by the officials.

The Kings played a very strong game and if one is to be honest, were the better team by a decent margin tonight. Buffalo, a very good team with an outstanding record against the Western Conference this season, took advantage of some favorable bounces - both by the puck and the guys in stripes.

Kings took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Drew Doughty’s point blast was redirected by Brad Richardson. The deflection was as perfect as they come, and exactly the type of play you need to beat a guy like Miller, who has been the NHL’s best goalie this season to date.

The Sabres got on the board in the first minute of the second period when Clarke MacArthur’s pass went off the stick of Sean O’Donnell past Jon Quick. The play wasn’t the worst of ideas by O’Donnell, but the puck took a bad bounce off the shaft of his stick and the game was tied. At that point, the officiating got very dicey. With Buffalo on the power play, Tomas Vanek was battling for position with Drew Doughty in front of the King net. Vanek cross checked Doughty from behind and sent him to the ice, leaving the Sabre forward all alone in front of Quick. Tim Connoly fed the puck from the right corner right on to Vanek’s stick and it was 2-1 Buffalo. The officials missed, or rather, decided not to call an obvious interference penalty against Vanek for a takedown that WWE mogul Vince McMahon would’ve been proud of. I’m all for “letting them play” but that non-call was just plain incompetent.

The zebras struck yet again when Oscar Moller appeared to have tipped the puck past Miller to tie the game at two. The play was reviewed and the NHL’s “War Room” in Toronto made the determination that Moller intentionally directed the puck in with his glove. The replay does clearly show contact between puck and glove, however it’s pretty clear that Moller is attempting to contact the puck with the shaft of his stick. What the replay officials were thinking at that point is just baffling. The goal was disallowed, zebras 2, Kings 1.

In an act of atonement for the Sabres first goal, Sean O’Donnell scored his second goal of the season with 55 seconds remaining in the second period on a blast over the shoulder of Miller, who had Michal Handzus perfectly stationed in front of him as a screen. Twice now in the last 4 games, the late goal in a period, which has often gone against the Kings this season, went the Kings’ way.

Sabres regained the lead again early in the 3rd period when Jason Pominville, driving to the net got tangled with Rob Scuderi and fell into Quick, preventing him from being able to square to the play. Sabres defenseman Craig Rivet flipped the puck past a sprawling Quick, off the crossbar and in. It was a play that I thought was at least borderline goaltender interference, but in real time it was truly difficult to tell whether or not he had been taken down by Scuderi. Replay shows Scuderi nary made contact with Pominville, but in this case it was close enough to allow for human error. Not the right call but if they were going to blow one, this one was at least close.

And yet the Kings roared back to tie the game yet again. Entering the Buffalo zone 3 on 2, Dustin Brown made a drop pass to Jaret Stoll, whose shot attempt deflected off a Sabre player and was tipped in by Ryan Smyth, who was unmolested at Miller’s right hand side. The officials again called for video review and you just had a feeling the way the game had been called that they were going to manufacture a reason to waive off the goal, as replay indicated it was an incidental deflection off Smyth’s skate. Thankfully, they got one right on the night and the game was tied.

Not to be understated was the play of both goaltenders. Jon Quick and Ryan Miller were both outstanding on the night, and with the score tied at 3 both made saves for their team that helped secure at least the single point getting out of regulation. Miller in particular saved the Sabre’s bacon in the overtime period on more than one occasion.

It seemed that beating Miller in the shootout would be a daunting task, but Anze Kopitar made it look easy, going to the backhand and roofing it past Miller. Drew Stafford scored on a snapshot for Buffalo to even the shootout at one. Jack Johnson was robbed by the flailing glove of Miller and Quick foiled Pominville’s shot attempt. Dustin Brown scored in his second straight shootout, choosing to deke the aggressive Miller, who had been coming far out of the net on the Kings’ shooters. Browns move was a success, as it banked off the right post and in. Jon Quick made a pad save on Tim Connolly that displayed Gumby-like flexibility to seal the win.

The victory vaulted the Kings into 7th in the West, a point ahead of both Detroit and Calgary.

