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Game No. 12 Game Day Blog: Los Angeles Kings Vs. Edmonton Oilers (POSTGAME)

October 27, 2013, 9:24 AM ET [17 Comments]
Jason Lewis
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Records:

Los Angeles Kings (7-4-0)
V.
Edmonton Oilers (3-8-1)


Home/Away Records

Los Angeles Kings
Home: 3-2-0
Away: 4-2-0

Edmonton Oilers
Home: 1-3-0
Away: 2-5-1


Last 10:

Los Angeles Kings - (6-4-0)

Edmonton Oilers - (3-6-1)



Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

Time: 6:00 PM PST

Channels: Fox Sports West

Local Radio: AM 1150

---------------------

Leading Scorers:

Los Angeles Kings








Playergoalsassistspoints+/-
Anze Kopitar11011+3
Jeff Carter538Even
Justin Williams448+2
Mike Richards167-1
Drew Doughty325+2


Goaltender Stats


PlayerWLOTGAASV%SO
Jonathan Quick6402.71.9040
Ben Scrivens1001.22.9391






Edmonton Oilers








Playergoalsassistspoints+/-
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins4610-7
Jordan Eberle3710+2
Marc Arcobello01010+3
David Perron279-2
Taylor Hall358-6


Goaltender Stats


PlayerWLOTGAASV%SO
Devan Dubnyk2524.01.8780
Jason LaBarbera1303.65.8570




----------------------

Team Stats:


CategoryLos Angeles KingsEdmonton Oilers
Powerplay20.0% (14th)12.2% (24th)
Penalty Kill83.0% (12th)72.7% (29th)
G/G2.73 (17th)2.83 (15th)
GA/G2.64 (15th)4.00 (30th)
S/G31.2 (10th)28.5 (23rd)
SA/G27.7 (6th)30.0 (13th)
Faceoffs55.2 (4th) 52.3 (8th)


-----------------------


Los Angeles Kings Preview:

Anytime you see the Kings score more than three goals it is a strange performance, and on Thursday night against Phoenix they doubled the imagination and potted seven. With Richards, Kopitar, and Frattin getting on the board for the first time of the season, and Dwight King netting a hat trick, hopefully that game serves as a slump buster. Several King forwards looked to be snake bitten before Thursday night, Kopitar in particular. In the previous performance against Calgary Kopitar had a few shots ring of the post, a few pucks get on edge, and was left goal-less for the 10th time of the season. So with the first goal behind him, hopefully Kopitar can start racking up the goals to properly represent how good he has been this season. He has been questioned by several media outlets due to his lack of goals despite being the teams leading scorer with 10 assists in 11 games.

The Kings have had trouble in the past with a quick skating Edmonton team. However, outside of a last second game tying goal and an overtime winner last season, the Kings were able to stifle the offense of Edmonton. They are struggling again this season and are coming off a back to back with Phoenix. All signs point to this being a difficult game for Edmonton in a difficult time. Keep an eye on David Perron who was a thorn in the side of goaltender Jonathan Quick in the playoffs last season.

It’s time to start taking King lineups with a real fine grain of salt. It appears that while Sutter sets a basic lineup each night to start with, he is changing the lines multiple times throughout the game based on performances. While this is a common practice, Sutter hasn’t been so committed to it in the past. Again he had very strange lines in practice, including Richards and Kopitar on the top line and Martinez at left wing, but the lines stayed pretty status quo come gametime. King moved from second to first line, Brown from first to third, Lewis from third to fourth. Etc. etc. etc.

Dustin Brown does appear to be laboring a bit lately, and has been playing with a knee brace. If you recall, Brown suffered a knee injury in the playoffs last season but did not require surgery to repair a damaged ligament. He has had some trouble getting into the flow of things, and with the recent performance of Dwight King it seems like Brown will stay on the third line with Stoll and Lewis for the time being.

Jake Muzzin was the guilty party on what looked like a stick infraction that could potentially bury the Kings early in the third. With Phoenix storming back on four straight goals to tie it, Muzzin went to the box, setting the stage as perhaps the penultimate moment of the comeback for Phoenix. Leave it to Mike Richards to re-write the script in favor of the Kings and score a decisive shorthander. With that in mind don’t be surprised if Alec Martinez or Keaton Ellerby get the call tonight, as last time a King defenseman named Alec Martinez took an ill-advised penalty (OT Nashville O-zone) he was a press box resident the next game. While Muzzin has picked up his play since returning, Sutter does like to send that message of responsible play at all times.

