Kings win, 3-2

Labs is looking better and better so props to him. Keeping us in games a lot these days.

Kings really need to be more agressive with the lead...every time they get the lead they go on a nasty run where they get out-shot bigtime!

Handzus had a great game even though he still has nothing on the score sheet.
Labarbera looked great.
I just wish we could hold a lead.

Great victry for the Kings sans their two leading scorers. Solid efforts from Handzus with the faceoffs and doing his best to shadow Thornton; O'Sullivan with his ever-present tenacious play on the forecheck; and Brown who, at times, looked as if he wanted to take control of the game all by himself by really stepping up in the absence of the other forwards. Dallman looked good in his first game in a while, as well. Great win.

I must admit, this was probably the best game Crawford has coached.
As a matter of fact, in the last three games I can't complain about his coaching.
He put some smart line combinations out there. And for the most part he left them alone without juggling them.
I give credit where credit is due. If you make smart decsions, you'll never here a peep from me, only compliments.

As for the players:
Handzus was very effective today. He won some key face-offs and finally showed some brilliant offensive moves (about time).
It was nice to see O'Sullivan named #1 star.
He drew 3 penalties and was nasty on the forechecks. I also loved that move he made when he scored on the shoot-out.

yeah, brown and handzus were all over the place, but labs was the key. solid win.

Did anyone notice that O'Sullivan got over 27 minutes of playing time? Holy freaking crap!

My favorite play of the game was near the end when Jack Johnson was getting the puck from a Shark's dump-in and was being closely followed by a Shark's forward and he quickly made a move and motioned with his stick left as if he was going to pass it along the boards but quickly scooped it around to his right and skated it back up and the Shark's forward that was chasing him didn't know what to do and ended up falling down and crashing into the boards untouched. Johnson keeps surprising me by making subtle little plays that just spark of something truly great and keep reminding me that the best is yet to come.

Good game overall for the Kings. I do have some issues with the PP unit and how it's being set up but they didn't need the PP tonight, although it would have been nice not to go to a shootout. I don't like them to begin with but secondary, they make me too nervous to enjoy.

Labarberra is doing what a goalie should, and that's giving your team a chance, and the past few weeks he's made some fantastic stops, imagine if we had this goaltending all year last year.

Hopefully Fro and Cammi are back sooner rather than later though.

Finally a game where the team showed some real spunk.

This could have been one of those disaster games where they get bombed and walk away with their heads down. But instead they responded to the challenge.

This is all the fans want. Win or lose you compete and not find any excuses. They also won the battle in the faceoff circle. Something they have struggled with all season. Credit Handzus with leading in that category. He probably played his best overall game this season.

PK and PP are still much to be desired at this point... but this win is a definite confidence builder. Let's see what they look like against the Avalanche on Sat.

That was the best last 45 minutes of a game LA's had in a long time. Most everyone played very well including Dallman (who would'a known?). Still not a fan of Zeiler, but what the heck.

Hopefully this is a game they can build on. I hope it's not a case of LA just matching up well against San Hose, but rather LA beginging to play better.

another good game for Handzus...he's not always on the scoresheet, but he does all the things that his teammates notice and appreciate. He'll get better as the season goes on.

Was a good game forsure the move that johnson pulled at the end there was cool. And ya Labs seems to be the differance lately. I hope we can build on this

...and then they'll lose 5-1 and the sky will be falling once again... 40 years baby... it NEVER changes.

How about when JMFJ threw Thorntion's buttocks on the ice during a scrum in from of Barbs? I had a nice smile when he did that.

Bryan, I totally concur. It's about time somebody had the guts to take on Thornton. Don't get me wrong, Thornton's a great player - but it looks as if the best way to stop him is to check him, hit him, frustrate him, take away his room to maneuver. I also like the way the Kings have improved their stick checks over the past couple of games - no doubt it was a major emphasis during practice. If you don't contest the puck or the pass, you are setting yourself up for more 5-1 losses as Marc Nathan says. However, I think a corner was turned in this game, especially when you consider that Fro and Cammi are out of the lineup, which will make this team even stronger when they return. Handzus and Nagy seem to have turned a page and are playing much, much better.

Hey Gord, I thought O-Sullivan was on the ice alot last night. Hmmm....funny, he's given more ice time and he winds up playing a great game. Maybe he should be given more ice time!!!!!

a corner may have been turned, but the team continues to walk through a maze.

johnson's handling of thornton was brilliant. i hope some one puts in on youtube.

Hey, I'm for it. I also noticed the same thing about Handzus. I'm beginning to wonder if we won because we let a select few forwards (Brown Kopitar, Sully, Handzus, Armstrong) play big minutes, be effective and let everyone else earn what they could.

Most nights the top line plays pretty big minutes and everyone else is hovering at about the same. I figure some of those players should be playing more and others less (if at all). Less ice time limits certain players effectiveness. I can't even remember the last time Handzus got anywhere near 18 minutes of ice time. I mean he wasn't pretty, but accomplished his mission.