pdated 7:30 am EDT:
The LA Kings lost more than the game in Buffalo on Tuesday night.
They lost their #1 goalie, Jonathan Quick, to a lower body injury. Quick had to be removed from the game at the 1:20 juncture of the OT period in Buffalo. It looked to me like Quick may have injured a groin or hip when he made a quick leg pad save just before the injury occurred at the 1:20 mark of OT.
According to the LA Time, Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said after his post game presser that Quick will be sent back to Los Angeles today to be seen directly by Kings team doctors. Sutter said that the team preferred to have Quick evaluated at home, not out on the road. The Kings sit in 9th place in the West with 23 points, one point behind the Canucks and Wild. Losing Quick for any amount of time right now is certainly not something that the Kings could have predicted. Quick is 10-5 with a 2.35 GAA and .905% save percentage. He entered Tuesday night’s steel cage match in Buffalo as the odds on favorite to be named Team USA’s #1 goalie for the Sochi Olympic games in February. Miller made quite a statement for himself and his desires to play for Team USA when he made 43 saves on 45 shots to preserve the shootout win against Quick and the Kings. An ice-cold Ben Scrivens relieved Quick at 1:20 of the OT period in Buffalo. The Kings next play on Long Island on Thursday.
Its hard to exactly pinpoint where and when Quick was injured, however, he made a left pad save in OT, and the MSG overhead TV angle caught Quick’s reaction to the play. He appeared to be favoring his lower body. Quick took his time while trying to compose himself. He spoke with the Kings trainer, who presumably asked the goalie if he felt fine enough to finish the game that he started. Quick would leave the game at that point.
Kings captain Dustin Brown spoke to the LA Times after the shootout loss.
"He's been our best player for years now," Brown said. "You can't replace him. But if that is the case, we have all the confidence in Benny. He can step in and he's a capable goalie. The way we play — Ben's a competitive guy."
Quick’s injury is a real concern to the Kings, and rightly so. Like Miller, he’s relied upon to make the key saves that give his team the chance to win games.
When asked after the win about his chances to make Team USA’s Olympic roster, Miller quickly scuttled the question and said that he owed it to his Sabres team to be a “pro… and to give them the chance to win games. Meaning, Team USA is important, however, getting his Sabres back on the winning way are more important to him right now. If Quick’s injury may well open the door for Miller to be the #1 or #2 starter for Team USA. For now, that’s not important.
We’ll have to see what the Kings say today about Quick’s injury.
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"It was greasy... a greasy win. It wasn't pretty, but we won it for our fans", Tyler Ennis told me in a jubilant, victorious Buffalo locker room.
The Sabres took the long, scenic route to get their first win on home ice.
They played an ugly low chance, low scoring road game on home ice and they gave the fans their first win of the season on home ice.
Matt Moulson, the owner of the eventual shootout GWG, called it a "Rope-A-Dope" affair.
Moulson's brother in law Jonathon Quick allowed 2 goals on 17 shots in 63:40 minutes played. Quick then retreated to the L.A. bench after he injured himself making a save in OT. After the game in the Kings room, there was no update on Quick's injury. Looked like a groin or hip from may vantage point. More will be known on Wednesday. Ben Scrivens entered the game ice gold with 1:20 remaining in OT. Scrivens didn't face any shots in OT, allowed to goals in the shootout and a shot kissed his post in the SO, too. Scrivens tool the loss and never touched a puck the whole night. Thats the kind of crazy game it was.
The Kings stormed out to a 15-4 shots lead in period one, then built their shots lead to 30-7 after forty minutes. Just when the Kings thought that the Sabres were going to quit at the beginning of the third period, Buffalo fought its way off the ropes and recovered nicely to take a 2-1 lead.
"Not exactly how it was drawn up on the board, but we'll take it", Tyler Ennis quipped after the game.
Ryan Miller made 43 saves in the first 65 minutes of play, then slammed the door on the Kings to claim his NHL record 46th shootout victory on Tuesday night.
I tweeted during the game taht I thought it appropriate that Team USA Men's Hockey GM David Poile (Nashville) Fed X Miller's #39 Team USA sweater directly to his front door for overnight delivery. Except for the clunker in Anaheim, Miller has been one of, if not THE best USA goalies in the NHL this season. That includes Quick, in my opinion, who happens to have a talented, fast group of linebackers on skates playing in front of him every shift. Miller has been brilliant at covering up mistakes and giving his re-building Sabres a chance to win every night he jumps into the 4 by 6 steel cage.
On Tuesday night, Miller beat Quick in a TKO. Were it not for Miller's heroics, that game could have easily been a 6-1 Kings drubbing. Miller was THAT inspirational for his team. Seriously.
The Kings became the first team the Sabres beat on home ice this season,. The LA loss in Buffalo on Tuesday night extended their winless streak to 11 consecutive game. The Kings haven’t beaten the Sabres in Buffalo since February, 2003.
So at least they've got that going for them.
Miller sought out and received hockey redemption against the Kings.
He allowed 6 goals on 34 shots in 40 minutes of play in his last start in Anaheim last Fiday night. Miller wanted to rebound and give his team a chance to win after he suffered his worst, one-sided loss of the season to Ryan Getzlaf and the Ducks in Anaheim.
