After a couple of long off-ice days with plenty of drama I'm sure I'm not the only one ready for the Kings to return to the ice tonight. Barring a significant development in the Slava Voynov case he will miss tonight's game.
However, Jake Muzzin was cleared for play yesterday afternoon and will be slotted into the lineup for the first time this season.
As far as the Voynov situation goes, a court date is set for December 1st and the filing of charges was pushed back from last night to an undetermined time. As far as details go, it now becomes an issue of 'he said, she said' in which both Voynov and the victim are saying it was a "Misunderstanding."
Who knows what has really happened. It will be settled in the next few months and we can move on. That's really all there is to it. I could write a massive post about something related to this issue but it would simply be a match in a bonfire at this point. There have been some very heartfelt and worthwhile blogs and podcasts composed by some of our friends of HB at SBNation JFTC and the
THX Bud podcast. Head to their sites to check em out.
As far as this guy goes, I'll remain pensive and tightlipped until further details are leaked.
Let's get back to some hockey.
The Sabres were in SoCal last night taking on the Anaheim Ducks. They got the least warm of welcomes from Anaheim, who won 4-1 behind a Corey Perry hat trick. Michael Neuvirth faced 33 shots and the Sabres continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in hockey in terms of shots allowed.
Jhonas Enroth, who will be starting tonight for the Sabres, has faced an average of 37.3 shots per game.
Guess who is right in front of them with 36.0 shots allowed per game? You guessed it, the Kings. That's not the norm for this team, but it's still early on and those numbers are always going to correct themselves due to the small sample size.
The problem for Buffalo is that they are still a very young team without a lot of deep talent. So far this season they have barely managed to score a goal per game, they have allowed near 40 shots against per game, their powerplay hasn't scored yet, and they are mustering a league low 23 shots for per night.
Ouch.
This leads me to watching stats this early in the season though. Most teams are just about 6-7 games in. It's hard to look at any of these stats based on average and come to a conclusion. Take the Dallas Stars for example, who started the year killing the first 11 penalties of the year. Great! 100% you're awesome Dallas. They hit Pittsburgh, and the Pens pot two powerplay goals on four attempts. Next night they go to Philly and give up two on five attempts. Now, what was an extremely good penalty kill has turned into a sub-par unit that is killing under 80%. It went from great to "What's wrong with the penalty kill??" in two games.
Buffalo isn't great, but don't underestimate them simply due to statistics. Hodgson, Ennis, Girgensons, Ristolainen etc. etc. are talented players capable of winning, even if the stats haven't shown that. Likewise, the Kings are a better defensive team that what is currently being shown in the possession and shots against categories. The Kings are currently sitting at 19th in the league at corsi for, and 26th in the league in fenwick for %. The Sabres are, of course, last in both categories. Point is, sometimes these early stats can be somewhat indicative of what to expect, but not always. Where there is smoke there's fire, but it's a little too early to be relying on these just yet. By game 20 we usually have a good idea of how a team is.
The Kings will get some stabilizing tonight with the return of Jake Muzzin, and it seems as though everyone else will just take a step forward in the depth chart. Most importantly, Drew Doughty will get his best friend back.
Doughty - Muzzin
Greene - McNabb
Regehr - Martinez
The evolution of Brayden McNabb has definitely helped the Kings in terms of defensive depth, and when the return of Voynov hits the depth chart it will be interesting to see who is moved out. My guess? 44 better step his game up if he wants to keep seeing the ice.
In particular I loved this quote from Muzzin on McNabb's play so far
“He looks good...It’s tough to come in to a new system and play right away, play with Drew and against some top guys. But he’s done an awesome job and he’s helped us win and start off to a good record here. And we look forward to him to keep on doing what he’s doing here for the rest of the season.
Full article on McNabb and facing his former team in Buffalo can be found
right here at LAKings Insider.
After tonight the Kings get another extra day off before starting a run of five games in seven days from this Sunday to the following Sunday. Eek. Go go NHL scheduling!
Follow me on twitter for news and notes about the Kings and the NHL
Also be sure to like HockeyBuzz on facebook!
++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in placing an ad on the blog here at HockeyBuzz then send me a PM!+++++ 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»