Jason Lewis: Los Angeles Kings - San Jose Sharks First Round Series Preview

That's been my song: Kings in 6. And jones gets pulled twice.

That's been my song: Kings in 6. And jones gets pulled twice.
- Stu17

I really think Jones has something to prove seeing how the kings just kicked him out the door..I believe he wants to show you guys up. imho

I really think Jones has something to prove seeing how the kings just kicked him out the door..I believe he wants to show you guys up. imho
- rubberduckies

I wouldn't say he was kicked, he wanted to be a #1 and they, being the stand up organization that they are, obliged.

I really think Jones has something to prove seeing how the kings just kicked him out the door..I believe he wants to show you guys up. imho
- rubberduckies

Jones was not going to usurp Quick due to financial obligations and quality. However he deserved an opportunity and the Kings dealt him so he could have one elsewhere. Hardly "kicking him out the door"

I really think Jones has something to prove seeing how the kings just kicked him out the door..I believe he wants to show you guys up. imho
- rubberduckies

Resist the impulse to post or maybe indulge 1 of every 10 of your impulses.

Kings in 6. Sharks can't hang in a long series.

Also have the Kings in 6. Think it'll be a tough series though. Kings only weakness is their propensity for taking penalties. That has to stop. Now. It's gotten old fast. A well- timed powerplay goal can be the difference in winning a series or being eliminated. San Jose's powerplay is way too solid to toy with. If they manage to stay out of the box, the Kings move on to Round 2. Simple as that.

It's gone seven the last two times, why not a third? Kings in seven heaven.

I really think Jones has something to prove seeing how the kings just kicked him out the door..I believe he wants to show you guys up. imho
- rubberduckies

Jones held out into training camp on his first contract after his ELC for more money. He was apparently lining up to do the same thing last offseason, and the Kings weren't willing to shell out $2M+ for a backup goaltender. Lombardi has made it no secret that he wants his players to do things "the right way" when it comes to their RFA contracts, and he responded to holdouts like Cammalleri & O'Sullivan by shipping them out soon after they signed. Jones was going to get paid, and the Kings weren't going to pay him. They did pretty good by getting Lucic in return.

I'm sure he does want to show up his former team. However, I'm sure the Kings are just as eager to light him up. I don't really see what that has anything to do with how the series unfolds.

Good read, best preview I've seen by far looking forward to a great series

While it is a great preview, I don't understand how you could possibly say LA has more scoring depth than San Jose. After Sharks' top 6, you have

Marleau 48 points
Wingels 18
Karlsson 19
Tierny with 20
Nieto with 17
and spaling with 13 (in only 58 games)

LA has

Versteeg with 38
Lecavelier with 18 (in 49 games)
Lewis with 16
King with 13
Clifford with 9 (in 56 games)
Andreoff with 10

Don't see how there was an advantage to L.A. and San Jose having all their eggs in one basket? San Jose rolls three good scoring lines with 2 extremely potent D-men.

Good read, best preview I've seen by far looking forward to a great series
- sjsharksss

Thanks! Should be a really great series

While it is a great preview, I don't understand how you could possibly say LA has more scoring depth than San Jose. After Sharks' top 6, you have

Marleau 48 points
Wingels 18
Karlsson 19
Tierny with 20
Nieto with 17
and spaling with 13 (in only 58 games)

LA has

Versteeg with 38
Lecavelier with 18 (in 49 games)
Lewis with 16
King with 13
Clifford with 9 (in 56 games)
Andreoff with 10

Don't see how there was an advantage to L.A. and San Jose having all their eggs in one basket? San Jose rolls three good scoring lines with 2 extremely potent D-men.
- Videoj

It is not just goals. No doubt San Jose probably has the more potent offensive players in the bottom six, they are not as defensively savvy. They give up a large amount of scoring chances against. So if they aren't converting on those (Against a very good defense) they are likely just going to end up a liability to DeBoer.

I think he CAN roll three lines and two pairs consistently, and that is what will make this series interesting. Can the Kings roll four and three? Or will they also roll three and two.

