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Claws and Crowns: Panthers vs Kings

January 16, 2020, 10:45 AM ET [12 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
After a nice little break, the Cats are back in action tonight against a favorite of mine, the Los Angeles Kings. As you know, I'm a fan of CHI, FL and LA.

Florida should be flying hight after their victory over a very good divisional foe in the Toronto Maple Leafs this past Sunday.

The 8-4 win against the Leafs saw a lot of positives from Florida's offense. Guys were moving with a purpose and utilizing speed against a Toronto team that looked kind of tired a sluggish (hey, we'll take it!).

Nice, crisp passing, combined with quality shots and positioning helped the Cats find the back of the net against both Leaf goalies.

Prior to the game, I think it was Rats that had predicted a barn burner, and he pretty much nailed it. For the eight goals that the Panthers put in, they allowed four on a whopping 47 shots...

That number indicates to me that Florida was operating on pure offense. We're in the second half of the season and things are going to start tightening up quickly here. The Cats are going to really need to work on suppressing shots and the opposition's opportunities going forward. I think they got kind of lucky catching a dazed TOR team that has been playing a pretty exciting brand of high flying hockey as of late.

Not the Same Kingdom

Los Angeles is in the midst of a legitimate rebuild and GM Rob Blake has made that clear with his decision to move forward with youth and play a number of the kids.

They had an incredible draft last year - easily the best of all the teams - and are currently sitting on a lot of really promising prospects. Though it'll be a couple years, LA's future is looking very bright.

On the current Kings...

Last year was a terrible year for LA. Coaching turmoil and player indifference left the Kings stalled and one of the worst teams in the league. There was a major lack of direction and desire throughout multiple levels of the organization.

Enter Todd McLellan.

Blake's hiring of Todd McLellan has done a lot of positives for LA. While the Kings sit towards the bottom of the barrel (28th to be exact), they're playing a much different brand of hockey than they were last year.

McLellan has instilled what I believe to be a little bit of a "breath of fresh air" for the veterans on the team. Both Kopitar and Brown said coming into this season that they liked the energy and system McLellan was bringing and that it got them excited again.

Under Mc L, the Kings are focusing on a faster game and bringing their pace up. Sound familiar? This is the same idea Q brought to Florida and has been working at instilling with these guys. It's the way the NHL is going.

While the Kings roster is comprised of a mix of vets with big contracts that they'll need to move and youngsters getting a look, they shouldn't be taken lightly - they've beat some good teams convincingly - they have just struggled with something the Cats are all too familiar with: consistency.

LA is coming off a 4-3 SO loss to the Lightning two nights ago where they put together a solid effort and a frustrating loss to Carolina the game before that.

What to Expect

Jonathan Quick has looked like his former self throughout this season and his counterpart in the blue paint (Jack Campbell) has also played well. They just have the misfortune of a rebuilding team in front of them most nights.

As stated before, the Kings are working on building a team that can beat you with their legs and have some speedy guys on the squad. Keep your eyes on Adrian Kempe (#9). A lot of Kings fans seem to be split on him, I personally like him, though he does struggle with finishing plays at times, but his speed and shot/release are top notch in my opinion.

Winger Alex Iafallo has has a great season so far and has been putting up some really nice points (26).

Oft-rumored trade bait, Tyler Toffoli, has found his game again and is sitting on 27 points.

Captain Kopitar has figured out how to work his heavier/slower game in with the young cast around him and notch 40 points so far.

Overall, I expect the Kings to have a chip on their shoulders since hitting a skid their last two games of their current road trip. Drew Doughty is registering an average of 26.04 TOI and leading a young defensive corp that has some promise (IMO) from guys like Sean Walker and Matt Roy - who are good at knowing when to activate offensively.

The Cats would do wrong to scoff at LA's 18-25-5 record and take them lightly. This is a team that suffers from inconsistent play, but when they're on, can play very well.

Looking forward to some back-and-forth action tonight!

Actually, everything Q says here is EXACTLY what the Cats need to do starting tonight and going forward.



Congrats, Huby!

Hats off to Jonathan Huberdeau for becoming the Panthers franchise leader in points (420) during last game's route of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Huby passed former Cat Olli Jokinen for the record and it could not have happened to a nicer guy.



Speaking of Olli...not sure if you guys saw, but the fellas over at Spittin' Chiclets had me laughing when they posted a picture of the weirdly empty Olli Jokinen display setup. I had not seen this before and it seems to be lacking a bit..haha.

View this post on Instagram

Which is better?

A post shared by Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) on



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Puck drop is around the corner...go Panthers!
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