Thanks, Sabres.com
Miller, Enroth. Priceless. #GreatMoment following tonight's #Sabres win. (@BWipp) pic.twitter.com/cB8JZUtid8
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 13, 2013
Captain Ott had nothing but high praise for Ryan Miller and the veterans, like Stafford, Moulson, and Hodgson.
Thanks, Sabres.com
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Elevators to the press box be damned! Rick Jeanneret is a Hall of Famer. He'll call a game from the ice level phone booth if he has to, and he did have to on Tuesday night.
Wonky elevator. No problems. RJ adapted and overcame the adversity quite nicely!
#Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret was taking no chances between the benches. Watch: http://t.co/zh7wYdegE4 pic.twitter.com/1GiyEqxRd7
— NHL (@NHL) November 13, 2013
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I was in Drew Doughty's scrum after the Kings lost to the Sabres in the shootout.
Here's what he had to say:
On whether it was “as simple as Ryan Miller taking a point away from the Kings…:
Yeah, I think so. As good as he played, when you’re getting that many shots on a guy, that means you’re not doing something right if you’re not scoring. We just didn’t get enough bodies in front and bang in the rebounds. That’s why we lost.
***
On whether he could see Quick communicating with the bench when he was injured: "I didn’t notice until I got on the ice, and then he finally went down. It’s too bad. Hopefully he recovers quick and is ready to go".
***
On how hard it is to give up a point despite dominating territorially:
It sucks. I’m not happy that we lost. I’m happy, I guess, in a way, that we got one point out of it, even though we deserved to get two. We can’t just say it was bad luck or that Buffalo didn’t deserve to win. They won because they scored more goals than us, and…we only got.. and that’s why we lost. Bottom line..
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On what he saw in Buffalo in the two games over the past week:
I felt like today’s game, they came a little harder at us. Their fore check was a little tougher to get by, and they were finishing their checks a little more. That makes it tougher for us to get some flow into the game and to be able to create chances offensively. So I think they were a lot better tonight than they were in the first game, but I still wish we had beat them, obviously.
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Tyler Toffoli, created the game tying Dwight King goal with a lovely strip of Tyler Ennis. Toffoli notched an assist on the play, and now has now recorded at least one point in every game he’s played in since being called up from the AHL Manchester Monarchs.
Toffoli has now six points (2G, 4A) in his four games with the Kings.
When Jeff Carter's foot is healthy, the Kings will likely send Toffoli back to Manchester. If I'm Darcy Regier and Kevin Devine, I move mountains to try to acquire the former Ottawa 67s two time 50 goal scorer.
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In case you missed it Tuesday, the Nail Yakupov soap opera is getting juicier by the day.....
Talk about an oil spill!
Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish better high tail it back home from the GM meeting in Toronto to have a heart to heart with his jead coach and former first overall draft choice.
The negative situation between player and head coach turned toxic on Tuesday when Nail Yakupov voiced his displeasure and expressed his unhappiness with his lack of playing time in Edmonton. Yakupov told 20+ Edmonton media members that he can't help his team score and earn points in the standings if he is riding the pine alongside his obstinate rookie head coach Dallas Eakins.
In his media scrum, Eakins was asked to elaborate on the Yakupov situation and to address the rumor that Yakupov's agent, Igor Larionov, will be traveling to Edmonton this week to discuss Yakupov's future with the Oilers. Larionov, like Yakupov wants answers from MacTavish and Eakins. Hell hath no fury like a star player and his agent scorned.
Eakins' response to the Yakupovbrouhaha, in not so many words:
"Suck it up. Earn your ice time".
Thank, Oilers TV
This situation has been festering for weeks, ever since Eakins scratched Yakupov for consecutive games against Toronto (on Hockey Night In Canada) and Washington. Now, Larionov is heading to Edmonton to act on his high profile client's behalf. ESPN reported Monday night that Larionov isn't opposed to a trade that will free his client from the "oppression" in Edmonton.
On Tuesday, Yakupov expressed his love for the City Of Champions.
"I wasn't asking for a trade. I wasn't saying anything bad."I don't want to talk about anything bad, but I just want to say, I'd like to be here. I love to be in Edmonton. I love the city, I love to play with these players. I've known for a couple of years, a couple of guys. It's a great atmosphere with great people around, great staff, great equipment managers, doctors and everybody. I just want to be a part of the Oilers."
Wasn't it last week, when in the midst of Yakupov trade rumours that Eakins went out of his way to sell the point that Yakupov isn't being traded? Eakins also said, on the record, that as the head coach, he is committed to making Yakupov a better player this season.
Eakins' actions today said that he isn't budging on the Yakupov matter. In fact said that he's okay with the frustration that Yakupov is feeling as a result of his limited role on the Oilers right now.
“We all want better, we all want more, but we have to earn the right to get more,… Eakins said. “If players want to make a stand or if an agent wants to make public things that are usually kept very private ... so be it.“It has absolutely no effect on how I’m going to run our team.…
Eakins has dug his skate edges in. Yakupov and his agent are fed up with the lip service.
Where's Mac T right now?