While it was another victory notch in the belt of Jonathan Quick, he let in yet another suspect goal and his save percentage on the game was below .900. While cheating off the post, anticipating a pass, Hanzal wisely banked it off the back of a leaning Quick. He’s been spectacular at times this season, but obviously he’s also been mind boggling. That seems to be more and more the book on Quick. He goes through tremendous ebbs and flows, and when he is on he is unbeatable. When he isn’t he definitely isn’t.

While Jeff Carter’s scoring pace has slowed a little bit, he has arguably been the Kings most valuable forward this season. His two-way play has been out of this world and he has come into the season looking like he is in the best shape of his life. With Carter you like to see big numbers, and you will probably get between 25-30 goals, but when he is putting together 200-foot play like has has been the scoring is just a huge bonus.


Los Angeles Kings Lineup (Subject to change)

Dwight King - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Jeff Carter - Mike Richards - Matt Frattin
Dustin Brown - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford - Colin Fraser - Jordan Nolan

Robyn Regehr - Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Jake Muzzin - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Ben Scrivens

Scratches: Keaton Ellerby, Kyle Clifford, Alec Martinez


Players to Watch: Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar



Edmonton Oilers Preview:

I’ll admit it. In my season preview of the Oilers, found here, I said it would be the year for Edmonton to break out and make the playoffs. Boy are they doing their best to prove me wrong. On paper the team looks solid, but the same old problems have come around to haunt the Oilers. Injuries, goaltending, and defense. Obviously with the start the Oilers have had there are plenty of talking points, so let me try and touch on a few.

Yakupov is the headliner. The struggling young Russian has already had his name tossed around already in different trade scenarios, has been benched twice, and has been called out by his coach Dallas Eakins in the media. If there is a GIF that perfectly sums up the play of Yakupov this season it’s this one.



A disregard to defense, not helping out his centerman, attempting to leave the zone too early, ignoring the goalscorer. Did I get it all? Yakupov has just two assists in 10 games and is a minus-five rating. The former first overall is definitely struggling in the early goings. His line with Nugent Hopkins and Eberle were on ice for all four goals against the other night in a 4-1 loss to Washington.

Another season, and another injury to the talented Taylor Hall. It is very unfortunate that Hall suffers so many injuries because he is a special talent and a hard-working player. That being said, at 21-years of age Hall has already had a severe ankle sprain, a concussion, shoulder surgery, and now a knee injury. He is a massive player in this organization and the sooner he gets back the better. He will have to wait to take on the Los Angeles Kings for now. Sam Gagner is also out of the lineup with a jaw injury.

Marc Arcobello has had a tremendous start to his professional career, and he isn’t necessarily the name you would associate with the young talent of Edmonton. However, the 25-year old rookie has been awesome and has 10 assists in 12 games this season. Also, don’t think it’s just because of who he is skating with either. While he is centering the talented Hemsky and Perron, Arcobello has not been a passenger and has been a creative and stand alone talent in the Oilers top six.

While goaltending from Dubnyk was great last season, it looks like that could have been an anomaly. Dubnyk is back to the old ways of letting in soft goals and not coming up with big saves for his team. While the Oilers are 15th in shots allowed per game, allowing just a hair over 30, they are dead last in goals against. Dubnyk has not lived up to the expectations of many to say the least, and with such a young and questioned defense in front of him he has to do better in coming up with key saves. So far the team has been winning in spite of Dubnyk rather than because of him, and that is not a formula for success. On the backup side of things former King LaBarbera has been no better, and now his job may be on the outs as goaltender Richard Bachman has been called up from the minors.

With injuries and general depth chart emaciation, there are a few names you won’t recognize in the Edmonton roster. Anton Belov, Tyler Pitlick, and Luke Gazdic are just a few of the names floating around right now trying to hold together a leaky Edmonton roster. On the second night of a back to back, I expect to see some pretty heavy ice-time on a few of the bottom lines of Edmonton, which could spell trouble in the later stages of the game tonight. Pitlick was also injured in last night’s contest against the Coyotes so that will add to it. It’s possible that the Oilers dress seven defenseman if they can’t get someone in. The latest is that Anton Lander has been recalled from Oklahoma City in an effort to fill the spot.




