O'Sullivan staying put?

We all have to admit that POS, Stoll and Moeller are a scary line for all but the best of skating defenders.

I can see the logic in wanting balanced scoring. However the sully-stoll-moller line hasn't been scoring. Hopefully that will change. I think moulson-stoll-moller would be a more effective line personally. I guess Murray always has the option to switch t up mid game like he has been and atleast Sully is on the first PP regularly with Kopi and Brown.
However if he consistently needs to toss Sully on the first line to get some spark going during games then it would be stupid to not make that the number 1 line night in and night out.

Its also a little wierd that when asked about Sully he responds with comments on Stoll. How did you phrase the question Rich?

This is my second Red Flag with TMurray.

First, he sat Harrold after he was part of the Kings first victory of the season - a comeback win from down 0-2 against the teams biggest rival when a 0-3 season-start was looming.

Now, he's insisting that the lines are balanced even though O'Sullivan helped Kopitar, Brown, and himself have breakout years last season playing together; and PatiO is fresh off a game where Stoll was ineffective offensively, and, when moved onto the first line with Kopi and Brown, PatiO helped turn the game from a 1-3 looming defeat, into an overtime win.

Plus, he's changing up the 4th line after playing it for a total of 4 minutes against Carolina (who was missing their best defenseman for the majority of the game) and insisting that there is a "good balance" throughout his lines?

I wouldn't mind if we had a decent replacement. I am not a huge fan of Moulson right now. I think he needs to develop more and that he should be on a lower line. With the Frolov-Zeus-Simmonds line doing well I don't see very many that can take that top line spot. Sully-Stoll-Moller sounds like a nice line combination but we need to make sure our top line stays gold. I kinda wish they would bring up Purcell and replace Moulson on that line temporarily and see if he can play with any more determination being given another chance.

JDM - I agree with on the O side of the side of the ice, but D side better with POS and Stoll together

Fact:

The goals by Brown and Kopitar in the Carolina game were scored with O'Sullivan as the 3rd forward on the ice.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/PL020062.HTM

Sully should play on the 1st line with Kopi and Brownie.When they have played together is the only time they have scored.Moller needs to go back to junior .Play Richardson and Moulsen with Stoll and see how that shakes out.Why sacrifice your bestline for sub-standard lines?

I cant agree with this, the ONE good thing Crawford did last year was put Sully on that 1st line and have it become so dynamic and Terry ignoring it is just beyond silly. How many come from behind goals from the reunited 1st line in the 3rd period is it gonna take to get this changed permanently?

It looks like Murray doesn`t want "gold first line", but good defensive thinking put in the game first. I like it a lot and all props for return against Carolina. There comes plenty of PP time with this system.
Soo, we have our winning gameplan, pieces are locked (except JJ & Fro) and we finally have a team!
Here`s a bold one...playoff this year, "The Chase" in 10/11.

Murray is a fool.

I completely agree with JDM and Cristobal.
Thus far, the POS-Mooler-Stoll line have shown NO SCORING and NO CHEMISTRY.

Murray says he likes what he sees.
I don't know what games he's been watching lately.

Cristobal, re your "red flags":

I'm beginning to think you just generally ratchet up the hyperbole of your comments and don't really mean to be as extreme as you come off (e.g. the Kings are going to get 50 points if they're lucky, you're going to follow the Ducks from now on, red flags, etc.).

Peter Harrold: he played well after he got over his nerves. Quincey, however, is better defensively and of course Murray is defensive-minded. It makes sense that Quincey stands a better chance of being a regular on the blue line than Harrold, who will never out Doughty Doughty or out Johnson Johnson and both of those guys are expected to move the puck. Quincey is getting his look.

POS: Murray is trying to light a fire under Stoll, for obvious reasons. He's hoping POS will rub off on him. And equally important is giving Moller two strong veteran-ish forwards to play with. He knows -- as he demonstrated in the last game -- that he can throw POS out their with Kopitar and Brown and it will work.

Murray is putting Moller and Stoll (to say nothing of Moulson) in position to succeed. Why? Because he believes those guys can do it. He's showing faith in them. That's good coaching.

(and think about what Murray is going for here: he likes his three-line rotation; picture three lines where Moulson, Stoll and Moller have started putting pucks in the net. See? scary.)

4th line: Having four balanced lines doesn't mean they have to play the same amount of ice-time. Boyle is not struggling because he's only playing 4-8 minutes a game. He's struggling because he's having trouble learning what's being asked of him. That's okay. He will. And watching from the rafters will give him some perspective. I think he will be fine. Richardson, meanwhile, needs to get in some games, doesn't suck, and playing against COL makes sense for obvious reasons.