wow did Frolov and Calder play fabulous games! Wow! I was shocked, and what can you say more about Brad Stuart, 2 blocked shots, game winning goal, and was just playing GREAT DEFENSE. Sully also played a good game, had a nice goal, Boyle had the chances, but just couldn't finish. LaBarbera didn't play good, but wow the Kings covered for him. He could've easily had a shootout, 3 bad goals. Blake Who? GET OUTTA L.A.

GREAT WIN, THIS CAN TURN THE SEASON AROUND, THIS ROADTRIP AND THIS GAME, BIG TIME CONFIDENCE BOOSTER

This Kopi-Sully-Fro line almost seems unstoppable.
Especially Frolov. He's unbelieveable.
Rip me apart, I don't care, but I'm not ready to rule out playoffs just yet. Not after the way this team is playing lately.

WOW

I can't believe this is the same team we were watching in December.
Barbs was terrible on all 3 goals, but he did make some big stops. Kings blocked a ton of shots. Excellent all around game by the boys.
Stuart played tough all game. Calder was dominant. I can't think of anyone who didn't play well. Even Army was good.
I was surprised to hear that the Kings are 4 points ahead of last years pace. Still not good enough, but I'm enjoying watching them all grow together.
How can you not give Crawford credit for the way they're playing? If we killed him when they sucked, its time to give him his props now. Lets hope they keep the great play going.

Hell, if we play this way all the time, Beachball can be the starter.

This win will cause other teams to start bringing their A game. From this point on, we will see what the Kings can do.

Great freakin' win!!

O god do i hate the wings, i love it when they eat Crow :)
Great win

Trade Blake when he returns and keep Boyle and Harrold with L.A.

The Kings looked like world beaters in this game. Woo-hoo!!

I object to the 'worst beats first' headline. The Kings haven't been the worst team in practical terms for a while. 27th best is more appropriate, perhaps.

There are 26 games left and the Kings have 49 points after tonight's win. 80 points is still doable.

Anthony, are you retarded? The lines tonight were Frolov Army Cammy not Fro-Sully-Kopi. Wow.
And aren't you one of the few to rule out the Russian beast out?

For the last time, anthony, the Kings are not making the playoffs. Good play or not, they're about two months late on making a playoff charge.

Regardless, I loved the fact the supposed worst team in hockey knocked off the best team. For once, this team covered for a shaky performance in goal instead of the other way around.

"Blake is expected to be traded before the deadline - to a team of his choosing. He'd like another run at the Stanley Cup, and a team like Detroit would certainly give him an excellent opportunity."

Was that why DL was sitting with Detroits GM upstairs?

Can you get any info on Nagy and Blake rumors?

Way to kick the Chicken Wings in the nuts!!!

What a huge win and for once, the Kings looked big and played big against the Red Menace...

Monster game by Frolov and Brad Stuart. Calder's pass through the slot to Fro for the GTG was freakin' sweet.

PP and PK came up huge as well. Perhaps playing with no pressure is a contributing factor to their surge. One thing is for sure, the Kings are fun to watch these days.

.. oh yeah, they won without Brownie either!

Great game tonight from Calder, O'Sullivan & Stuart! Handzus drew a critical late PP, Johnson logged more minutes than any other King, Preissing was a +2 (Lidstrom a -3!!) and all this over 3 soft goals from LaBarbara. It's only a single win but it sure looks like Lombardi isn't such a dud hey Anthony? Props to non-DL types like Frolov & Kopitar too, both were awesome.

The Kings are finally coming together as a team and showing a lot of confidence in Labs. What will happen to that confidence when Cloutier shows up in net? Also like Harry, I'm wondering was that conversation between DL and Wings GM was abt. DL didn't look too happy abt it, whatever it was.

Maybe the Wings looked past them, and maybe the Kings care far more about these games, but...

...to go into Detroit missing two scoring forwards and a top pairing defenseman and come out with a gutsy win, especially considering the number of callups skating, is really impressive. These types of games ARE the playoffs for this team, and Crawford is getting the Kings to the ice ready to win. You cannot ask more from a coach.

It's still mathematically possible to make the playoffs. That makes it possible. Chances are we won't but it's still possible so stop saying its not possible.
mrk

In the words of Jim Mora, "PLAYOFFS!?!"

Did Cloutier play the first period wearing LaBarbera's jersey because that's what it seemed like with the soft goals.

If we can pick up a decent goalie during the summer, next season can't come soon enough.

I cannot begin to describe how JACKED UP I am about this win. To break the Wings in their crib is almost sacrelidge, and watching that gave me the best feeling I've had as a Kings fan in a long time.