While it is a great preview, I don't understand how you could possibly say LA has more scoring depth than San Jose. After Sharks' top 6, you have

Marleau 48 points
Wingels 18
Karlsson 19
Tierny with 20
Nieto with 17
and spaling with 13 (in only 58 games)

LA has

Versteeg with 38
Lecavelier with 18 (in 49 games)
Lewis with 16
King with 13
Clifford with 9 (in 56 games)
Andreoff with 10

Don't see how there was an advantage to L.A. and San Jose having all their eggs in one basket? San Jose rolls three good scoring lines with 2 extremely potent D-men.
- Videoj

aren't you the same person that said Burns = Doughty?

aren't you the same person that said Burns = Doughty?
- Stu17

Out of context. The response was to someone saying San Jose doesn't have a Doughty or a Kopitar.

I said Burns is comparable. He is not better defensively. However as an all around player, who should be winning the Norris, I would say they are as valuable to their teams as eachother.

Also said I would take Burns and Vlasic over Doughty and Muzzin. Which is my opinion.

It is not just goals. No doubt San Jose probably has the more potent offensive players in the bottom six, they are not as defensively savvy. They give up a large amount of scoring chances against. So if they aren't converting on those (Against a very good defense) they are likely just going to end up a liability to DeBoer.

I think he CAN roll three lines and two pairs consistently, and that is what will make this series interesting. Can the Kings roll four and three? Or will they also roll three and two.
- Jason_Lewis

The biggest reason that San Jose has the best road record in the NHL is because DeBoer has still been able to dictate matchups. Dave Tippett school of thinking. Even tho the kings have the last change on home ice, Sutter will be choosing players based on which Sharks are on the ice at the time. If Sutter wants to keep Kopitar out against Pavelski and Thornton, he WILL be defending most of the time. Even if he is successful 90% of the time, which he isn't, he's still giving up chances, albeit few of them. The thing that makes an offence potent is the ability to convert on the chances, not necessarily the number of chances.

If you really think Andreoff is going to offensively lead the kings to a series victory, then fine, but most people would disagree I think. I believe you have underrated the sharks forward group by presenting the way you have. If your best two way players are only defending and your worst offensive players are the only ones providing offence, you have less of chance to win. Sutter will either have to juggle his lines or pick some spots to move Kopitar away from Thornton to win this series. Thats why I think, obviously, special teams are going to big in this one

I understand it is just about goals, however my comment was in relation to the things you stated

"However, in terms of pure scoring it's the Thornton-Pavelski show with some chip in from Hertl and Donskoi. "

and

"San Jose has their big guns in the top 6, whereas L.A. has more varied production"

I meant no disrespect and agree that the edge to L.A. in their forwards' defensive play is merited, however the varied production from San Jose is higher than L.A (unless you meant production as in the forwards being reliable, but in hockey, generally we say production for goals/assists I believe).

The biggest reason that San Jose has the best road record in the NHL is because DeBoer has still been able to dictate matchups. Dave Tippett school of thinking. Even tho the kings have the last change on home ice, Sutter will be choosing players based on which Sharks are on the ice at the time. If Sutter wants to keep Kopitar out against Pavelski and Thornton, he WILL be defending most of the time. Even if he is successful 90% of the time, which he isn't, he's still giving up chances, albeit few of them. The thing that makes an offence potent is the ability to convert on the chances, not necessarily the number of chances.

If you really think Andreoff is going to offensively lead the kings to a series victory, then fine, but most people would disagree I think. I believe you have underrated the sharks forward group by presenting the way you have. If your best two way players are only defending and your worst offensive players are the only ones providing offence, you have less of chance to win. Sutter will either have to juggle his lines or pick some spots to move Kopitar away from Thornton to win this series. Thats why I think, obviously, special teams are going to big in this one
- sniper11

Sutter usually doesn't get hung up on matchups, he just rolls lines, sometimes to the detriment of the team, other times not... just stop with the incessant trolling. And it's not that new math or anything, but more chances usually results in better odds of converting a few of them.

In all of the comparison numbers I see very little difference. Is "2" whole numbers and couple tenths of a whole number going to really swing a category in one teams favor? especially during the play offs?

Match ups are going to be a big factor in this series. I wish there was a metric that showed player speed and ability to make skilled plays at speed. That is an edge that purely favors the sharks. Not to say the kings don't have fast, skilled players, but we rarely see those two attributes combined with the kings, although it does happen from time to time.