Next, the Kings begin a 5 game road trip in Detroit. If the Kings play as well as they did last game against Detroit, you have to figure Jimmy Howard can’t possibly be that hot twice. With both teams battling for postseason position, you have to figure revenge will be on the Kings’ minds Saturday. The game is a big test - Detroit has years of experience winning games that lead to playoff berths. These Kings are just getting their feet wet. The Kings haven’t won a game against Detroit since the end of the 2007-2008 campaign. They’re long overdue.

Kings in Detroit, Saturday afternoon at 4 on the West coast.

Go Kings!

-JS

Brutal

So a big divisional matchup and a chance to help solidify a playoff spot ends up being one of the ugliest games the Kings have played all season.

Hopefully San Jose isn’t patting themselves too hard on the back for this one, because frankly, the Kings didn’t bother to show up.

I could go on a long rant about how inexcusable it is to play a game like this right now, but in short: Defensive zone mistakes, an AWFUL penalty kill and a couple of goals that Jon Quick would certainly like to have back.

So, instead of widening their lead over 9th seed Detroit, the Kings fail to collect a point and remain just a point ahead. The Buffalo Sabres come to town Thursday night, in another probably Matchup of US Olympic Team goalteders: Quick and Buffalo’s Ryan Miller. The Sabres are an excellent hockey team and Miller is a Vezina favorite and considered a frontrunner for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, but it’s worth noting that the Sabres did lose in Anaheim last night, albeit with backup Patrick Lalime in goal.

By the way, last night’s game aside, I can guarantee you there’s at least one team in the Western Conference that San Jose doesn’t want to see in the first round of the playoffs.

Go Kings.

-JS

A Dominating Win, a Big Comeback, and Another Division Foe.

Just realized this is my first post of the new year, the new decade if you will.

Of late, the Kings have put together some reasonably good efforts. Not all of them have been wins, but the last two games have been.

What’s more satisfying than a win over Anaheim? How about crushing them, shutting them out, demoralizing them, and winning every physical confrontation in the process. The Kings claimed the second installment of the Freeway Faceoff decisively with a 4-0 win, the Ducks showed their true colors by spending most of the 3rd period trying to take runs at Kings’ players. When the second period ended with the Ducks trailing by 4 goals, my immediate concern was that Randy Carlyle was going to do what he usually does when they’re getting their asses handed to them: Instruct his players to start taking cheap shots at Kings players, particularly Kopitar, Brown, Doughty and/or Quick. Predictably, Anaheim did just that, but the Kings held them accountable for every move. Ryan Carter, another in a long line of dirty Ducks, attempted at least two runs at Dustin Brown and got his ass handed to him as a result. Bobby Ryan made a completely cheap and unnecessary run at Oscar Moller with less than 10 seconds remaining in a game that had already been decided. It was a dangerous hit, and if Moller had been any farther from the boards, he might be a vegetable right now. Thankfully Moller nor anyone else was hurt in the third period.

The best part of the entire game was a sequence in which Wayne Simmonds, who was on fire all night, threw the puck at the net and scored (hotly contested by all four of Anaheim’s fans but insignificant to the game’s outcome), and then proceeded to beat the tar out of Ryan Getzlaf, possibly the Ducks biggest crybaby. Simmonds also took down Ryan Carter in the third period.

The game gave the Kings decisive 2-0 lead in the season series and helped reinforce what most of us already know: The Kings are a much better team than Anaheim this season.

Saturday saw the Kings battle back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to oust the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a shootout. While the game wasn’t the epic goaltending duel one might expect from a Jon Quick-Tim Thomas matchup, it was highly entertaining. My brother, a longtime Bruin fan, accompanied me to Staples, smirked and gloated while the Bruins led, and walked out dead silent - just the way I like it.

Tuesday the Kings welcome San Jose back to Staples. The Kings have outplayed the Sharks for the vast majority of minutes in the season series this year, and can continue their dominance with a win here. San Jose’s only regulation victory in the series was a 2-1 win at Staples last Monday, in which both Shark goals were controversial at best: The Sharks’ first “goal” was tipped by a high stick from San Jose’s Scott Nichol, and the second, and deciding goal of the game came on a power play, just seconds after the Sharks Joe Thornton was a good two feet offside at the King blueline as they entered the zone. Backup goalie Erik Ersberg played very well and deserved a much better fate than the Zebras handed him. A very well played game by both squads was decided on two major officiating blunders. Expect the Kings to play well enough Tuesday that the officiating won’t matter.