Now I am going to go with Anthony one one point, we can still make the playoffs. There, I said it. Yes, it's almost impossible. Didn't we just do something of that caliber tonight???? Yeah, without Blake OR Brownie OR Nagy....say what you want, we get Brownie back Saturday. Boyle is a monster, Fro is a freakin banshee, Calder is on fire, Sully with that patience on his goal, this team is playing with some SERIOUS confidence right now and ANYTHING could happen. Besides that, I wanna believe, so blow me.

I'm going to Vegas to find out what the odds are on a bet for the Kings to make the playoffs. Anyone know the line on that bet? Post it. $20 might turn $2k.

Props for Crow? Perhaps, but he's simply been doing what we've been asking him to: Let's the kids play (He's been forced into this decision to some degree by injuries), let them be creative, quit juggling lines so much and let them learn how to win with familiar linemates. Sounds like I should give Crow props for listening and he should give us props for speaking up. Regardless, he's getting his boys to do the job, although I'm not sure how much he has to do with it.

The bandwagon is officially pulled over for some maintenance. Hopefully I won't have to start it up again. Make the playoffs, and it'll hit the junkyard!

Great game! Great Road Trip!!! Great Future!!!!

Yeah I dont think we will make the payoffs but.....

Cant I still dream of the Ducks tanking it and the Kings taking their playoff pot?

Anthony, are you retarded? The lines tonight were Frolov Army Cammy not Fro-Sully-Kopi. Wow.
And aren't you one of the few to rule out the Russian beast out?

i hate to defend anthony but he's right. frolov played with kopi and o'sully for most of the game and all of the third. they look wonderful out there. all 3 of them are skating hard and feed well off of each other. it makes me wonder what the lines should be when brown gets back. i might put him on the second line with cammy and army. maybe stick boyle there instead of armstrong for a game, just to see what happens.

we're actually rolling four lines right now with the additions of boyle and moulson to the roster. that's crazy. time to waive willsie and trade thornton though.

Great comeback win for the Kings, in spite of our AHL goalie.

I hear a lot of guys calling Cloutier "beachball". I have a new name for LaBarbara. From now on I'm calling him "marshmallow" because of all the pucks that bounce off him and all the soft goals he lets in.

That game should have been 5-0 Kings, but Marshmallow played his typical game and let in 3 soft goals.

I commend the Kings for deciding that their terrible goalie wasn't going to keep them from winning.

Now on to another subject. :)

I was intrigued to see DL sitting with Wings GM Ken Holland and it looked like they were engaged in an intense discussion, with DL doing most of the talking.

At first I wondered to myself if it's normal for GMs to sit together, but since Fox took special care to show it, I'm assuning it's not typical.

So I have to wonder if they were talking trade possibilities?

Go Kings Go! Get A Goalie!

Almost forgot...

To the guys who think the Kings can still make the playoffs, it's not going to happen.

The last 2 seasons it's taken at least 95 points to make the playoffs in the western conference. The Kings need 46 points to get to 95. They have 26 games left, which gives them a possibility of 52 points if they win them all.

Even if you go on the generous side and say 90 points would make it, they'd still need 41 out of 52 points.

Yes, the team has played great lately, but they haven't played that great.

For the fist time in a long time, I looked at the standings to see how far out we are. I'm quietly hoping, but realistically it's almost impossible. It really isn't the amount of points we're behind, but the amount of teams we need to jump. When we get into March, its mostly going to be west vs west. That makes it hard to pick up the necessary points needed to leapfrog teams. Whenever a team loses, the team that beats them is also ahead of us. I'll tell you one thing though, if we were in the (L)east, I think we would have a realistic shot.

Every time last night Stuart got hurt, I kept thinking..there goes any chance to trade him. Now i'm thinking whether we should move him. He is a UFA after the season, but he has played much better along with the rest of the D lately. I guess we could always re-sign him after the year.
One other thing on Craw...it's not his call on who gets called up, thats DL and the scouting staff. His job is to manage the players on his roster.
I still think he should be back next year....It seems pretty clear that the early season line juggling was players not used to each other and his continuing to try and find the right combinations. It looks like he's found that. Kudos to him.

unsurprisingly, sportscenter gave us no credit for this win. barry melrose couldn't stop talking about how osgood was giving up soft goals and that the red wings played unmotivated, blah blah blah.... kinda leaves out the fact that a young, hungry LA Kings team decided to stick it to the best team in the NHL.

it's a win to build on, guys. stay with it.

We love Dustin Brown out here on the East coast and since you guys are doing so well while he's away, maybe your GM will send him this way now that you've got Cloutier and Cammalleri back in the lineup. Good luck in the playoffs.

