Clearly Wednesday night's lackluster performance was not what the Kings or their fans expected or wanted. It's also not what we expect over the course of the season. Losses as lifeless as that better not be commonplace or it could be a long year.
But relax, that was a bit of anomaly.
The Kings lost 28 games in regulation last season, and few were as uninspired as Wednesday. There were a handful, but they were few and far between.
The 1st line was completely irrelevant. Jake Muzzin was out of the game. Jonathan Quick got yanked after two really weak periods. Those things won't be happening on a nightly basis that's for sure.
The weekend brings new life though as the Kings set up for a back to back against what should be a couple of Western Conference opponents that should be fighting amongst the bottom.
The Kings play the Coyotes tonight in Arizona, or Glendale, or Scottsdale, or Phoenix, or somewhere in that new Gila Monster arena thing. Not to lay any disrespect upon a scrappy Yotes team, this is just what the doctor ordered for the Kings. LA struggled at times against Arizona last season, going 2-3-0 and giving up 14 goals in the five games. However, Arizona has lost a few key offensive pieces in Ribeiro and Vrbata and are trying to figure out how to score five on five. Last season the Yotes were 15th in the league in 5v5 offense, and their 4th ranked powerplay was what normally carried the mail for them. Vrbata was tied for the team lead in powerplay goals with 10 last season, and Ribeiro was 6th overall in powerplay points with 15. Alas, two players do not make a team and the Kings shouldn't take any opponent lightly.
Phoenix gave up four first period goals on Thursday en route to getting ripped by the Jets 6-2 Thursday night. Last season's struggling netminder, Mike Smith, gave up 6 goals on just 27 shots as well. So they too will be looking for a bounceback game.
On the Sunday docket is the Winnipeg Jets at Staples. A team that is curious in the fact that they always seem like they are right there and ready to take the next step, but still lack an overall identity and killer instinct when it comes to push to the next level. Evander Kane is still a tantalizing talent that seems to come and go, Bryan Little remains one of the league's most underrated centers, and youngsters Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele look like the real deal. With the Jets though I'm always asking, "When is it going to click with that team?"
The Kings went 2-1-0 last year against the Jets, winning the lone home game 4-2.
The Kings are 0-1-0 currently with no goals scored, and I expect that be very different by the end of the weekend.
Two players who won't be taking part in the weekend games are defenseman Jake Muzzin, who is still out with an upper/lower/existential body injury, as well as Trevor Lewis who was removed from Wednesday's game against San Jose. With it being a back to back we might also see Martin Jones get another appearance. Quick is slated to be the starter for tonight, but it's possible Jones could get in for Sunday. We will wait and see. He had a pretty heavy workload in relief against San Jose, stopping an ungodly three shots in 20 minutes. I'm not sure if he'll be recovered in time.
Mike Richards was arguably the Kings strongest player on Wednesday, and that's a great start for a season in question for No. 10. While it is bittersweet to be the best player in a 4-0 loss, Mike Richards HAS TO step up this season. It will also be interesting to see how Brayden McNabb is used in the weekend games. Sutter was seemingly impressed with how McNabb played but said the game seemed to wear on the young defenseman as the night progressed. With it being a back to back we could see his minutes reduced. We will also see Jordan Nolan step into the lineup for the first time this season in relief of Trevor Lewis. Nolan has had his name swirling around the trade rumor mill as an odd man out of the Kings lineup.
Bold prediction? Kings win both weekend games in convincing fashion and we go into Monday feeling a bit better than Thursday and Friday.
Bolder prediction? Mike Richards hat trick, Jonathan Quick drops back to back shutouts. If these things happen I'm going to Vegas or Santa Anita next week.
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Little bit of prospect reading for you all.
We over at HF are releasing our Fall top-50 prospects. The list, however, does not include any Kings prospects.
That's definitely not a bad thing though. While the Kings don't have an extremely high end talent like a Nikolaj Ehlers, Burakowsky, or Drouin, they have a multitude of middle guys that are solid.
While lacking a lot of high first round picks and draft picks in general, the Kings have had to make the most of the middle rounds. Boy have they done it. Scores like Jordan Weal, Andreoff, Mersch, Gravel, Nick Shore etc. etc. have come in the middle rounds. The Kings scouting staff has done a phenomenal job in getting the Kings the best possible talent with the picks they've had.
Don't fret that we don't have any players in the Top-50. High end talent isn't everything. The Kings have a strong pipeline with plenty of role players and support players.
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