Kings and Sharks wrap up the season series from downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night. S

See you at Staples.

-JS

Interesting Response to the Johnson Injury

The bad news: Jack Johnson will miss tomorrow night’s game at Calgary. The good news: Johnson should be ready to play by the Kings’ next game Dec. 26th in Phoenix. The perplexing news: The Kings recalled D Alec Martinez from Manchester and Martinez is expected to be in the Kings’ lineup tomorrow night.

What makes the move confusing from my point of view? Well, for one, Davis Drewiske played much of last night’s game at forward. Drewiske has been solid all season long, and is a MUCH better option from a defensive point of view than Martinez on any day of the week. Also, Peter Harrold, who has been a healthy scratch often of late, can play D if needed and is also probably a better defensive option than Martinez. Martinez’s lone NHL game was this season’s opener against Phoenix, and he didn’t make a good impression. While he looked like he might be ready to jump to the NHL at times during the preseason, Martinez made several bad decisions with the puck in the defensive zone, and his play was more or less directly responsible for three of Phoenix’s goals in that 6-2 blowout loss. While a single game does not a career make, I can’t help but think that Thomas Hickey would’ve been next on the callup list if not for his injury.

This in my mind, raises questions about Terry Murray’s confidence in Drewiske. From my perspective anyway, Drewiske is better in his own end than Randy Jones, who seems at this point to be a permanent part of the Kings’ lineup; and dare I say better defensively than Jack Johnson has been much of the time. Furthermore, how would you feel if you were Harrold, much praised for his ability to be a utility guy, but very sparsely used this season. Would be interesting to pick the brains of both Terry Murray and Dean Lombardi regarding both of these players.

Kings at Flames, tomorrow night in Calgary.

GO KINGS!

-JS

Unlikely Hero

Last time the Kings played in Edmonton, it was Matt Greene scoring the game winner. Tonight it was Sean O’Donnell. What is it with Rexall Place and unlikely goal scorers?

Kings remain atop the Western Conference with the 3-2 victory over the Oilers. While O’Donnell tallied tonight’s game winner (on a beautiful feed from Sascha Frolov), the first star of the game was Jon Quick, without whom the Kings wouldn’t have had the opportunity to escape Edmonton with two points.

The bad news - Jack Johnson took a shot off the ankle and sat out most of the 3rd period as a result. Johnson is scheduled to be evaluated in Calgary tomorrow. The Kings are already without Ryan Smith and Wayne Simmonds, and losing Johnson for any substantial period of time would most definitely hurt.

After playing a very lackluster game in Vancouver last night, the Kings wrap up their Western Canadian swing in Calgary Thursday night. Kings’ wins in Calgary have been a rare occurrence the past few seasons, and especially with a shorthanded lineup the odds are not in their favor. If there is any solace, it’s that the Flames have lost three straight, although that may be bad news considering coach Brent Sutter will have them breathing fire Thursday. Once the Calgary game ends, the Kings will have 9 days off before resuming their schedule in Phoenix on the 26th.

Hope to have a Jack Johnson update via Rich Hammond of LaKingsInsider.com tomorrow

-JS

Kings Outshine Stars, Sit Atop Western Conference

Courtesy of NHL.com:

It may be merely mid-December, but the Los Angeles Kings to this point HAVE to be considered the league’s most improved team. The Kings played a long stretch without defenseman Rob Scuderi, and continues to play without key contributor Ryan Smyth. Today it was announced that Wayne Simmonds, who has largely been the Kings’ best forward for nearly a month, has a torn meniscus in his left knee and will require surgery on Monday. Despite being without some important pieces, the Kings continue to win. Tonight’s shootout victory over Dallas puts them in a place not many expected to see the Kings - leading the Pacific Division AND the Western Conference.