The Detroit commentators were semi-retarded and pretty arrogant. Worse even than the Rangers guys. Really makes you appreciate Jim and Bob calling our home games after listening to the boring, the conceited, the distracted, the ignorant, and the stooopid around the league.

I also listened to the Detroit commentators and it was pretty bad. There are only a few teams that listening to their play by play is awful. Teams like detroit, NY, Anaheim is about the worst. They give no credit to other teams hard work. All they do is say the refs are out for them and the team is fatigued. They spend the entire night making excuses. Just live up to it, you got beat.

Barry Melrose is still bitter he was fired. I don't think he saves any love for the Kings.

I'm interested in the top two lines too but I hope the Boyle is in there instead of Armstrong. He's played better of late but I'd rather see someone with more scoring touch up there.

Maybe a Moulson between the two would be good too. Give them a big body to help create some room.

I liked the game tonight obviously and it looks like JMFJ is taking more chances with carrying the puck and a couple of times he lost it and they went the other way....but he'll learn.

Great gutsy win! One of the best of the season!

However, for those who are even remotely thinking about the playoffs, I'll lay out in clear terms why that is not a realistic possibility.

The Kings are playing great hockey right now, an 8-3-1 stretch that is by far their best of the year. Thus in this amazing hot streak, the Kings are winning 2 out of every 3 games and losing only 1 out of every 4 in regulation. This is a great STREAK. It isn't feasible to continue at that rate for the rest of the season. Even a short stretch of .500 or slightly worse hockey will completely ruin it. Each great streak by definition is followed by something not as good (not necessarily terrible but not as good).

But "what if, what if" you say? OK realize then you are saying they will continue to win 2 out of every 3 games and lose only 1 out of every 4 FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.

This doesn't seem possible, but OK, I'll suspend disbelief for a second and say it is.

That will give the Kings 86 points at the end of the season.

Right now, Nashville and Calgary are tied for the 7th/8th spots. If they simply play at the same pace they are playing (no good steaks needed), they will finish with 92.4 points. But they might struggle down the stretch you say? That seems highly unlikely because they will have some good stretches and some bad stretches (remember they just have to average what they have done so far for the first 56 games or so) and should finish very near that.

But it COULD happen you say?

OK, I'll suspend my disbelief more and say that somehow one of those teams completely tanks and the Kings finish ahead of them.

Here is your major problem:
The following is the projected point totals of the 9th-12th teams in the conference:
9th Vancouver: 91
10th Phoenix: 89.5
11th Colorado: 86.4
12th St. Louis: 86.7 (higher b/c games in hand on Colorado).

With the Kings winning 2 of every 3 games FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON and losing 1 of every 4 FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON (the exact same rate as the great streak they are on) and the other teams ahead of them simply playing at the same pace they have played for 55 or so games (no great streaks factored in), the Kings will still finish 13th in the conference. It is a virtual statistical impossibility for 5 of those teams to play well below their pace. Most likely one or two will play below their pace while one or two will play above it. In fact, that is even more likely given that 90+% of the games remaining for the teams are against other teams in the conference. One team's loss is another team's victory.

I was initially reluctant to post this because I don't want to crush the hopes of fellow diehard fans. However, I did so because of the fact that the trade deadline is coming up. I assume DL will wisely approach it in 'sellers' terms in that he will trade away some key veterans who will be free agents (Blake, Nagy, etc.) to acquire picks and prospects knowing that it will strengthen our club for next year and beyond at the expense of the rest of this year. The 'playoff-hopers' here will be up in arms about how he just blew our slim shot at the playoffs, he broke the team apart just as they were playing well, etc. And this is where I would potentially have an issue. If you're a playoff believer and oppose DL trading away some key veterans at the deadline in the hopes of keeping miniscule playoff hopes alive, well that's the precise type of thinking that has held back the organization for 40 years. But hell, if you think they should still go into the deadline as sellers to get picks and prospects and that they still might make the playoffs anyway, well then rock on! :)

DL and nearly everyone else knows that there is no realistic possibility of the playoffs this year (as my numbers earlier in this post illustrate) so being a 'seller' at the deadline is an extremely wise move even if it means we do a little worse for the remainder of this season. This is especially true in that there are likely to be very few sellers at the deadline (hence, strengthening our negotiating position) since nearly all of the teams in the league are realistically in the playoff race.

Well let's see, #3 was in goal last night, #4 was the backup and #5 will be in Manchester this weekend..... Barbs... don't you know yet that you're playing in the NHL??? Learn to catch the puck, close up the short side and don't try to out think Zetterberg. Yep we have scouts out looking for #1.

