Murray breaks down Nashville loss
First, some general impressions from around the rink from folks who saw both road games -- and, for the record, I had no access to the Nashville game. I'm not certain why some people think Bettman gave me super-secret access to some video feed, but if it's not on Center Ice, I don't get it either folks...
-- Dustin Brown might have had his two best games as a King and Jarret Stoll is also coming on strong after an uneven start. The goaltending situation is difficult to figure, primarily because Jason LaBarbera is playing neither awful nor great. Not bad enough to cost the Kings games, not good enough to steal games the way elite goalies often do. Kyle Quincey and Sean O'Donnell have been two unsung heroes for this team, but is something going on with Anze Kopitar?
More on some of this stuff later, but here's what Terry Murray said about the loss to Nashville, an up-and-down game for the Kings...
MURRAY: ``I haven't put it completely behind me yet. I think there's always lessons to be learned from every game. I thought the lesson out of the Nashville game is that we need to go back to managing that puck again. It seemed to be an issue that popped up several times with our play in the neutral zone. They're a team that plays the left-wing lock and in the third period, when they had that one-goal lead, they were hard back with four guys across at their own blue line. We tried to force a lot of plays with possession and it ended up coming right back at us. Managing the puck and making strong decisions is one of the lessons.
``The second part of it was, I thought we started the game real well. I really liked our composure. We were under control and doing all the right things with our game plan. We seemed to get away from that once they scored that first goal even. I don't know if they took their game to another level, with intensity, and just getting the puck in deep and using their speed more, but I thought it was probably more us not reacting to the play the right way. We got ourselves in some problems with that. So we addressed that this morning. We had a team meeting, and it's important that you take something out of that game. Those are the two lessons I'd like to think we learned.''
17 Comments
Leave a comment
About the bloggers
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Rich, you summed up Barbs perfectly. Not bad and not good. Just average.
Will an average goalie take any team to the playoffs?
No F-ing way. So TM needs to start using other options in net. Its too bad he has these blinders on when it comes down to goalies.
As far as Kopi is concerned, put Sully on his line and he'll be out of this slump he's in. Calder and the Magnificent Moulson are not the answer.
Time to use some common sense TM.
Osgood is an average goalie and Detroit won the Cup.
See my comment on the below blog for more....
I think something is up with Kopitar also, Brown has been playing well also.
Anthony already bashing the new coach, I guess you wouldn't be happy with anyone but yourself....
Your act has been thin for a long time, nobody is listening...
Chris Osgood an average goalie? Hmm.
Did you happen to watch the Cup finals last season?
He looked better than average to most people.
I think LaBarbera is a good back-up goalie, not a good primary goalie.
Labarbara is 24th in the league in Save %.
Osgood - 26th
Luongo - 27th
Bryzgalov - 28th
Kipper - 30th
Labarbara is 17th in the league in GAA
Lehtonen - 22nd
Giguere - 23rd
Nabokov - 26th
Garon - 27th
Osgood - 28th
Ward - 29th
An average goalie on a young and inconsistant team. So unless were getting Lundqvist, Brodeur or Ryan Miller anytime soon, I dont think anything is going to change until the team starts playing more consistantly in front of Barbs. Right now he's an average goalie on an average team, get over it and let him get his rythym going before we ship him off to the KHL. I think Ersberg should play, just not monday against the Wings. I think Ersberg played pretty good last year too...when there was nothing to play for and teams were looking past us. That is just not the case any longer and teams are going to bring it against us, because if they dont, they look like St. Louis did the other night.
1: I agree with Anthony about needing a better goalie in net if this team intends to compete for a playoff spot. Then again, if you forced Lombardi to answer, I don't think this team intends to compete for a playoff spot this year. This year was all about getting the kids into the lineup, not trying to make the playoffs. Even so, we're only 7 games in, so anything can happen.