Like a handful of the other games in recent memory, the Kings did not play their best hockey and still managed to win. This is a testament to the outstanding play of Jon Quick, who I think has been the Kings’ best overall player the last 4 games. Dallas had one goal leads at two different points in the game, but Quick bailed the Kings’ out after d-zone miscues and held the Stars at bay, allowing his teammates to fight back and tie the game.

Wanna take a bet there’s a few guys on this Kings team that the Stars hate playing against? For one, Anze Kopitar, who scored the tying goal with 7.5 seconds left in the 2nd period and has 5 goals in 3 games against Dallas this year. Want another? How about Michal Handzus, who scored a hat-trick against Dallas last season in LA, and this season has scored an OT winner and a shootout winner vs. the Stars.

Dallas’ last chance fell on the shoulders of Mike Ribiero, a guy Kings fans love to hate. Ribeiro skated in and had the puck pokechecked off his stick by Quick, the puck came back and hit Ribiero’s skate and carried into the net. After discussing the play, the officials ruled no goal. Kings’ color man Jim Fox, who is objective to the point of nearly being an apologist for the officials sometimes, spoke to the NHL’s Kay Whitmore after the game. Whitmore’s explanation was that it was ruled a secondary play, akin to a rebound chance, which is not permissable in penalty shot situations or the shootout. By their ruling, as soon as Quick makes the pokecheck and the puck carries away from the goal, it is considered a save and the shootout attempt is therefore over. It was clearly not an intentional kick from Ribiero, but by that explanation I believe the ruling was a correct one. And with that, 4 wins in a row (1 in regulation, 1 in OT and 2 in shootouts) for the Kings, as well as tops in the division and conference.

These young Kings have a lot of fight, but they will be tested to their limits in the next 6 days. Monday brings a trip to Vancouver, where the Kings haven’t won in their last 3 attempts. Tuesday brings the Kings to Edmonton, where they have won their last 3, and Thursday to Calgary where the Kings haven’t won since 2007 before ending Saturday in Phoenix. As crucial as this week’s 4 game swing was, next week’s may be even more so. None of these are easy places to win in, and coming home with at least 4 points has to be considered a success. Fortunately the Kings have been pretty good on the road this season, and as well as Quick has played of late, they will have a chance to win every game.

I absolutely love that this team has banded together to win some tough games this season. Guts. Character. Moxie. Whatever you prefer to call it, this team’s got it. I picked the Kings to finish second in the Pacific Division behind San Jose. I think at this point, that seems like a very attainable goal, especially given the Kings dominant play in their own division. However, I am starting to believe this team could challenge San Jose for the division title right now. We clobbered the Sharks once and played very much neck in neck with them in two other contests. We’ve beaten them 2 of 3 games this season. There isn’t a huge jump in quality between the two teams. While a division title in 2010-2011 might be a safer bet, it is absolutely an achievable goal, right here and now.

RE: Injuries - Ryan Smyth is expected to return to the Kings’ lineup next Saturday night in Phoenix. As previously mentioned, Wayne Simmonds will have surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee on Monday. No timetable set yet, but this is generally an arthroscopic procedure and will probably sideline Simmonds for 4-6 weeks if I had to guess. Simmonds energy and tenacity will be hard to replace in the Kings lineup, but as was the case with Scuderi and Smyth, somebody else on the roster now has a golden opportunity to step up and make themselves noticed.

Kings in Vancouver Monday night.

GO KINGS!

-JS

Back to Back Days, Back to Back Division Wins, 1 Point Out

In what has been a tough week, the Kings have now beaten conference opponent Calgary back on Monday, and division opponents San Jose and Phoenix on consecutive nights.

Wednesday saw scoring droughts for Anze Kopitar, Teddy Purcell and Dustin Brown end in a Kings victory over the Sharks in San Jose. The Kings had a 2 goal lead in that game but allowed San Jose to come back to tie the game at 4 in the third period before Dustin Browns OT winner finished the job. Erik Ersberg in goal had an interesting night - it would  be fair to say that Ersberg allowed two soft goals, but he also made his share of tough stops. While I dislike the fact that the Kings gave San Jose a point, the bottom line is, Ersberg was good enough to win, which is all you can ask for.