I see 3 other problems.

1. Dustin Browns vacancy between the ears when it comes to passing out to the blue line at bad times, and the various other numb nut things he does game in and game out. Yes he has been better, but if he is not hitting, rattling the other team, and using his shot at the right times or making plays at speed, he is pretty useless.

2. Putting those 2 cinder block handed wingers with Vinny ( King and lewis do have stone hands, I don't care what you say). I pray to Joe Pesci that Sutter wakes up and at least moves versteeg to the 3rd line and let lewis center Andreoff on Clifford, or even move andreoff to 3rd line wing and let lewis center the 4th. That is my opinion, a big problem with the bottom six.

3. Penalties.... If the kings can't stay out of the box this series is going to go to the sharks.

as far as making any predictions, I won't. Just going to have to sit back and watch all of the games it takes to win the series.

Naturally, LA players are almost all going to be at the top of Corsi comparisons between the two teams. LA's the best Corsi team, after all, not just between the two, but in the whole league. That's a huge consideration in analyzing the overall matchup, but it starts to become a false argument, IMO, to re-use it to give advantage to LA in multiple player/position breakdowns. Pointing out that nearly every LA player is a better possession player than a comparable SJ player looks like giving too much credit to the players and ignores the fact that a good possession system floats all boats. Good numbers mean something, just not often as much as we want to believe.

My other disagreement, naturally, is with the suggestion that Vlasic and Muzzin match up well or cancel each other out. There probably isn't anyone who wouldn't take Vlasic in a heartbeat. His selections to Team Canada in the Olympics and for the upcoming World Cup team, both over Muzzin, as well as many better defensemen, help bear that out. As a whole, the two defense corps may still be roughly even, but Vlasic vs Muzzin is an advantage for SJ.

The biggest reason that San Jose has the best road record in the NHL is because DeBoer has still been able to dictate matchups. Dave Tippett school of thinking. Even tho the kings have the last change on home ice, Sutter will be choosing players based on which Sharks are on the ice at the time. If Sutter wants to keep Kopitar out against Pavelski and Thornton, he WILL be defending most of the time. Even if he is successful 90% of the time, which he isn't, he's still giving up chances, albeit few of them. The thing that makes an offence potent is the ability to convert on the chances, not necessarily the number of chances.

If you really think Andreoff is going to offensively lead the kings to a series victory, then fine, but most people would disagree I think. I believe you have underrated the sharks forward group by presenting the way you have. If your best two way players are only defending and your worst offensive players are the only ones providing offence, you have less of chance to win. Sutter will either have to juggle his lines or pick some spots to move Kopitar away from Thornton to win this series. Thats why I think, obviously, special teams are going to big in this one
- sniper11

except Sutter doesn't line match. However what you do say about the bottom six is valid. Preferably you want offense from top 6, defense from bottom, or at least limited liability. I think the Kings bottom six presents less liability than San Jose. Also, the matchups are not always going to be set in line 1 v line 1, line 2 v line 2 etc etc. So you have to really believe that if, say, the Lecavalier line gets caught out against Thornton it won't end badly for the Kings. Could you say the same if the Kopitar line gets out against the Marleau third line? Hard to say.

This is a really thinly shaved series. It will be close no question

In short TOUGH SERIES. This will go to game 7 and it's anybody's game.

In short TOUGH SERIES. This will go to game 7 and it's anybody's game.
- KINGS67

Sooooo then it can be my game?

I'd love to see Vinny with a finisher on his line. He may not have legs like he used to, but he can still dangle and pass like a superstar. If he had someone to work with who had a great sense for the seams and the skill to finish, you might see some real production. Could Versteeg be that guy? Gabby? Both?

I'd love to see Vinny with a finisher on his line. He may not have legs like he used to, but he can still dangle and pass like a superstar. If he had someone to work with who had a great sense for the seams and the skill to finish, you might see some real production. Could Versteeg be that guy? Gabby? Both?
- responsible_D

Vinny doesn't have the footspeed to keep up with the players on the rush... Off a faceoff win and O-zone setup, maybe it would work...