Huge improvement
From the first day of training camp, Terry Murray emphasized defense and the need to keep opponents' shot totals low. Even he probably couldn't have imagined how well it would work out. Last season, the Kings had only two games in which they held opponents to fewer than 20 shots on goal. This season, they've held opponents under 20 shots on goal in five of their 14 games, and Dallas managed only 21 shots on goal Tuesday.
The Kings have allowed an average of 24.0 shots on goal this season, the lowest average in the NHL and a stat that greatly pleases their coach...
MURRAY: ``I like those numbers a lot. I like the scoring-chances-against number, probably the most. That's the important part of it. There's going to be games when you maybe give up more shots than you would like, but it depends on where those shots are coming from. The team effort has been great on the defensive part of the game. They're playing well away from the puck and everybody is reloading back into our D zone with that `home plate' attitude. There's a lot of blocked shots going on. We're going to keep reviewing it and keep working on it every day. I like what's happened here in the last few games. I like what's happened all year long. It's not just the last few games. I think the team has been committed and has bought into the concept that we need to improve defensively.''
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About the bloggers
J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.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.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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It will be interesting to see how the team performs on the road. The team looks good but there are some questions still unanswered. In two of the last 3 wins they've begun giving up more shots: Ducks 27, Dallas 26. Ersberg is perhaps bailing them out in some shaky situations (which is good) but they are also not being punished for mental mistakes (which Labs provided). Oddly enough, Ersberg has been guilty of letting in some softies, but he's still winning. Is he a "money goalie" like Billy Smith was? Getting the job done when he needs to?
Doughty no. 1 star last night? Over Ersberg or Brown? Why?
Great job TM coaching the kids....The Kings have turned into a defensive hockey team, about 3 years before I thought they would. Nice work by all and quite the turn around after so many years of being dreadful on defense. It does win championships in practically every sport you can think of.....
The Kings will be better on the road. Less pressure. They'll bond. It will be great. People always say long home-stands are so great, but I personally hate them. The power play is always worse, etc.. And they're a young team, so it's not like all that flying is going to hurt their backs. Also, improved ice conditions!
The road has been, at times, a tough road for the Kings. I don't know the schedule, but better ice might be a relative term on this one. We'll see. They've got a tougher team physically than they have in a long time. Maybe they're mentally tough, too. At least they have the resiliency of youth to aid them.