Thursday’s game against Phoenix saw the Kings come out firing hard, taking a two goal lead in the first period. The Kings then seemed to get tired from about the 5 minute point in the second period on, allowing Phoenix to finally break though and tie the game at 2 on a 3rd period power play. Both Jon Quick and his Phoenix counterpart Ilya Bryzgalov were outstanding. Quick made the save sequence of the game in the 3rd period, stopping 3 Coyotes’ shots in succession including split pad saves on Shane Doan and Jim Vandermeer in opposite directions. Phoenix seemed to control most of the third period, and I felt like the Kings were lucky to get out of regulation alive.

In overtime the Kings found a bit of a second wind and had a handful of chances, but were unable to beat Bryzgalov. Quick again held Phoenix at bay.

The shootout turned out to be the longest in Kings’ history, going 8 rounds. Jack Johnson was once again automatic in the shootout beating Bryzgalov with a perfectly placed high backhand. Quick continues to own opposing shooters who attempt to go glove side on him. Johnson, Handzus, Doughty and Williams scored for the Kings; Mueller, Lang and Prucha for the Coyotes. After Williams scored in the 8th round against Bryzgalov, Quick made a controlled save on Scottie Upshall to seal the Kings’ win.

Of significance: The win Thursday makes the season series with Phoenix 3-1-0 for the Kings, assuring them of at worst a split head to head with the Coyotes, who have given the Kings their share of problems in recent seasons. The win also puts the Kings 1 point back of division leading San Jose, also one point out of the top spot in the Western Conference. Remember that the Kings’ win over San Jose was another 3 point game? If the Kings close the deal in regulation, they’re tied for first place in the Pacific (and the conference) right now. San Jose plays Dallas Friday night and Phoenix Saturday night. If the Stars and Coyotes manage to hold San Jose to a point (or less) and the Kings beat Dallas on Saturday night, the Kings will be in first place in the Pacific when the week ends. It would certainly require some luck for San Jose to lose both of the next two, but it’s not impossible.

Up next for the Kings is Dallas, whom the Kings have beaten twice this season so far. Dallas has only one win at Staples in their last 6 visits, that was their last meeting of last season. The Kings have owned Dallas the past couple of seasons, however it is another important divisional game, and will be important for the Kings to play another solid game to get two points.

Jon Quick is one victory behind some guy named Martin Brodeur for the league lead in victories. Maybe you’ve heard of him?

Kings also become the first team in the Western Conference to 20 wins this season.

Kings and Stars at Staples Saturday night.

GO KINGS!

-JS

A Huge Character Win

The last time the Kings beat Calgary was in February of 2008. Heading into tonight, that was the team’s lone win against the Flames in the last 12 tries. Given that, it’s easy to understand why you don’t head into a game against Calgary with a ton of optimism. ESPECIALLY when the Flames are the NHL’s hottest road team, and arguably playing the league’s best hockey of late. They possess one of the most formidable defenses in recent league history, and they’ve got a fire breathing dragon named Mikka Kiprusoff guarding their net. Based on the Kings’ recent lackluster performances (even if they did gain points), you could hardly have blamed anyone for not bearing to watch.

The Kings took the first lead of the game with a beautiful goal by Scott Parse, who took a feed from Michal Handzus just as a Kings’ power play had expired, then proceeded to undress both the Flames’ Adam Pardy and Kiprusoff, all while being harassed by Aaron Johnson. However, once the lead was theirs, the Kings’ managed to start the defensive zone fire drill, and predicatbly it cost them when Curtis Glencross skated toward the net nearly unmolested and backhanded the puck past Jon Quick to tie the game at one.

While this was not the last of the Kings’ defensive mistakes in their own end, it would be the last time the Flames would dent twine tonight. Quick, making 26 saves total, was there to bail out the Kings’ time and again after failed attempts at clearing the zone.

When the Kings were awarded a power play in the second period, at was as if they knew exactly what they needed to do: control of the puck, crisp passes and the shot mentality that Terry Murray speaks so often about. After Dustin Brown circled the net with the puck and fed Justin Williams along the halfwall, Williams appeared set to dish off to the point man, but instead threaded a nifty pass to Jaret Stoll, who tipped the puck past Kiprusoff.