Geeblenob you an accountant??? damnnnnnnnn But you know what? You are right. Its great the team finally jelled. So here is my worry, outside of goaltending. Seems last few years the Kings start slow. Can you imagine if the Kings came out of the gate with type of play. In the beginning I criticized Frolov, I think once he got going he has become a good player. Having said that, seems he always starts off slowly. I think at this point the Kings have to call up all their youngsters, give them a taste of playing in the NHL. No better way to find out where you are till you play in the Big league. Lets just hope the team can carry this momentum into next season and get hot right out of the gate...

You're right John Roy Morgan (about the Kings that is, not about me being an accountant hee hee). Next year, if the Kings can start the season by playing anywhere close to how they've played the last 12 games, we'll be a force to be reckoned with! The future looks like it could be really bright with the team. Unfortunately, for this season, there's just too few games remaining and too many teams ahead. Then again, I've been a Kings fan for 30 years now. I will happily wait until next year IF I know we are making some serious strides.

TOOL-a great band and anybody that things the Kings have a chance to make playoffs
I will give 40 to 1 odds n Kings making playoffs to each tool who thinks this is going to happen. Much better odds than you will get in Las Vegas.
The reality is that DL will be looking to sell at the deadline and not buy.
As well as Kings are playing now they are still
last in the conference and last in the league. Realistically there playoff chances ended in
November when they wasted away a very favorable home
schedule with many bad losses.
To their credit they are now playing with much more
grit and determination which bodes well for next season and those to follow.

"Beware of the Metalmaster,
for he is the devil's pawn. "
Alone among God's primates,
he kills for sport or lust or greed. "
"Yea, he will murder his brother
to possess his brother's land. "
"Let him not breed in great numbers,
for he will make a desert
of his home and yours. "
"Shun him.
"Drive him back into his jungle lair. "
"For he is the harbinger of death. "
GO KINGS FOREVER!!

OK, I did some easier math:

Lets say based on the TSN.ca standings info for games playes through 2/7 that every team in the division played at the pace of the last 10 games for the rest of the season. Very possible, correct? I mean, they've all done it for the last 10 right? OK....Here is what the standings would end up like for the entire west:

1.Detroit 128 points
2. Dallas 109
3. Nashville 100
4. Minnesota 98
5. Colorado 95
6. San Jose 91
7. Phoenix 90
8. Calgary 89
9. Anaheim 88
10. Chicago 84
11. L.A. KINGS 83
12. Columbus 82
13. Vancouver 80
14. Edmonton 78
15. St. Louis 73

The only swap in seeding for division leaders would be between Minnesota and Nashville. Everything else would remain as you see it.

NOTE: The Kings could lose 6 games and tie 3 of the last 26 to end up with this point total. (Record of 17-6-3)

This very real scenario puts them 6 points out of a playoff spot. The teams ahead of the Kings on this list for the #8 seed each have marginal 10 game histories:

Chicago: 5-4-1 +2 games on us
Calgary: 5-5-0 +1 game on us
Anaheim: 4-5-1 -3 games on us

Are you telling me that a 3 game swing in a 26 game group is impossible?!?!

Let's be stupid and say they win all 26 (52 + 49). That would give them 101 points for the season and 4th seed. The games are being played to win and each game is worth 2 points, therefore it is possible. Highly unlikely, but actually possible.

There's 2 points to this....

#1 - It's more probable than you think.

#2 - You can make stats say anything you want depending on your mindset.(Cup half full, cup half empty, whatever)

Now that I've played the math game, I'll repeat what I said earlier:

I wanna believe, so BLOW ME!
(In other words, the cup is half full.)

I like Paincorp's math better than the rest.

I want to believe.
Blow me too.

The Kings last win (before Thursday) in Detroit was not in 2000! Stop saying that! They won Game 5 of the 2001 playoff opening round in Detroit en route to knocking the Wings off in 6 games. Feel free to say they had not won a *regular season* game in Detroit since 2000, but don't ignore the playoffs, you know, the games that actually count!!

P.S. I don't think it's likely the Kings will make the playoffs. I know they have made up a lot of ground in the last few weeks, but there is still a lot of ground yet to be made up and as much as I'd like to think they could do it and get these young guys some playoff experience I don't know that it's really probable enough to call possible.

I think the thing we should all be cheering for is for Ana-slime to tank and let all those teams with enough games in hand on them to catch and pass them, thus leaving them out of the playoffs. I would be so damn happy to see the Quacks miss the playoffs this year! It's about the only thing that could bring me almost as much pleasure as seeing the Kings make it!