I cannot for the life me understand how, in the 21st century, there can be an NHL game that isn't televised anywhere, but that's apparently what happened last night. No local TV in L.A. or Nashville and no CBC coverage. Even NHL on the Fly on the NHL network didn't have any highlights of the game. Pretty sad.
That said, I did listen to the game like many of you. It just didn't sound like the Kings competed most of the night. When they finally fell behind 3-0, they picked up their play and got back in the game, only to go flat again and waste the work they had done. That was a winnable game for the Kings.
Finally, Kopitar needs to shoot more. Everyone sees it. Nick Nickson and Daryl Evans said it on multiple occasions last night. This team can't win without Kopitar putting the puck on net.
Sorry, but Kopitar is not getting a pass on his average play this season just because he is on a line with Moulson and/or Calder. The guy just signed a contract extension worth what? Close to 7 million per season?! And you're (Anthony) saying he isn't worth a damn unless he has Sully on his wing?! I totally disagree with you, 100%. He should be the one making all the other players better whenever he steps out onto the ice with them.
That being said, I really like Kopitar, I'm a huge fan. Heck every Kings fan I've ever met just loves the guy. IMO, Kopi is feeling the pressure of being the "Man" and he is gripping his stick a little too tight right now. The other teams are really going after him this year and it's not going to get any easier for him in this league. He is not a secret anymore.
One of the positives here is that Brown seems to be doing OK even though Kopitar has been average.
I'm listening
Average goalies get their teams to the playoffs all the time...winning there is a different story.
"No F-ing way. So TM needs to start using other options in net. Its too bad he has these blinders on when it comes down to goalies."
What option would that be? When your defense gives up 17 shots in the 1st period nobody going to be stopping much.
Ersberg was just as bad. 2 goals on 4 shots in a matter of 2 minutes. Where was HIS big save when the team needed it?
Anthony
No offense, but you seem like someone who is going to find something to complain about even if the Kings when the Cup.
And on another topic, it was one game, we cant base an entire season on one or two games. So far the Kings have been far more impressive than last year. And last year the Kings had 2 allstar defensemen.
Personally, I wouldnt be suprised to see the Kings miss the playoffs again. But on the other hand I wouldnt be suprised to see them make the playoffs. Its a young team, so you cant really say for sure how they will do.
I'm sure DL would love to make the playoffs this year just like any other. The question isn't about making the playoffs, it's about the cost. If acquiring a better goaltender means mortgaging some of the future the Kings have worked to build, than no, you don't pull the trigger on that sort of deal. That would be the Kings doing what the Kings have dome for 40 years, mortgaging the future for a quick fix. It's pretty evident that it doesn't work very well when you go that route. Patience is the key here, both from DL and the fans. On the other hand if a better goaltender just falls into DL's lap, I would hope that he wouldn't think twice about making the move. Unfortunately those guys just don't fall from the sky so we wait for Bernier, Quick & Zatkoff for now.
Duracell - It could not have been said better, thank you.
Duracell - No offense personally, but the "the Kings have been mortgaging the future for 40 years" angle is sooo played.
Packaging players you're giving up on can sometimes draw in quality trade value.
Duracell -- Bryzgalov fell form the sky for Pheonix so it can happen. Like you, I hope that if one is falling from the sky DL will catch him, otherwise we wait.
_42
It's a amazing to see the difference in tone of these comments compared to the comments after the Blues game. After the Blues game, everyone was singing praises and talking about playoffs, after the nashville game, it was back to complaining about TM and DL. I think we all need to relax and realize that this season will be up and down, and that TM is far more experienced than any of us. We're a growing team, and right now as fans we can enjoy that we're all on this long journey towards building a perennial contender.
Anonymous - If anything, Murray is the one stressing the need for consistency. It isn't occurring. If the team is inconsistent, either try something new, or leave the lineup unchanged for 15 games or so. Moulson, Calder, Richarson, Harrold, Preissing, and Boyle are all question marks. I won't even touch on the problems in net, if we really have them.
If Murray wants consistency and positive 5 on 5 play, he's not figured out how to do it yet.