Having seen the Kings’ inability to clear their own zone in times of need, heading to the third period with a 2-1 lead didn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but the Kings came out for the third period playing a simplified, tightened defensive game that helped to smother the Flames. When Calgary could find daylight, there was Quick, waiting with an outstretched pad, or in one case tonight, the very tip of his catching glove to thwart a Flames’ scoring chance. With Kiprusoff pulled for the final minute and change of the game, the Flames were unable to sustain any pressure and the Kings skated to victory, their first over Calgary in nearly two years.

Kopitar and Brown are still without goals in their last 13 and 14 games respectively, but secondary scoring, which was considered a question mark for the Kings headed into the season, was again present when needed. One place the Kings improved greatly tonight was in the faceoff circle. It amazed me with their record to learn that Calgary is last in the NHL in faceoffs won. The Kings were able to win key draws, particularly on the penalty kill to avert Calgary from being able to set up plays in the Kings’ end at crucial times.

Also not without mention - the Kings got some bounces tonight. There were two or three instances where a Flames pass back to a wide open point man or an open forward skating through the slot didn’t connect because of a bouncing puck. In recent games, these have all gone against the Kings. Tonight, they went in their favor, including a hit post by Iginla in the 3rd on a shot Quick appeared not to see coming. To beat quality teams like Calgary, you need a little luck, and the Kings had it tonight.

This game was what I’d call a huge character win for the Kings. They win despite being outshot 26-16, and despite some sloppy own-end play early, manage to tighten up defensively when they needed to. The game was very reminiscent of the type of game needed to win in the playoffs. Hopefully a sign on things to come.

The week starts off well now, but won’t get any easier. Kings head to San Jose to face the division leading Sharks on Wednesday night. With the Kings only trailing San Jose by 4 points for the division lead at press time, a win would be huge. The Kings will then head home and face Phoenix the next night. The Kings only have a two point lead over the overachieving Coyotes, and despite beating them twice in their barn, got blown out by the Desert Dogs on opening night in LA. Two important divisional games, with Ryan Smyth not expected to return for at least another week, will paint a picture of the kind of will this team has. Will it find a way to win without the big guns firing again? The answer to that question may have a lot to do with playoff seeding at seasons’ end.

Kings in San Jose at the Tank Wednesday night.

-JS

Don’t forget to vote for The Throne Room in the NHL Arena’s Kings Blog-off

Blog-off

Thought I’d take a moment to pass on to you, the reader, that The Throne Room has advanced to round 2 of The NHL Arena’s first annual Kings blog-off, pitting this blog against 5 other worthy competitors. If those of you who enjoy reading the blog could or would like to, please take a minute to stop by the Kings’ Blog-off thread and vote for The Throne Room and your 3 other favorite Kings’ blogs on the list. Also, if you’re looking for a great place for Kings’ fans (or any fans for that matter) to engage in great hockey discussion, please check out the Arena. And as always, thanks very much for your support!

-JS

3 Points Gained for Two Poorly Played Games

If Thursday’s win over Ottawa and Saturday’s shootout loss to St. Louis had anything in common, it was the Kings playing sloppy, disorganized hockey, particularly in the defensive end of the rink.

Thursday saw defensive blunders allow the Sens to roar back from a 3-1 deficit before the Kings got their act together and buried Ottawa in the third period. Brad Richardson scored for the second straight game and also had an assist, and Wayne Simmonds scored a beautiful penalty shot goal. Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood’s favorite hockey player and my least favorite bible-thumper in the NHL, scored twice for Ottawa. Sens goalie Brian Elliot made some nice saves but was not at his sharpest. Jon Quick played much better than 3 goals against might lead you to believe.

