It's pretty frustrating, but Kings fans have endured this all season long.
Bouts of fantastic play, where the team looks unbeatable, are shortly followed by some of the most snake-bitten players you could ever imagine.
Here we are again.
Not to say that the Kings have looked at all at their worst in this series, they have looked more akin to the team we saw in January than the team we saw last week right now. Tape to tape passing hasn't been there, the crisp outlets haven't been there, and the always elusive favorable bounces. The Kings played an excellent second and third period against the Ducks in Game 4, only to be thwarted by a confident goaltender, a team playing with a comfortable lead, and some bad bounces.
Funny, these things sound similar to challenges the team faced earlier in the year. Ya know, that January where they scored about as many goals as games played? It's rather dumbfounding how a team with so much offensive firepower can get snake bitten like the Kings have at times this year. Again, always credit the opponent, the defense, the game plan, and of course the goaltenders. While I don't think John Gibson was necessarily a dream killer, he did play very well (And I am really going to look forward to his career Ducks fans. What a gem you have there). With that in mind, Andersen and Hiller both befuddled the Kings on numerous occasions this season.
Is it something about the Ducks style that does it? When watching the replay of Game 4 I couldn't decide on whether or not the Ducks were winning this game or the Kings were losing it. I've been asking myself this in almost every single game because they all look so similar. They are obviously the same exact thing, but from a mental standpoint and a gameplan standpoint it's a valid question. The series in a whole, has been a little bit of both for both teams.
Games 3-4 for the Ducks were the Games 1-2 for the Kings. Maybe they didn't deserve to win Game 4 from a quality of play standpoint, but you could say that neither did the Kings in Game 1. The series has been a stifling defensive battle with most of the impact being made with special teams.
And therefore, here we are. A knotted series. A best of 3 series now. Both teams probably saying within their respective locker rooms that they haven't even come close to playing their best hockey. Mike Richards had a great quote when asked about preparation for Game 5.
I don’t think we’ve played poorly, but we just haven’t gotten to that desperation level that we had in San Jose where you’re just fighting for every inch on the ice, and I think that’s that mentality that we have to get back to.
As dumb as it sounds, maybe it was a bad thing for the Kings to come off such a desperate series and immediately go up 2-0 on Anaheim on the road. The effort has been lacking intensity, no doubt.
So which King team shows up for Game 5? Which Ducks team shows up for Game 5? The Ducks, a team that led the NHL in scoring this year with a 3.21 goals per game average, has been held to just 2.00 goals per game in the series. They have also lost both games in their building. A building in which they only lost eight games in regulation in all year.
So it isn't just the Kings who are coming up with frustrating trends and stats. The Ducks and their fans are probably as easily frustrated and confused about how this series has gone. Nonetheless, they have momentum heading back home for Game 5.
For the Kings, it has to start with the scoring from a tandem outside of Anze Kopitar-Marian Gaborik.
The Kings are facing a team that is arguably weaker in terms of depth compared to their first round opponents, but are having trouble getting anything in terms of production from the bottom lines. That isn't to say that the bottom lines were necessarily leading the charge in the San Jose series, but they were a threat which made San Jose spread out their matchups. It currently feels like if the Kopitar line isn't going for the Kings, very little is going to be produced. However, the adjustments of putting Richards up on the 2nd line between Toffoli and Pearson paid immediate dividends. It looked, once again, like the Kings had more than one threatening line. Hopefully that's a trend that continues for LA tonight. Scoring depth is going to be key if this team wants to move on to the next round.
Whether it's Gibson, Andersen, Hiller, Irbe, or Brian Hayward in net, shouldn't matter for the Kings. They know what they have to do and they know they can play better. Holding Anaheim to no shots in a ridiculous 25 minutes of play is a good start, but scoring a few goals is good also.
These are the Kings though. People have watched them all year. It's feast or famine when it comes to offense.
Also, stay out of the box! A few of these games have been dictated by special teams. That's never a good thing to have happen. Limit the extra man chances, kill the ones you do give them. Anaheim has scored a powerplay goal in 3 of the 4 games played, and are currently 4 for 13 on the powerplay. That's right, of the 8 goals the Ducks have scored in the series half of them have come with an extra man. Stay out of the box. You can't have Perry and Getzlaf running wild on a powerplay that many times in a game. Not to mention it stifles any kind of momentum the team has.
So which team will it be to close out the series? The stifled and frustrated Kings? Or the desperate, playing for their lives Kings?
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Some organizational moves have been made by the Kings in recent days.
First off, while not a Kings organizational move it still hits close to home. Ron Hextall, who recently was Assistant GM with the Kings, was promoted to GM of the Philadelphia Flyers. I wish Hexy the best, he did a fantastic job as Assistant GM with the Kings and is going to face a real tough test in a rabid Philadelphia Market craving a championship. Paul Holmgren will now assumed duties as President of the organization.
Also, Monarchs coach Mark Morris was not extended and has parted ways with the organization.
This isn't necessarily surprising, nor was it one-sided, even though it came off that way from the organizations press release. Morris was talked into going one more year with the Monarchs last season when the Kings extended him but it was widely speculated that he wanted to leave last summer. After a season where the Monarchs have done very well, despite a disappointing playoff exit, Morris exits in high regard and will likely move onto a bigger stage. Perhaps the NHL? As surprising as the move may look on the surface, it really wasn't all that surprising. Both parties likely were in agreement about the move.
Assistant coach Freddy Meyer also joined Morris in departing.
Currently there are no candidates in mind and the organization will likely explore that in the coming months.
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