Edmonton Oilers Lineup (Subject to change)

Nail Yakupov - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
David Perron - Mark Arcobello - Ales Hemsky
Ryan Jones - Boyd Gordon - ******
Luke Gazdic - Will Acton - Ben Eager

Nick Schultz - Andrew Ference
Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Justin Schultz - Anton Belov

Richard Bachman
Jason LaBarbera

Scratches: Taylor Hall (INJ.), Sam Gagner (INJ.), Denis Grebeshkov, Ryan Smyth (INJ.), Anton Lander, Denis Grebshkov

Players to watch: Nail Yakupov, Marc Arcobello, David Perron

Scoring Summary

First Period

None

Second Period

Edmonton Oilers Goal - 4:12 - Nail Yakupov, Assists: A. Belov, J. Petry
Los Angeles Kings Goal - 16:58 - Mike Richards, Assists: J. Muzzin, J. Carter

Third Period

NONE

Overtime Period

NONE

Shootout


LAK Mike Richards - Goal
EDM Jordan Eberle - Goal
LAK Jeff Carter - Save
EDM David Perron - Save
LAK Anze Kopitar - Goal
EDM Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Miss

RESULT: Kings win 2-1 (SO)

My Three Stars:

1. Richard Bachman
2. Mike Richards
3. Jonathan Quick

Post-Game Write up

Richard. Bachman. He didn't need to be spectacular, but he needed to be what the Edmonton Oilers have needed from goalies all season; consistent and solid. He came up with 47 saves out of 48 shots, which was a season high for the LA Kings. Richards got the lone tally and has a goal in each of his last two games. Credit Bachman big time here, he was a call up yesterday to fill in for a hobbled Devan Dubnyk, and looked extremely good in his season debut. The 26-year old, who was formerly drafted by Dallas, was acquired via free agency and has since been playing with Oklahoma City of the AHL.

The next best player on the ice was Mike Richards hands down. It wasn't a pretty game, but it was a gritty game and one that Mike Richards flourishes in. He worked hard on the penalty kill, and was rewarded with his second goal of the season. He had his third buried in the twine but it was ruled out due to contact with the goalie by Matt Frattin. Absolutely the right call was made, but I seriously question when this play is going to become a standard reviewable play. At this point we review goals scored on potential high sticks or directed pucks with glove or skate, so why not this? The same thing is at stake. A goal. Picture this, it's game seven of the finals and a puck goes in the net in overtime but it is ruled out due to contact. Yet the player was pushed in by an opposing player. Is this justice done? Obviously the game seven overtime scenario is an extreme, but it's definitely something that has had a world of controversy around it and should likely be made a reviewable play in the future just for fairness sake.

All in all, this was a rather slow and methodical game from both teams. The majority of King chances came on the cycle, and the majority of Oiler chances (what few they had) came on the rush. It was a mashed up game in the neutral zone with a lot of posturing that lasted nearly the entirety of the game.

Aside from Bachman, Yakupov finally got in the goal column with his first of the year, and Anton Belov I thought had a particularly strong game. He played a hard nose defensive game, threw a few decent hits and was excellent with his stick and gap control. He, aside from Bachman, was the best Oiler on the ice. He led the Oilers in icetime with 23:30, while Drew Doughty yet again took the cake for the Kings with 27:42.

Edmonton has been rather weak in the faceoff circle in years past, but they held their own tonight against a strong faceoff team. The Kings edged them 38-34. Kopitar took a staggering 33 faceoffs on the night, winning 20, and wrapping up the game with a 61% win rate. Carter continued to be incredibly strong in the circle as well with the limited draws he takes, as he went 8-for-12 and is now sitting at a lofty 62% on the season.

Colin Fraser and Jordan Nolan played a grand total of about 3 and a half minutes each. With a roster that is struggling to score on the bottom lines, and rumor of a roster move being made soon, three and a half minutes is a strangely low amount of ice time for a fourth line in an overtime game against a bottom of the league opponent. Even for Sutter.

Kings must have seen the importance of two things heading into that third period. Hitting and traffic in front. They clearly outplayed the Oilers for the entirety of the third, and led with a lot of big hits and created a ton of chaos in front of Bachman with screens, tips, and second and third opportunities. Tip your hat to the enemy, but the Kings have to keep that same mentality moving forward.

Frattin in particular had a strong game and visibly had one thing in mind when he got on ice: create space for his linemates. Frattin was digging pucks out, throwing the body, and getting to the front of the net in a general effort to open up things for Carter and Richards. Very much a step in the right direction for Frattin who has started a touch slow this season.

Again, who picks these three stars?? Bachman, 47 saves, second star. Jonathan Quick, 17 saves, first star. Makes sense.

On to Phoenix Tuesday and then the big bad San Jose Sharks at home on Wednesday. Big couple of games coming up for the Kings.

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