Saturday was another game of Bad News Bear-esque defensive zone play for the Kings. All 4 of St. Louis’ goals in regulation came right after the Kings had opportunities to clear the zone but failed. If I’m Terry Murray, I’m spending the next WEEK at practice making these guys work on breaking out of the zone or at least clearing the puck past opposing forecheckers, as it has been an issue for much of the season so far. The lead in this game changed hands 3 times with the Kings scoring first on Richardson’s shorthanded goal. If Richardson scores Monday night to make it 4 in a row, I’m predicting the apocalypse is happening, though I’m not complaining in truth - Kings’ goals have to come from somebody and he might as well make up for his near season and a half without one. The Blues would score the next two but the Kings’ Scott Parse would tie the game immediately after on a funny shot that knuckled off the arm of Blues goalie Chris Mason and fluttered into the net. Kings took the lead on a Jaret Stoll goal in the third period but the Blues would tie the game less than a minute later, and take the lead on a Paul Kariya power play goal with less then 3 minutes left in regulation. The Kings would pull Quick and Sasha Frolov scored with 33.8 seconds remaining. The Kings had chances during a scramble before regulation time expired, as well as several chances in OT (including Anze Kopitar ALL alone in front of the Blues’ net) to win the game outright but didn’t cash in. Blues first two shooters scored in the shootout and both Kopitar and the normally automatic Jack Johnson failed to score to seal the Kings’ fate.

If you’re going to take something positive about Saturday’s game - and the last few games for that matter, it’s secondary scoring. While one wouldn’t be smart to expect point a game pace out of Wayne Simmonds (points in 6 straight) and Brad Richardson (goals in 3 straight), right now it’s been crucial as most of the big guns can’t seem to find the trigger lately.

While Dustin Brown is playing pretty damn good hockey right now, he hasn’t scored in 13 games, and Anze Kopitar hasn’t scored in 12 games now, the longest scoring drought of either player’s career. Brown is doing a lot of things right at the moment, and you have to believe that eventually the puck will go in for him. Sooner would be nice.

Kopitar looks good in his own end, but he desperately needs to improve in the faceoff circle, as he’s been the Kings’ least reliable draw man of late. Offensively, Kopi just looks like he’s thinking too hard about what to do with the puck. The instinctual plays we saw a lot of earlier in the season seem far away now. There were a couple chances in the Ottawa game where he held the puck to long trying to decide whether to shoot or pass, and his all-alone chance on Mason in OT Saturday just reeked of a guy who’s not feeling confident and thinking way too hard about what to do next. Anze has great hockey instincts, we’ve all seen them. The existed before Ryan Smyth became a King and they still exist now. What Anze desperately needs to do is just simplify his game. Yes, not having Smyth has effected things, but Kopi has had opportunities to score and hasn’t hit the bank yet. If I’m Terry Murray I’m setting Anze up with the freakiest call-girl in LA, let him show up loose and relaxed for Monday’s morning skate. You just know as soon as Kopi (or Brown for that matter) gets one to go in, the floodgates are going to open. That said, Ryan Smyth still can’t come back soon enough.

Oscar Moller was recalled from Manchester today. Seems like Teddy Purcell’s audition as a top 6 NHL forward might be coming to an end soon.

Now, on to bigger problems. The Kings face Calgary next. The last time the Kings beat the Flames was nearly two years ago. The Flames were in town a couple weekends ago and it was an ugly 5-2 defeat for the Kings, with Calgary captain Jarome Iginla netting the hat trick. During the St. Louis game I kept repeating to myself over and over “gotta find a way to win this damn game, or we’re on a losing streak with Calgary up next”. It’s going to be an uphill battle to be certain. This week has the look of potential disaster for the Kings - Calgary at home Monday night, at San Jose on Wednesday, and Phoenix at home Thursday. The Kings are 1-0-1 against San Jose this season but they’ve come on strong of late. They’re 2-1 against Phoenix but the Coyotes are breathing down the Kings’ necks in the division and conference standings. A game played as poorly as either of the last two games spells certain defeat against any of the next 3 opponents. If Quick plays well, defensive zone mistakes are held to a minimum and the big guns are able to chip in while the secondary scoring keeps it going, 4 or 5 of 6 points is a possibility, but it could just as easily be 0-2 points. There’s some definite cause for concern in Tinseltown.

The good news, of course, is that the Ducks are last in the Western Conference. Even when the Kings aren’t playing their best hockey, that fact will extract a smile from most fans.

Kings and Flames at Staples Monday night.

-JS